You can zoom in and out (widen and narrow the field of view) in the Camera application for Windows 10 by holding down the CTRL key and rolling your mouse wheel up or down. This is an undocumented feature. This is a "sticky" setting; it will persist between Windows sessions, and will apply instantly to other applications using the camera such as MS Teams.
There are some applications that may reset it, for example you may find that running the (unfortunately-named) Zoom video conferencing application resets the digital zoom level.
In particular, any time you fully exit and relaunch Camera, it will reset the digital zoom level (this includes within the same Windows session). That is, the setting is only sticky as long as you keep the Camera application closed once you've found the zoom level you like.
Microsoft says definitively that the Windows 10 application does not provide digital zoom:
In Windows 10 the Camera app doesn't include digital zoom
This is simply not true.
Similarly other support sites may refer to clicking on an icon in the Camera application in order to zoom in or out; this is also not true.
Others may suggest installing third-party applications or legacy Windows applications, which is usually not an option in a business setting where you don't have administrative control to install unauthorized applications.
MS Teams does offer access to camera settings including digital zoom, but that access is only available depending on the version of Teams, the version of your driver, and the brand and model of your camera. In any case, the camera settings available in Teams are not sticky (it won't remember the settings), so you have to go back in to settings again in order to set the level you want, every time you start Windows and Teams.
The camera settings are not available during a video conference session; the devices menu is different depending whether you are in a video conference or not.
When not in a conference, select the three dots menu ⋯ at the very top right of the Teams window, in the menu bar next to your profile icon. Select Settings, then in the popup window select Devices in the list on the left, then scroll down to Camera. If camera settings control is available, there will be a clickable "Open camera settings" link. As a reminder, these settings are not sticky; Teams will reset all the camera settings back to the defaults every time you open it and/or restart Windows.
Also, if you want to view the Camera adjustments live while using Teams, you'll have to start Teams first. If you start the Camera application first, it will grab exclusive access to the image/video stream from your webcam.
Versions used:
- Windows 10 Enterprise 21H2
- Camera 2021.105.10.0
- MS Teams 1.5.00.33362 (64-bit)
For many video conferences you may want a tighter zoom in on your face rather than a wide view of your entire room background, so being able to set and keep a level of zoom using the Camera application first ensures that you have the right settings for Teams and other videoconference software.
Note for older versions of Camera
Older version of Camera (e.g. 2018.826.98.0) also have digital zoom, but you don't need to hold down the control key, just roll the middle mouse scroll wheel up and down. You may experience unexpected behaviour, in particular, the Camera app may be able to set a much higher level of digital zoom than it actually displays. That is, if you keep rolling the wheel for greater and greater zoom, the image on screen may stay the same, but when you switch to MS Teams you may find you are super zoomed in. Just do a single step at a time (a single scroll wheel step) and then check in MS Teams if it is the level you want.
Older versions of Camera may also not be able to share the camera with Teams, so you will have to run Camera first, and then Teams, without being able to see live changes.
Depending on the combination of the version of camera and the version of the OS, the settings may not be sticky. Camera 2018.826.98.0 zoom settings were not sticky for me.
Comments