This changes a lot of things...

[The Suburban Hippie]

This is a developement that was a long time coming, and some(none Drone pilots worried about safety) will think is a bad thing...

DJI launches new Zenmuse Z3 drone camera with built-in optical zoom

 

[Ptr]

Cool

 

[The Suburban Hippie]

Cool

A useful tool for photographers. This lets the user stay well away from wildlife and property and still get good pictures.

Say of that big horn sheep in the distance, without disturbing them... Or say you want to take a video of a moving car, without getting close...

I think the biggest advantage I can see right away is for wildlife photography!

Of course all the Luddites that are afraid of drones, will be up in arms....

 

[LosDosMonitos]

I wonder if you will eventually need a license to use drones with zoom cameras. The more things progress the further behind we feel with all these new cans of worms. Excited for the future, however!

 

[ftttu]

I'd like to have the 7x OZ capability, but I'm not willing to pay for it at this time. I only fly FPV, and it turns out I like to fly distance runs for distance sake. The zoom wouldn't help in my distance flights, but it would when I'm finally able to get to a wild area where I'd get to use it for my photography hobby.

 

[RedHotPoker]

I can pretty much fly close enough to my subjects without needing a Zoom or Telephoto lens.. Having that capability would be cool, but unecessary for my photography needs, at this time.
I don't spy on people now with my expensive Nikon gear, so I certainly won't be attempting to bother folks with my other photo equipment.

RedHotPoker

 

[bbfpv]

Optical zoom on a drone... because that won't feed the peeping tom media frenzy or anything...