What is the difference between digital zoom and optical zoom?

Optical zoom is physically manipulating the distance digital zooming is a technique that logically manipulating the distance imaged by an optical lens-optical zoom is the traditional method of physically manipulating the distance between 2 lenses to create a different camera view. digital zooming is a technique in which an electronic processor literally magnifies size of the pixels imaged by an optical lens. there are different techniques, but grainy appearance is typically associated with digital zoom, especially when the camera. of cameras that have the ability to zoom (aka varifocal lens cameras), some are optical, some are digital- and some are both, which means that the mechanical lens movement and internal digital magnification are both taking place (22x optical and 10x digital = total 220x zoom capability). it should be noted that not all digital zooming technology is the same. weve seen all ranges from extremely poor to excellent and are quite pleased with the equipment we carry.