"Telephoto lens" and "zoom lens" are not synonyms. There are plenty of ultrawide angle zoom lenses that would be completely useless for allowing you to take pictures of things that are far away.
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Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom
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"Telephoto lens" and "zoom lens" are not synonyms. There are plenty of ultrawide angle zoom lenses that would be completely useless for allowing you to take pictures of things that are far away.
IMO 5 x is just PR, which most people will swallow like a Candy 🤣
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated.
Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the company's most advanced camera stabilization system yet, with a combination of optical image stabilization and an autofocus 3D sensor-shift module. McCormack said the iPhone's 5x zoom lens can be stabilized "incredibly well" compared to a 10x lens.
"The 5x zoom is something that we can stabilize incredibly well," McCormack said in the interview. "If you look at the 10x zoom, unless you have the steadiest hands in the world or a tripod, it's really difficult to use."
Apple's senior director of iPhone product marketing Maxime Veron, who was also interviewed, added that the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 5x lens opens at ƒ/2.8, allowing for "excellent light management." By comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x lens has a ƒ/4.9 aperture. A lower aperture allows for more light to be captured by the camera's sensor, which can be especially beneficial for Night mode photos.
5x optical zoom is exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with the iPhone 15 Pro remaining limited to 3x optical zoom. It has been rumored that Apple plans to expand the tetraprism lens system to both iPhone 16 Pro models next year.
McCormack and Veron discuss the latest camera innovations on all iPhone 15 models in more detail in the Numerama interview. The devices launch Friday.
Article Link: Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom
What Apple should be concentrating on is all lenses being 48 mega pixels an parity in quality between the lenses, it's just too big at the moment!
I would much prefer that, than all this oooh aaah on the telephoto lens 😡
Funny, I'm routinely amazed how poorly anything other than a basic landscape photo turns out from my iPhone.
Anything artistic, especially incorporating zoom and bokeh, requires a dedicated camera.
That is so wrong, on many fronts, and is nonsense.
I am one, as have many of my photographer friends, having been shooting exclusively with iPhones for almost 10 years. And coming from dSLRs, so-called "mirrorless cameras,", and even an Arca-Swiss F-field 4x5.
Great photography is about the photographer and his/her ability to see, not camera gear. I'd be glad to expand on that in much more detail.
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Having experienced the S20 Ultra with its sub par camera and having since found my 3 yr old iPhone 12 Pro Max to be more than capable than any previous phone camera I’ve had.
I guess if there’s truth in 10x instability in the S23 and ease of use vs 5x in the IP15PM, then I’d assume that it’s reasonable for Apple to think that the older/less mobile/less tech geeky folks would be happy to take a hit on ultimate raw spec and gain some ease of use.
Also there’s gotta be some headroom there for future upgrades as technology (sadly) moves super slow for maximum revenue generation.
I guess if there’s truth in 10x instability in the S23 and ease of use vs 5x in the IP15PM, then I’d assume that it’s reasonable for Apple to think that the older/less mobile/less tech geeky folks would be happy to take a hit on ultimate raw spec and gain some ease of use.
Also there’s gotta be some headroom there for future upgrades as technology (sadly) moves super slow for maximum revenue generation.
And it can merge pixels from 108mp to 12mp to increase light performance and dynamic range just like Apple did with 48mp to 24mp. Nothing new and simple to fix. Beside, who cares about the sensor quality with smartphones?
He's definitely right. I have trouble when I use the zoom on my S23 Ultra and even with the little pop up on the screen I lose sight of what I wanted and its hard to keep it in the shot.
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated.
Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the company's most advanced camera stabilization system yet, with a combination of optical image stabilization and an autofocus 3D sensor-shift module. McCormack said the iPhone's 5x zoom lens can be stabilized "incredibly well" compared to a 10x lens.
"The 5x zoom is something that we can stabilize incredibly well," McCormack said in the interview. "If you look at the 10x zoom, unless you have the steadiest hands in the world or a tripod, it's really difficult to use."
Apple's senior director of iPhone product marketing Maxime Veron, who was also interviewed, added that the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 5x lens opens at ƒ/2.8, allowing for "excellent light management." By comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x lens has a ƒ/4.9 aperture. A lower aperture allows for more light to be captured by the camera's sensor, which can be especially beneficial for Night mode photos.
