There's certainly nothing wrong with Nikon. They make very good cameras as well. The features you specified are present in cameras from many brands and aren't exclusive to Nikon. Optical zoom is like a telescope or binoculars for your camera. The image is being magnified before the camera takes the picture. Digital zoom is like taking a picture and then zooming in on it after it's been taken. There's only so much detail there (things in real life don't work like CSI) and the more you zoom in the more quality you lose.DenneyR wrote:Ok, I'm very well educated on digital cameras..........there is a lot of talk about Canon, does anyone have an opinion on the Nikon Coolpix cameras?
I like the 3" screen, and the 1080 Video and a high degree of zoom.
What is the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom.
I was considering the NIkon S9300 or S8200
Basically optical zoom is far more important. You should pretty much ignore any specs about digital zoom. There's much more that goes into it since optical zoom lenses are not all created equal either but if you're asking the difference between the two then getting into the details may not matter to you.