iPhone 17 How big do you think Pro telephoto is over non-pro?

[Kaitlyn2004]

I have a 13 pro with 3x telephoto, and I’d argue it’s… rather underwhelming - especially when you push it beyond the 3x.

I’m really struggling on 17 vs 17 Pro and the cameras are a big one. It seems they’re identical except for addition of the telephoto in the Pro?

But also surely a bigger+improved sensor over my 13 Pro.

How do you think the zoom on the Pro actually compares over the base model? Is telephoto still maybe a bit too gimmicky for quality?

 

[JPack]

Sensor size on the main camera will always differ between the regular and Pro models. The main sensor on 14 Pro for example is still bigger than base 17.

 

[kitenski]

Optical Zoom on my 15 Pro Max has been very good, but it does depend on what kind of shots you need to take and how often.

 

[BigBlur]

I wouldn't say it's gimmicky, but it's important to understand how the zoom works.

On the 17 Pro, the 0.5x (ultra wide), 1x (main), and 4x (telephoto) zoom levels are all optical and make full use of the image sensor, capturing 48MP photos. The 2x and 8x zoom levels are a crop from the image sensor, resulting in a lower/smaller 12MP photo, but it's still optical quality. It's as if you took those photos with a 12MP camera instead of a 48MP one.

Anything else that's not one of the preset 0.5x (48MP), 1x (48MP), 2x (12MP), 4x (48 MP), 8x (12MP) zoom levels (such as 1.4x, 3x, 4.5x, 7x, etc.) is a digital zoom and will interpolate the pixels, resulting in a less-than-perfect picture.

On the regular 17, the options are 0.5x (48MP), 1x (48MP), 2x (12MP).

EDIT:
To compare with the 13 Pro, your preset zoom levels are 0.5x (12MP), 1x (12MP), and 3x (12MP), so those are the ones you'd want to stick to for good photos. Anything else would be a digital zoom and explains why you thought it was underwhelming. Whatever phone you use, it's important to stick with the preset zoom levels if you want best possible photos (tap the zoom levels; don't pinch to zoom).

 

[smirking]

I own the 15 Pro and I'm also a semi-professional photographer. I avoid using any of my telephoto lenses if possible.

I never like the photos they produce. Whereas some shots I take with the 24mm lens are so good that they come close to one of my Nikons when viewed at typical screen sizes, I never feel that way about anything I take with one of the zoom lenses.

The photos themselves are fine, but the images they produce are so boring, but if I didn't have an arsenal of professional gear, I might feel differently.

I'm still glad I got the 15 Pro though. Its .5x ultrawide lens is very handy. It has serious distortion issues, but there have been quite a few times I really needed it in tight spaces.

 

[davehutch]

I'm also doing my annual assessment of the new cameras but tbh I may end up sticking with my 15 Pro Max. My main gripe is that, even when you select the 5x telephoto, the camera sometimes the 1x lens and interpolates. it's annoying but I guess that's the price you have to pay for computational photography. Have you ever tried shooting through binoculars with an iPhone?...it's an absolute nightmare due to the constant lens switching.
I use Adobe Lightroom for my editing and file management and one thing I have noticed though, is that for shots of people, almost without fail, I'm much better off switching off Apple ProRAW in the Adobe develop settings. Much more detail, more natural tones and you still have the ability to recover highlights in the HDR images. I've set it to always remove Apple ProRAW on import.
Yes, the 17 Pro would have 48MP and 4x optical but the 12MP 5x is not bad at all as long as it uses the telephone lens

 

[loybond]

I have a 13 pro with 3x telephoto, and I’d argue it’s… rather underwhelming - especially when you push it beyond the 3x.

I’m really struggling on 17 vs 17 Pro and the cameras are a big one. It seems they’re identical except for addition of the telephoto in the Pro?

But also surely a bigger+improved sensor over my 13 Pro.

How do you think the zoom on the Pro actually compares over the base model? Is telephoto still maybe a bit too gimmicky for quality?

It sounds like you use digital zoom quite a bit, when you zoom past 3x on your phone now. The 17 pro would work a lot better for you because it's 4x to begin with, but having much more resolution means you can crop a lot more in good light. You'll notice a big difference i think.

