Apple makes three arguments for lack of 10x optical zoom on iPhone 15 Pro Max - eviltoast
  1. People hardly ever use 10x zoom
  2. 10x optical zoom is hard to stabilize
  3. Aperture trumps zoom
  • deranger@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • casmael@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • deranger@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • casmael@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Yeah that’s fair, and I suppose there are also probably pretty significant limitations to iso performance because of the very very small sensor.

          That said, I’m not scared of high iso (in fact I quite like it) and if we’re talking about telephoto lenses, I’d take a light long lens over a heavy fast one any day of the week but hey. I get upset when I see a nice bird and don’t have a camera on me. Majority of folks will probably be happier with a decent fastish portrait lens, so I guess Apple made the right call from a ‘selling iPhones’ perspective. I’d still like a bit of extra reach even if the lens is a bit on the slow side.

  • GalacticHero@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • Veraxus@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      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.

    • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      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.

  • Nate@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Literally took picture of my cat seconds ago before reading this post at 10x because I didn’t want to stand up

  • ryno364@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • SilenceInTheVoid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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

  • segv11@fedia.io
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    1 year ago

    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.