iPhone 7 plus Dual Camera functionality

[boomersmech]

I thought my understanding of the iPhone 7 plus camera at present was pretty clear but now that I have it I'm not so sure..... PS Sorry for posting a same question, if this is already covered please link me and I'll happily move over there.

So my understanding was that at 1x - 1.9x this was a digital zoom provided by the standard lense of the camera. 2x was done by the telephoto lense and 2.1x - 10x was a digital zoom done by the telephoto.

I tried to find ANY documentation with a clear explanation of what exactly each camera is performing but alas,apple in their typical vague nature has provide little documentation.

With some simple tests covering each lens I can't see when the second (inside) lens is ever used. Even assuming some software magic is done, I can't see any diffrence covering the lens, 2x vs uncovered. This is using as macro of a subject as i can find (a dog hair).

Thoughs?

 

[Jal217]

The image processor is always combining photos. From what I've heard, that no matter what zoom is used, the image processor takes images from both camera no matter what. (unless a 3rd party app tells it not to) it then takes the most useful data from both images and combines them. (For instance at 2x it would use the telephoto primarily and use the color and brightness of the image stabilized regular camera) So the reason covering the second lense doesn't change it is because your phone realizes it's a bad photo and doesn't use it in the combination when you take the picture. It only uses the other. In addition, in the view finder it seems that it shows mostly the primary camera and doesn't really use the second until you take the picture. That last bit may be wrong but that's what it seems like to me through use.

 

[boomersmech]

After doing more tests, the 2nd camera does show in the viewfinder and is black if covered, the primary camera determines focal length first so if its under 1.5 meters its not used and its all digital all the time. Good to know that the telephoto is ignored on macros shots.

 

[jamesrick80]

This is all that matters and apple made the camera seem like the greatest feature yet it's not.....http://www.businessinsider.com/appl...to-produce-images-of-perfectly-good-quality-1

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

View attachment 653458

This is all that matters and apple made the camera seem like the greatest feature yet it's not.....http://www.businessinsider.com/appl...to-produce-images-of-perfectly-good-quality-1

That site did a very poor job comparing the two cameras. We need to see a comparison by a legitimate site under controlled test conditions.