
What is a digital zoom?
Digital zoom requires no focal adjustment on your camera, making these less of a hassle and bringing down camera prices. This zoom takes the existing recorded images and expand them. You lose none of your camera’s recordings even after zooming in.

What is a optical zoom?
Optical zoom uses adjustable focal lenses, allowing for crisp detail when zooming into the scene. This zoom crops out the rest of the scene, which is particularly helpful when only focusing on one area. You will lose no detail when zooming in.

Fixed Lens Camera

Varifocal Lens Camera

Motorized lens Camera
Pros | Cons |
Lower cost per camera | Will likely to produce blurry pictures/videos |
No recording losses from zooming in | Ideal only in smaller areas |
HD quality, even after zooming | Quality diminishes after zooming more than x2 (HD)/x4 (4K) |
Great for small areas | Not when high quality details really matter |
Pros | Cons |
Clear detailed video before/after zooming | High cost per camera |
Great for focusing on a single, specific area | Recordings will be cropped and miss certain areas |
Comparable or better than digital zoom at x2 (HD)/x4 (4K) | Large blind spots; can cut out a lot of the scene after zooming in |
Resusable in many different situations and areas | Spending more time setting up |