iPhone 11 Pro 1x Lens vs 2x Lens quality

[M33-1]

Even though the main 1x Lens has a better sensor, the 2x is much better when cropping in.

See attached samples. First sample was taken with 2x optical and second with main 1x Lens. Both photos were taken from across a room on a dark day and cropped significantly. Distance from camera to box is about 13-14 feet.

Just sharing what I’ve found. There are many times when the camera app takes a cropped and zoomed image of the 1x Lens for a 2x shot. This is why you want a third party camera app to verify you are using the telephoto 2x when you want it.

Here is the original 2x shot.

 

[ruslan120]

I’ve noticed some differences in quality when filming as well. I think the results will differ based on the amount of light hitting the sensor.

Should be a moot point once Deep Fusion comes out

 

[Eugr]

That shouldn't be a surprise given that you take both shots from the same spot. Since telephoto camera is 2x, you don't have to upsample its image compared to 1x, so it is naturally sharper. Now if you take 1x shot from a shorter distance, so you could get the same size crop at 100% without upsampling, I'd expect 1x shot to be better, but the difference will probably be negligible with good lighting.

11 pro has larger aperture than Xs and X, so telephoto is active in darker environments. However under less favorable lighting conditions, you will start seeing much more noise in telephoto and at some point the picture will get so noisy that upscaled (digitally zoomed) 1x shot would look better, so iPhone would switch to 1x even for 2x shots. Not sure how well it's tuned in 11 pro though...

 

[Shirasaki]

I sometimes still favour manual zooming (walking closer to target) rather than that 2x “optical zooming” because the main sensor takes better photos overall. Granted I am using iPhone XS Max, but I believe this should be a trend for the next few years until some major breakthrough on camera lenses.