Systems and methods for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A method includes capturing a raw video stream input using one or more camera sensors of the UAV. The method includes determining a zoom level for the raw video stream input. For the zoom level being determined to be greater than 3×, the method includes: first zooming the raw video stream input to a first field of view (FOV) at 3× to generate a 3× zoomed video stream; second zooming the 3× zoomed video stream to a second FOV at a second zoom level to generate a fully zoomed video stream at greater than 3×; and applying electronic image stabilization (EIS) to the fully zoomed video stream to generate a zoomed and stabilized video stream. Embodiments of the present technology provide a hybrid zoom approach with improved EIS performance to enhance the UAV user experience.