5x optical zoom is exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with the iPhone 15 Pro remaining limited to 3x optical zoom. It has been rumored that Apple plans to expand the tetraprism lens system to both iPhone 16 Pro models next year.
McCormack and Veron discuss the latest camera innovations on all iPhone 15 models in more detail in the Numerama interview. The devices launch Friday.
Article Link: Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom
You claim to have exclusively dropped dslr's and mirrorless cameras since 2013, so the iPhone 5s, IF you had the most recent phone, and also claim to be an enthusiast photographer.
*cough* bs *cough*
That's the problem with these forums, people post such bs all the time and claim to be what they aren't.
Ah, sorry, didn’t see that it had a fourth camera. I had checked a spec comparison sheet on Samsungs page, but they listed both telephotos on the same line. Yeah, with the fourth lens, it may be worth using a slightly higher telephoto range.
Hahaha, you sir are wrong.
I know at least a dozen people who have mostly gone to their iPhones to use it for photography or S23 Ultras or similar. I was one, who had a nice SLR camera, and didn't see the need to carry it with me any more. The ones I knew ran their own business and run it well with a smartphone now instead of their SLR cameras. They still use the lighting rigs if needed.
A studio using a phone instead of a professional camera? Please name and shame
Don't need too, some are family and some are friends. They do weddings mostly, and don't have an actual studio.
Also, as mentioned, you'd be likely crippling the aperture for everyone because in a phone format, it's pretty hard to build an f/2.8 lens for a 10X focal length (hence why Samsung's is f/4.9). It's about 1.5 stops difference, which means only approximately one third the amount of light gathered (each stop such as 2.8 -> 4.0 halves the light), so you'd be paying for it in all but perfect (ie. full daylight) lighting conditions. And 10X kind of takes you out of portrait range anyway so 5X is IMO a more usable focal length even if it is a compromise (isn't everything?).
You can certainly argue for 10X if you really need that reach and will always have a lot of light to work with. But I think 5X is a good compromise given current technology, for most people. The one thing that bugs me is specular highlights and lens flares from the 5X camera show a weird light pattern, very likely caused by how the light travels through the prisms. But it's not in every shot and not really a deal-breaker for me.
Wedding photography with a smart phone?!?!
I'm honestly speechless, wow. 🤦♂️🤦♂️
What tends to happen in these reviews is they do a like for like comparison setting both phones at same x zoom setting. Yes the iPhone is better at that setting but when it goes past that x zoom the s23 ultra takes better pictures because it has a better zoom lens.
Yeah, this is a bugbear of mine. Not sure any of the 'zooms' from any manufacturer actually work as a proper zoom do they?
More correct surely to say they are telephoto lenses?
And I guess you ignored some professional 4k movies been created on iPhones or Samsung phones too right?Wedding photography with a smart phone?!?!
I'm honestly speechless, wow.
Dude, you're embarrassing yourself. You literally have no idea what you're talking about, bs like the other guy.
A wedding photographer using an iPhone, my god.
It absolutely is a reason to not offer it, because 99.999%+ of iPhone users are not hauling around a tripod. So if it's going to be onerous to use a 10X, that means almost no one is going to use it, and the results will, in many cases (not enough light) be poor. Meanwhile most people can handheld a 5X (stabilized) lens, and at f/2.8 it means it works well in all kinds of lighting conditions.
Unless you're suggesting they offer a 5X AND a 10X lens in the same phone, but it's not very practical.
One thing I could see them possibly doing in the future is adding a "doubler". This is an additional 2X magnifying lens that gets inserted via switch/level/electronic motor. It doubles the focal length of the base lens while also having the effect of halving the aperture. So this mechanism on the iPhone Pro Max could allow the user to switch between 5X f/2.8 and 10X f/5.6. (In traditional lenses, having the "doubler" active also typically makes the image a bit softer). So in a way, you could have the best of with worlds, with some compromises. However, these mechanisms might be too large or complex to make work in a phone format, and I don't know how they'd work with the prism design.