 

[loybond]

I'm also doing my annual assessment of the new cameras but tbh I may end up sticking with my 15 Pro Max. My main gripe is that, even when you select the 5x telephoto, the camera sometimes the 1x lens and interpolates. it's annoying but I guess that's the price you have to pay for computational photography. Have you ever tried shooting through binoculars with an iPhone?...it's an absolute nightmare due to the constant lens switching.
I use Adobe Lightroom for my editing and file management and one thing I have noticed though, is that for shots of people, almost without fail, I'm much better off switching off Apple ProRAW in the Adobe develop settings. Much more detail, more natural tones and you still have the ability to recover highlights in the HDR images. I've set it to always remove Apple ProRAW on import.
Yes, the 17 Pro would have 48MP and 4x optical but the 12MP 5x is not bad at all as long as it uses the telephone lens

iPhone has always had that annoyance on the telephoto lens. Their thinking is that it's noisier and cropping the 1x will look better than using the actual telephoto lens but not really. They do that in even slightly less lit situations.

I'm hoping the 17 pro isn't like that.

 

[dizmonk]

I wouldn't say it's gimmicky, but it's important to understand how the zoom works.

On the 17 Pro, the 0.5x (ultra wide), 1x (main), and 4x (telephoto) zoom levels are all optical and make full use of the image sensor, capturing 48MP photos. The 2x and 8x zoom levels are a crop from the image sensor, resulting in a lower/smaller 12MP photo, but it's still optical quality. It's as if you took those photos with a 12MP camera instead of a 48MP one.

Anything else that's not one of the preset 0.5x (48MP), 1x (48MP), 2x (12MP), 4x (48 MP), 8x (12MP) zoom levels (such as 1.4x, 3x, 4.5x, 7x, etc.) is a digital zoom and will interpolate the pixels, resulting in a less-than-perfect picture.

On the regular 17, the options are 0.5x (48MP), 1x (48MP), 2x (12MP).

EDIT:
To compare with the 13 Pro, your preset zoom levels are 0.5x (12MP), 1x (12MP), and 3x (12MP), so those are the ones you'd want to stick to for good photos. Anything else would be a digital zoom and explains why you thought it was underwhelming. Whatever phone you use, it's important to stick with the preset zoom levels if you want best possible photos (tap the zoom levels; don't pinch to zoom).

This is very helpful but I'm still a little confused. Can you explain (to a layperson) what "optical quality" means? Thanks.

 

[davehutch]

This is very helpful but I'm still a little confused. Can you explain (to a layperson) what "optical quality" means? Thanks.

An image projected onto an entire sensor, or a part of that sensor is considered ‘optical quality’ by Apple and others. However, if the image was taken from part of the sensor and then enlarged to a higher resolution by interpolation (an algorithm that tries to guess pixel content that was never actually there) that would be a digital zoom and not optical quality. In the case of the 2x and 8x ‘zooms’, they do not re-enlarge the image, it’s simply taken from a smaller part of the sensor so it’s still considered optical quality. You have to bear in mind though that because every image is the result of computations and internal editing, no image is really a result of a single exposure so take all claims with a pinch of salt

 

[fatTribble]

I wouldn't say it's gimmicky, but it's important to understand how the zoom works.

On the 17 Pro, the 0.5x (ultra wide), 1x (main), and 4x (telephoto) zoom levels are all optical and make full use of the image sensor, capturing 48MP photos. The 2x and 8x zoom levels are a crop from the image sensor, resulting in a lower/smaller 12MP photo, but it's still optical quality. It's as if you took those photos with a 12MP camera instead of a 48MP one.

Anything else that's not one of the preset 0.5x (48MP), 1x (48MP), 2x (12MP), 4x (48 MP), 8x (12MP) zoom levels (such as 1.4x, 3x, 4.5x, 7x, etc.) is a digital zoom and will interpolate the pixels, resulting in a less-than-perfect picture.

On the regular 17, the options are 0.5x (48MP), 1x (48MP), 2x (12MP).

EDIT:
To compare with the 13 Pro, your preset zoom levels are 0.5x (12MP), 1x (12MP), and 3x (12MP), so those are the ones you'd want to stick to for good photos. Anything else would be a digital zoom and explains why you thought it was underwhelming. Whatever phone you use, it's important to stick with the preset zoom levels if you want best possible photos (tap the zoom levels; don't pinch to zoom).

I thank you greatly for this! I’ve been looking for an article that explains this, but you did it very well.

What confuses me still is the difference between the 5x/6x/7x and the 8x. With the 8x being a crop of the 4x, would those intermediate zooms also be a crop but even less of a crop? I believe you. I’m just trying to understand.

In my mind, the 8x is just using the middle 12MP area of the sensor. Is that right?
So for example the 5x, why couldn’t it just use the middle 20MP of the sensor (just made up the number to avoid the math)?

So I’m wondering why are 5x/6x/7x a digital zoom and not a crop like the 8x?

Thank you!