Any photgraphy buffs? Are digital cameras digital zooms just a gimmick?

[Impret-Sir]

I have a Panasonic Lumix fz38 with an 18x optical zoom, but also a digital zoom beyond that. However, the digital zoom just produces a white out, as if I had taken a picture of a blank white wall, whats going on?

[bibblebub]

Digital zoom just expands the content of a pixel to cover several pixels and thus doesn't add any detail, so you might as well stick to optical zoom only. You can achieve the same effect as digital zoom by subsequently using the image resize function in any picture editor.

[jomifl]

exactly

[Impret-Sir]

Thank you for your answers, I know how they work, Im just puzzled why mine just seems to produce a blank white screen!

[bibblebub]

But when you asked "Are digital cameras digital zooms just a gimmick?" that suggested that you don't know what digital zoom is about.

If the picture just goes white as you continue to zoom from optical to digital then it would seem that your camera is kaput.

[Zubida]

Camera lenses without moving parts, as cell phones, can't really zoom in. Zooming requires changing the separations between the bits of glass in a focal point. Cell phone cameras depend on a trick called "digital zoom" — simply trimming in-camera.
At the point when you digitally zoom onto a subject, your phone utilizes just a small amount of its sensors pixels to snap the photo. It explodes the outcome to deliver a low-goals, packed picture underscoring all the imperfections in the focal point itself. More regrettable, it tosses out the remainder of the picture — setting and visuals you can never recuperate.