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iPhone 17 Pro's Rumored 8x Zoom Could Explain Larger Camera Bump
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The iPhone 17 Pro design is the Apple Watch Ultra of the iPhone. It's manly, big, it's beautiful.
The lens is 120 mm full frame equivalent. Of course the actual focal length of the lens is vastly shorter than that due to the smaller sensor.
Life is tough. You can't have both. Either iPhone 17 Air for a slim one or the 17 Pro for 8x
My guess is it may have this movable lens to allow for zooming out to 0.5x and in to a more modest range than what the pro phones will do with it. The separate fixed zoom cameras might be better overall, but this could be a good compromise for the slimmed down phone.
This starts to be an exciting set of lenses in your pocket:
What I miss mostly here is 3x ~ 75mm FF equivalent for portraits. If the dual mode rumor (5x and 8x in same lens) pans out, would it be possible to build 3x in there as well?
- 0.5x: ~ 13mm FF equivalent
- Macro
- 1x: ~ 24mm FF equivalent
- Cropped: ~ 50mm FF equivalent
- 5x: ~ 120mm FF equivalent
- 8x mode: ~ 200mm FF equivalent
- Cropped: ~ 400mm FF equivalent
What I miss mostly here is 3x ~ 75mm FF equivalent for portraits. If the dual mode rumor (5x and 8x in same lens) pans out, would it be possible to build 3x in there as well?
I guess it will be a modified version of existing 5x tetraprism. They may have added a movable additional single lens along its optical path to manage higher magnification. That explains why it's not a more logical 4-8x, but 5-8x. It may be the best option achieved in a limited time frame and space constraint. Maybe Apple has been working on different telephoto prototypes, since the former 3.5x rumour suggested. Yet, recent competition pressure may have forced for this direction.
That will likely be a step-zoom, not a continuous one unlike Sony Xperia. It will also be different than Huawei Pura 80 which diverts its optical path to a different assembly with a tiny moving mirror. Huawei's shared sensor unit has 3.7x & 9.4x as cropped. A 48 mpx 8x solution will be much better than 12 mpx 9.4x, assuming similar optical acuity. In good light, without much digital struggle you can have 400mm eqv. (wildlife range) in your pocket!
An uncropped 48 mpx 8x will probably not only make iPhone 17 Pro best telephoto on the market, plus having advantage of smallest form factor in the market.
That will likely be a step-zoom, not a continuous one unlike Sony Xperia. It will also be different than Huawei Pura 80 which diverts its optical path to a different assembly with a tiny moving mirror. Huawei's shared sensor unit has 3.7x & 9.4x as cropped. A 48 mpx 8x solution will be much better than 12 mpx 9.4x, assuming similar optical acuity. In good light, without much digital struggle you can have 400mm eqv. (wildlife range) in your pocket!
An uncropped 48 mpx 8x will probably not only make iPhone 17 Pro best telephoto on the market, plus having advantage of smallest form factor in the market.
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Hmm if you cropped the 5x–8x it would be 10x–16x, not 2.5x–4x, no?
I really hope they don't go from 1x to 5x again; I liked the sound of the 3.5x lens which would be 7x when centre-cropped.
It's Apple's decision, we'll see. They may settle with an Apple version of last year's Huawei Pura 70 Ultra specification, (to be very similar with 48 mpx 3.5x telephoto and other two units), as situated behind competition but relying on image quality aspect, ProRaw capability and usual customer loyalty as well.
Instead a more hawkish path (48 mpx, 5-8x setup rumour) may be chosen to comply with recent Android models. Together with new Huawei Pura 80 series, Vivo X300 is around the corner that may set the bar even higher. Who knows, both scenarios are plausible.
If I were in charge, I'd rather choose a third way: 200 mpx 4x telephoto. With this option, both portrait photographers and the people in need of higher reach will be satisfied. 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x & 16x by some computational aid. So logical, so neat and so competitive...
Instead a more hawkish path (48 mpx, 5-8x setup rumour) may be chosen to comply with recent Android models. Together with new Huawei Pura 80 series, Vivo X300 is around the corner that may set the bar even higher. Who knows, both scenarios are plausible.
If I were in charge, I'd rather choose a third way: 200 mpx 4x telephoto. With this option, both portrait photographers and the people in need of higher reach will be satisfied. 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x & 16x by some computational aid. So logical, so neat and so competitive...
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I would say there's zero chance due to thickness limitations. And the fact that it would be very uncomfortable for users to take only telephoto pics.
Really? I thought this was the whole premise of having a single lens.
A camera with no zoom is DOA
It's the same way iPhone 16e works. Single 48MP sensor. 2x achieved by center cropping. But the 16e uses a sensor from the iPhone 11 era. The 17 Air should be latest sensor.
I had guessed that the larger camera bump was to allow Apple to use a true periscope-style telephoto lens system with up to 10X optical zoom. While it's likely not a periscope-style system, it may be big enough to allow a true 8X optical zoom with other hardware chagnes.