Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Similar in camera crop has been found in Panasonic cameras for a long time. They only work in that camera if you are using jpg for saving, not in RAW mode. Given my preference for RAW I do not use the crop modes. Those who have used the crop modes have reported more precise focusing on small subjects at a distance when using the crop compared to not using it.
Niels
I do quite a bit of bug photography and I find that by minimising the optical zoom and using the digital crop, I get better results if I can't quite get close enough to use macro.
For example, if I can get within say 30cm, I'll zoom in to say 20% of max and concentrate on getting the sharpest image I can from that distance instead of zooming all the way in. What I end up with once digitally cropped is usually much better than a fully zoomed image plus crop.
A