Everyone loves the convenience of smartphones for casual, spontaneous photography. Smartphone cameras are great for close-up and wide-angle photographs, but their shortcomings appear when you want or need to photograph from a distance. Telephoto lenses allow you to get closer to the action with distant subjects like wildlife, sports or events for close-up perspectives on your subjects.
Skittish birds and wildlife will scatter or can be dangerous if you get too close. Photographing your favorite team or musician from the stands with a smartphone will capture more of the audience than the performance itself. Situations like these are where a telephoto lens can make a big difference.
The problem with telephoto lenses is portability—they’re typically big and bulky. Their size makes them conspicuous and possibly prohibited depending on where and what you’re shooting.
Canon’s ZOOM Digital Monocular puts a 400mm-equivalent lens with image stabilization in your pocket.
Image Stabilized Up To 800mm
The Canon ZOOM Digital Monocular has the familiar, convenient design of the spotting scopes that bird watchers use to find and view distant wildlife. It adds the ability to capture 12-megapixel still images and Full HD 1080p video—something spotting scopes can’t do.
The ZOOM Digital Monocular’s lens offers 100mm and 400mm optical zoom settings, plus digital zoom to get the perspective of an 800mm telephoto. That’s a remarkable capability for a camera that fits neatly in the palm of your hand.
When shooting at high-magnification focal lengths like these, it’s more difficult to hold your shot steady. Even small camera movements can translate to blur that ruins your photos. Canon’s built-in, always-enabled image stabilization keeps your shot steady.
Easy Point-and-Shoot Operation
Ideal for spontaneous photography, the Canon ZOOM Digital Monocular features simplified controls that can be used with one hand while looking through the bright, high-resolution electronic viewfinder.
Click the large Zoom button on the top of the monocular with your index finger to instantly toggle between 100mm, 400mm (optical) and 800mm (digital) zoom modes. At your thumb are Photo and Video recording buttons. Slightly depress the Photo button to activate the camera’s autofocus system, which offers both 1-point and Face Tracking settings. Face Tracking is especially helpful when shooting sporting events or performances where you want to follow your subjects as they move about the scene.
Fully depress the Photo button to begin shooting 12-megapixel stills. The camera offers both single-shot and burst mode continuous shooting at approximately 10 frames per second for bursts of up to approximately 50 frames. When you want to record motion, just press the Video button to immediately begin recording Full HD 1080p video at 30fps with sound via the built-in microphone in clips of up to 10 minutes each.
Exposure is also fully automatic, but you can increase or decrease exposure up to +/- 3 stops in 1/3-stop increments with Exposure Compensation to adjust for high-contrast scenes.
Smart Wireless Control
The Canon ZOOM Digital Monocular includes Bluetooth and WiFi wireless connectivity built in. With the free Canon Camera Connect app, you can use your smartphone to view what the camera sees in real time, toggle zoom settings, change autofocus and continuous shooting modes and adjust exposure compensation. You can even activate the shutter remotely and switch between still and video recording, all from the app.
After shooting, the Canon Camera Connect app allows you to browse the images on the camera and upload them to your smartphone’s photo library. The setup process to pair your phone with the camera is easy with just a few guided steps, and the app will remember your camera for quick pairing in the future.
Convenient Connectivity & Charging
The ZOOM Digital Monocular records to microSD cards which are smaller but use the same technology as the popular SD format. Many computers have an integrated SD card reader, which can read microSD cards with a common adapter (sold separately). Or you can connect your camera directly to your computer via the included UBS-C cable. And because USB-C doubles as a power supply, you can charge the camera’s built-in battery with USB-C compatible computers, and compatible power adapters and portable power banks.
Zoom Into The Action For An Affordable Price
Telephoto zoom lenses can cost thousands of dollars just for the lens alone. The Canon ZOOM Digital Monocular provides up to 800mm equivalent perspectives in a pocket-sized camera that’s priced at just $319.
