Can anyone explain ( as you would to a child ) the difference and/or benefits between 'digital zoom' and 'optical zoom'? My cheapo little digital has finally pooped the bed and it's time to go shopping for another little cheapo digital. Any advice would be greatly welcomed. Thanx.

Pretty simple, once understood, Mr. Boat.

Optical means just like any normal camera does - the lens actually bends the light and maginfies the image onto the 'film".

Digital zoom is like taking a normal picture and then putting it in photoshop. And then cropping into the center of the picture. And then blowing it up. It actually stretches the pixels upward to give the idea of "enlargement". But in reality it has only "resized" a smaller inner section of the optical image.

Its a total marketing scam to make the camera seem more powerful than it is. Or, its a nice feature if you don't care that the digital grain and pixel blockage isn't big and ugly.
Almost all pro-digi-cam users NEVER use the digital zoom. Take the image with the max OPTICAL zoom you have and then crop it yourself later in photoshop. If you have CS or CS2 you can choose Bicubic Smoother for better upsizing.

There ya go! Hope that answers it for you.

Thanx Rein. Big help.

Organic Zoom:

Hey, them Organic Zoom cameras are good! I want one.

Ummmm , that photo wouldn't be from up Nanaimo way would it, Rein?

The Organic Zoom can be applied in almost any geographical location!

Unlike a digital zoom which requires computer assistance and a bitmap source!

*LOL*

Yeah, digital zoom sucks and is useless. I hate it. I want it to die a very painful death.