As I was covering the iPhone declaration earlier this week, there was there A moment in Apple’s presentation This doubled me. Explaining the new iPhone Air, the company said: “A single camera that may appear to be our new, powerful, 48 megapixel fusion camera system, which works like many advanced cameras in one.” This continued to mention the phone’s “2x telephoto”, later called the “optical quality lens”.
Reader: iPhone Air There is a camera. (And it is not new, by the way; it is the same main camera from standard iPhone 16 and 17). The camera app can offer you with a 2X option, but it will use accurate similar optics. This may appear “a single camera” because it is really just.
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The “2x telephoto” of air is actually just a crop. |
The company draws the same move to the regular iPhone 17, “one in two cameras”, and takes it further with the iPhone 17 Pro. The phone has three cameras – a 13 mm equivine. “0.5x” ultra-wide, 24 mm equiv. “1x” main and 100 mm similar. “4x” telephoto which is an impressive amount to fit in such a small device. Nevertheless, Apple claims that the phone is capable of “8X optical-curvature zoom”, and carrying it is “like having an 8 Pro lens in your pocket.”,
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Eight camera mode of iPhone 17 Pro (manufactured by its three cameras). |
This is not, and these additional options are not “optical quality”, an essentially meaningless phrase means to actually instigate the idea of the lens capable of zoom. In fact, it is a crop. Your phone is punching on the pixel at the center of the sensor, using a quarter of its resolution only to catch the scene.
The phone can process it in a different way, it will be a straight digital zoom, but in its heart, all these are “optical zoom” mode. It is also worth noting that due to the quad bye design of the sensor, that center will not be a crop Is necessarily an extension you can expect From a 12MP image taken on a standard buy sensor.
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The phrase “Optical Zoom” is on all Apple’s website, including the tool that lets you compare between the models, which does not distinguish between the actual lens and crops. In addition, when I am catching, this comparison tool can be one of the most unpleasant pieces of web design that I have come in a while. |
This is not a new trick in any way; Apple shows that crop is similar to optics for a while nowBut this does not really make it better. People are still confused by it, likely because the tech press regularly tells “optical quality” what is actually happening under the hood.
While the presentation of Apple was particularly egoistic, it is away from the only phone manufacturer, who is going to participate in this marketing. Describing the capabilities of Pixel 10 Pro, Google writes that the phone has optical quality on “0.5X, 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x,” despite this physically there are only three cameras (2x and 10x mode centers are crops).
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| Another example of “optical quality”. |
Samsung claims that the S25 has a 50MP wide-angle camera with “2x optical quality zoom”, although it includes at least one footnote, stating that “optical quality zoom is capable of adaptive pixel sensor. 3x is a distance. 2x is the optical quality zoom.” This attentive readers can tip that some freedom is being taken, but it is not like being honest to tell the truth in footnotes.
While these companies (generally) are careful to modify “quality” with “quality”, I argue that it is still misleading, although I am sure they are all firm arguments why they say crop mode.,While consumers are probably not buying the phone thinking that they actually have more cameras, they actually do, of Apple & Co. Marketing can trick them thinking that they are not giving the button to punch it.
You are giving something for that extra access, no matter how difficult the creator tries to believe you otherwise
But, to keep it clearly: they are. All computational tricks in the world will not be able to make an image with the same quality using a quarter of the sensor, which was taken with the entirety of the same sensor. You are giving something for that extra access, no matter how difficult the phone companies are, try to believe you otherwise.
In all honesty, I do not hope that phone companies will stop using such language, especially if thin phones are going on with fewer cameras. en VogueI can hope that enthusiastic and tech presses towards photography will prevent their misleading labels from re -starting, and instead will educate people how to actually work.
*-Apple Mathematics: Three real, physical lenses (ultra-wide, wide, telephoto), plus two main camera crops to simulate 28 or 35 mm focal length, the “2x” center of the main camera and the “8x” center of the “2x” center crop and telephoto camera is equal to the crop and ultra-wide macro mode, the eighth options.
** – In his presentation, Apple says that crop mode has its own “dedicated image pipeline.” This is almost certainly technically correct, the most annoying type is correct
