Nikon P5100 - Manual (Page 39)

25
Step 2 Frame a Picture
Bas
ic Ph
otography an
d Pl
ayba
ck
: A
u
to
Mod
e
Using the Zoom
Use the zoom control to activate optical zoom. Rotate
the zoom control to
f (h) to zoom out, increasing
the area visible in the frame, or g (i) to zoom in so that
the subject fills a larger area of the frame.
When the camera is zoomed in to the maximum magnification (3.5×), rotating and
holding the zoom control at
g (i) triggers digital zoom. The subject is magnified
up to 4×, for a total magnification of 14×.
When digital zoom is in effect, the camera will focus on the subject in the center
focus area.
A monitor indicator shows the current zoom ratio.
B
Digital Zoom and Image Quality
If possible, digital zoom will create a picture by cropping the area visible in the monitor to the
current image size (
A 92), increasing magnification without affecting quality.
If the crop would be smaller than the current image size, additional pixels are added through a
process known as interpolation, creating a slightly “grainy” image.
The amount of zoom available before interpolation is used depends on the option currently
selected for image size, as shown in the following table. The camera pauses temporarily in its
zooming operation when it reaches the maximum zoom ratio possible before interpolation is used.
V is displayed when interpolation is in effect.
Maximum zoom ratio without interpolation
Digital zoom can be limited to the range at which interpolation is not in effect, or it can be turned off
(
A 129).
Image size Zoom ratio Image size Zoom ratio
F, I,
G, H
3.5× (up to the maximum
optical zoom ratio)
B 8.4× (digital zoom up to 2.4×)
A 10.5× (digital zoom up to 3.0×)
E 4.2× (digital zoom up to 1.2×) J 13.3× (digital zoom up to 3.8×)
D 4.9× (digital zoom up to 1.4×) K 14× (digital zoom up to 4×)
C 6.3× (digital zoom up to 1.8×)
Zoom out Zoom in
Optical zoom Zoom indicator turns
yellow when digital
zoom is in effect Zoom indicator is
displayed when the
zoom control is rotated
V