this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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  1. People hardly ever use 10x zoom
  2. 10x optical zoom is hard to stabilize
  3. Aperture trumps zoom
all 19 comments
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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 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 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] GalacticHero 2 points 1 year ago

I would accept that as an explanation if it was the one they gave.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 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 9 points 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 4 points 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

[–] rez_doggie 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apple: We don't innovate, we force compromise.

[–] HollandJim 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah! Who needs to believe in science or physics!? I wanna hate what I wanna hate!!

[–] rez_doggie 1 points 1 year ago

Why study when you can plagiarize?!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 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.