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iPhone telephoto lens picture quality? What do you think?

Technarchy

Technarchy

macrumors 604
Original poster
May 21, 2012
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Was waiting in the parking lot while someone was shopping and got curious about the image quality of the telephoto lens in the iPhone 8+. Took a quick test pic. What do you think?

Downgrade from main lens or not a huge difference?

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Is one of them telephoto and the other wide angle? Probably better if you took the same pic with both to see how they turn out?

The photos above both look not that great, probably the worst photos I've seen coming from an 8+.
 
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The only real noticeable differences I can pick up is that the white SUV in the telephoto image now has detail to its doors, instead of being blown-out. And, the section of cloud just above the Target sign has detail to it also in the telephoto image.
 
Alexander.Of.Oz said:
The only real noticeable differences I can pick up is that the white SUV in the telephoto image now has detail to its doors, instead of being blown-out. And, the section of cloud just above the Target sign has detail to it also in the telephoto image.
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That's my observation as well. I would expect more detail from further away objects with x2 optical zoom, but overall it doesn't look like the telephoto lens is producing overall inferior image. Not noticing any real difference in color, tone, clarity. I am going to use the x2 more and see what I think. I wasn't a big fan on the 7+, but the 8+ seems to produce better results.
 
Technarchy said:
That's my observation as well. I would expect more detail from further away objects with x2 optical zoom, but overall it doesn't look like the telephoto lens is producing overall inferior image. Not noticing any real difference in color, tone, clarity. I am going to use the x2 more and see what I think. I wasn't a big fan on the 7+, but the 8+ seems to produce better results.
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Yeah, with my own comparisons between the lenses under the same light conditions, I noticed no colour, tone, detail shifts between them either. If you have a good, steady handholding technique, you shouldn't notice any difference at all.
 
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Alexander.Of.Oz said:
Yeah, with my own comparisons between the lenses under the same light conditions, I noticed no colour, tone, detail shifts between them either. If you have a good, steady handholding technique, you shouldn't notice any difference at all.
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the lenses have different aperture
 
You have a steady hand, if you did not, the telephoto one would have produced a more blurry image compared to the wide-angle because of no OIS.
 
Starfyre said:
You have a steady hand, if you did not, the telephoto one would have produced a more blurry image compared to the wide-angle because of no OIS.
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Not true, the lack of OIS doesn’t make a difference unless you’re dealing with a low light situation where the shutter is slow. In most situations it’s not going to be difficult in the least to get a good photo. Great cameras did exist before OIS was a thing you know!
 
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Vermifuge said:
the lenses have different aperture
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Yes, and by using the inbuilt camera app it compensates for the required amount of light to expose correctly, so you don't actually notice any difference in the light or anything else.

The aperture on these little tiny lenses is not the same as on a lens for a DSLR, for example. The large (small f/#) apertures used on these lenses actually allows focus throughout the image in a landscape, which does not happen on a larger lens at the same aperture #.
 
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