# RIDDLE: Where should the center of the image go after zooming ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 24, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087 "2014-02-24T11:37:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/1 "2014-02-24T11:37:20Z")
Hi.
I have a quick riddle for you. We have two screenshots made before optical zooming by JVC Everio camcorder (40x optical zoom) In both situations the camcorder is placed on a tripod. But there’s one difference:
on First Image: the camcorder is not leveled.
on the Second Image: the camcorder is **leveled** with a libella.
[http://imgur.com/xbvtuOL&uvCeOYm#0](http://imgur.com/xbvtuOL&uvCeOYm#0)
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### Author:  [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/2 "2014-02-24T12:13:42Z")
Don’t be shy 😃 I made a public poll to send everyone who participated the solution in the end.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/3 "2014-02-24T16:33:48Z")
To me it looks like in both cases, after a 20x zoom, you should be seeing primarily water.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/4 "2014-02-24T16:38:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> noun
> noun: riddle; plural noun: riddles
>
> ```
> 1.
> a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning, typically presented as a game.
>
> ```
Riddle?
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/5 "2014-02-24T17:52:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Riddle?
She thinks that [the Earth is concave](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716519), and that atmospheric refraction is just a manifestation of that. She’s all hopped up on the opportunity to “gotcha ya!” anyone who dares to think the Earth is round. Personally, I can’t wait until she shares her tales of water divining next.
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### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/6 "2014-02-24T17:52:47Z")
I’d expect the center should stay in the center, so I agree with **pulykamell**.
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### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/7 "2014-02-24T19:03:51Z")
The center of the image doesn’t “go” anywhere. Right?
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/8 "2014-02-24T19:05:33Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> She thinks that [the Earth is concave](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716519), and that atmospheric refraction is just a manifestation of that. She’s all hopped up on the opportunity to “gotcha ya!” anyone who dares to think the Earth is round. Personally, I can’t wait until she shares her tales of water divining next.
Well, we don’t really know if it’s a he or she. “Karol” with a “k” is a common Polish or Slovak name (“Carl”) and the other thread’s OP mentions something about a Polish guy.
Anyhow, I really can’t figure out that thread or what this thread is supposed to be asking exactly. And, yes, there are atmospheric distortions that may need to be taken into account, but the “center” should still remain the “center”. In this picture, the horizon line is above the center, so zoomed in, I should expect it to be above the center unless there is some kind of atmospheric effect (like you get with heat distortions/mirages.)
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### Author:  [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/9 "2014-02-24T19:46:46Z")
I’m Charles :]
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/10 "2014-02-24T21:20:11Z")
Google Maps has an interesting feature: when you zoom in, using a mouse scroll-wheel, the image expands around the mouse pointer.
e.g., if you have the entire U.S. on screen, and your mouse is over Dallas, TX, and you zoom in, you get large portions of Texas and Oklahoma. If your mouse has been over North Dakota, you’d have gotten a zoom in over ND, SD, NE, etc.
So, using some software, it would depend where your mouse pointer is at the moment you zoom.
Same, obviously, if you select a portion of the image and zoom.
Otherwise, the center stays the center, and the image gets cropped on all four sides. Totally depends on your software.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/11 "2014-02-24T21:30:24Z")
> [@karol](#):
>
> I’m Charles :]
Why did you choose to answer that question and ignore the questions about what you are trying to accomplish here?
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/12 "2014-02-24T21:34:57Z")
The only “riddle” is in figuring out what the OP is asking.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/13 "2014-02-24T21:39:08Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> The only “riddle” is in figuring out what the OP is asking.
I’m seeing it as more of a knock-knock joke.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/14 "2014-02-24T21:49:38Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> Why did you choose to answer that question and ignore the questions about what you are trying to accomplish here?
That’s the way this works.
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### Author:  [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/15 "2014-02-25T06:31:58Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> The only “riddle” is in figuring out what the OP is asking.
I think the question is clear. What’s your problem ?
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2014, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/16 "2014-02-25T09:17:10Z")
We don’t know for sure what the optical zoom on this camera does when it is used - it’s not an entirely safe assumption that the centre of the image will remain centred, or if there is some accidental or intentional shift due to the configuration of the optics etc.
Either way, the Earth is not fucking hollow.
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### Author:  [@karol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karol)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/17 "2014-02-25T11:03:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> We don’t know for sure what the optical zoom on this camera does when it is used - it’s not an entirely safe assumption that the centre of the image will remain centred, or if there is some accidental or intentional shift due to the configuration of the optics etc.
>
> Either way, the Earth is not fucking hollow.
It does same thing as on each and every device. Please stop coming up with strange ideas.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2014, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/18 "2014-02-25T11:54:55Z")
> [@karol](#):
>
> It does same thing as on each and every device
Prove it.
> [@](#):
>
> Please stop coming up with strange ideas.
You owe me a new irony meter.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/19 "2014-02-25T11:58:47Z")
> [@karol](#):
>
> Please stop coming up with strange ideas.
😃 …
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### Author:  [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087/20 "2014-02-25T22:26:49Z")
I don’t know what the OP is trying to demonstrate, but neither of those photos is level.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-where-should-the-center-of-the-image-go-after-zooming/682087.md?page=2)