This is kind of a cool technology Nikon is patenting here. I personally like to do the manual zoom thing when shooting DSLR video, but the slow creeping zoom or quick min-max possible with an electronic zoom rocker are both also valuable tools. As far as I know, there aren’t any consumer cameras that implement both, though I could be wrong about that. At any rate, Nikon is looking into it.
So you’d be able to zoom manually when you’re shooting photos, but keep the camera still if you’re shooting video from a tripod. It’s the best of both worlds, though I imagine it might make the lenses significantly heavier and more expensive.
[via Nikon Rumors and Electronista]