Other iPhone 15 2x zoom vs iPhone 13 Pro's 3x optical zoom?

[skiltrip]

I have been looking to maybe get a refurb 13 Pro, but then watched the event yesterday and was thinking about the iPhone 15 non-pro, it's 48mp and has the 2x telephoto zoom. Is the 13 Pro still clearly the better camera especially when using the zoom? Seems like the 15 has a lot more megapixels to use, but it's not a real optical zoom, is it?

Just wondering if I should be considering the 15, or just stick to the plan an grab a refurb 13 Pro.

 

[jm31828]

I have been looking to maybe get a refurb 13 Pro, but then watched the event yesterday and was thinking about the iPhone 15 non-pro, it's 48mp and has the 2x telephoto zoom. Is the 13 Pro still clearly the better camera especially when using the zoom? Seems like the 15 has a lot more megapixels to use, but it's not a real optical zoom, is it?

Just wondering if I should be considering the 15, or just stick to the plan an grab a refurb 13 Pro.

I would argue that no, the 13 Pro's zoom lens is not as good. That is because only the main camera is any good- the zoom was always pretty low quality.

The nice thing with the 15 non-pro and it's 2x, is that you are using the main lens that is going to take the best quality images- using the center area of a 48 mp image to crop down to what is a 2x zoom- still ending up with a 24mp image so it'll still be as good (or better) compared to regular 1x on an older phone such as the iPhone 13.

To me that sounds like it's far superior- but would love to hear from others on that.

 

[skiltrip]

I would argue that no, the 13 Pro's zoom lens is not as good. That is because only the main camera is any good- the zoom was always pretty low quality.

The nice thing with the 15 non-pro and it's 2x, is that you are using the main lens that is going to take the best quality images- using the center area of a 48 mp image to crop down to what is a 2x zoom- still ending up with a 24mp image so it'll still be as good (or better) compared to regular 1x on an older phone such as the iPhone 13.

To me that sounds like it's far superior- but would love to hear from others on that.

I was sort of thinking the same thing, but I'm no expert, so that's why I wanted to post on it. Thanks for the input.
48mp is a lot to work with in a digital zoom.