Apple @lemmy.world octalfudge @lemmy.world 9 mo. ago

Apple makes three arguments for lack of 10x optical zoom on iPhone 15 Pro Max

9to5mac.com 10x optical zoom – Apple's three reasons for not offering it

The iPhone 15 Pro Max stands out from the other models in this year’s lineup mostly because of the periscope...

People hardly ever use 10x zoom
10x optical zoom is hard to stabilize
Aperture trumps zoom

17 comments

I’d agree - given the choice between a 10x f/5 and a 5x f/2.8, I’m going with the fast lens every time.
- Meh I’d take the zoom range for sure. Depends on what you like to photograph. Long lenses are routinely north of f5, and they do just fine in reasonable light.
  
  A fast lens is almost always beneficial. If you don’t need the shutter speed, you can drop the ISO for lower noise and better color. A long lens is only beneficial in certain situations, if you’re not shooting long it’s not helping.
  
  That’s my rationale, at least.
I mean, the only reason I hardly ever use 10x zoom is that it looks like a shitty impressionist painting. If optical zoom made it look better, I would use it often.
- Permanently Deleted
- Exactly, Apple is comparing, er... bananas and kumquats.
  
  Digital zoom is trash and nobody wants it. It is not an indicator of any lack of interest in OPTICAL zoom.
- It looks awful on devices that have optical zoom, too. There isn't enough light for computational photography to bail out the shitty physics of any of them.
  
  Seriously, getting something serviceable out of 1x on a bright day out of that little tiny sensor and lens already takes a boatload of math. The input data isn't good.
  
  I would accept that as an explanation if it was the one they gave.
Literally took picture of my cat seconds ago before reading this post at 10x because I didn't want to stand up
I think there’s value in providing 10x even apart from photography. I think 10x would also open up for capabilities beyond just simple everyday photography.

That said if the aperture suffers, then that’s a good enough reason to avoid it for now.
Never mind zoom, I wish they would fix the lens flare issues with bright lights, my previous Samsung phones did a better job in that regard
Apple: We don't innovate, we force compromise.
- Yeah! Who needs to believe in science or physics!? I wanna hate what I wanna hate!!
  
  Why study when you can plagiarize?!
A 10x lens would be so tight that it would be useless most of the time, even for fusion. We either need an additional 70mm equivalent lens or a proper mechanical zoom lens before we can justify a good telephoto zoom.
Inb4 the 16 pro has a 48mp 5x lens with optical 12mp zoom like the pixel and calling it revolutionary (still so excited for my 15 pro pickup tomorrow! Lmao)
no zoom gib mony
- Basically

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