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Try covering one of the lenses on the 7 Plus

Bbqthis

Bbqthis

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 12, 2015
935
1,844
Bay Area, CA
So my wife got her 7 Plus today and first thing I tried was covering one lens and flipping from 1x to 2x zoom. And what I found was that the image seemed to be coming out of the wide angle no matter what.

I placed my finger over the wide angle and both at 1x and 2x, the camera was obscured. I placed my finger over the 2nd lens and at both 1x and 2x, the camera was not obscured.

Is this part of the "dual lens image fusion" thing Panzerino (and Apple literature) was talking about? And the viewfinder only sees out of the "wide angle" lens? Is this a software bug? Or are we being had...

Tl:dr- camera doesn't seem to be alternating between lens in 1x to 2x as evidenced by covering with a finger.
 
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I assumed it always used both lenses when taking pictures. Just relied more on the telephoto lenses for zoom.
 
I wonder do we need to wait on the software update? A relatively easy way to tell would be to export a picture from both focal lengths and see if there is a difference in file size. That would mean that the wide angle lens when at 2x is digital zoom and cropped.
 
Ok, this is interesting:

I was experimenting in lower light and it behaved exactly as you said. BUT, when I went to a brighter light situation (aiming at a hallway light fixture) then it DID behave as expected, and covering the telephoto lens would show as obscured on 2X. Does it do the same for you?

If so, it seems that in lower light situations in which the telephoto lens would behave poorly it uses the wide angle lens for both 1X and 2X.
 
Actually, if switch to 2x and then cover up the telephoto lens only, it is obscured. If I switch to 1x, it is fine. The software does seem to confuse itself a bit.
 
I can't figure out a situation where the camera uses the 2nd lens. I've tried a bunch of scenarios with zoom, and when I cover the 2nd lens, the iPhone still happily takes a photo using the wide angle lens.. Strange..?

Edit.. So, Time-lapse, slo-mo, square, and pano work as you'd expect -- 2x uses the narrower lens. However, Video and photo do NOT use the 2nd lens on 2x. I expect this is a bug...
 
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Try doing it outside. Only the 28mm lens has optical image stabilisation. The software might be making a choice that for the shutter speed a digitally zoomed stabilised image would be better.
 
A bit more experimenting: If you're up close to something, it uses the wide angle lens for both 1x and 2x. If it's a low light situation it seems to use the wide angle lens for 1x and 2x as well. But, if it's a well lit situation, and you're at least a few feet from your subject, then it uses the telephoto lens for 2x.
 
karmamule said:
A bit more experimenting: If you're up close to something, it uses the wide angle lens for both 1x and 2x. If it's a low light situation it seems to use the wide angle lens for 1x and 2x as well. But, if it's a well lit situation, and you're at least a few feet from your subject, then it uses the telephoto lens for 2x.
Click to expand...
I think this is why third party apps will be a better option for the dual camera setup. More control.
 
I tried doing the same thing, including actually taking photos and I had the same result. Very odd. I tried taking a 2x photo with the telephoto lens blocked and then a 2x photo without it blocked and both are the same quality.
 
Hmm Panzerino told me on twitter that the viewfinder always uses the wide angle for view finding since it has the wider aperture and is brighter? Actually shooting aside, has anyone gotten the viewfinder to show through the "telephoto"?
 
This will make those external telephoto lenses a bit clumsy if you can't preview your final product (with extra magnification from external lens attached to the optical zoom lens) in the viewfinder.
 
Bbqthis said:
Hmm Panzerino told me on twitter that the viewfinder always uses the wide angle for view finding since it has the wider aperture and is brighter? Actually shooting aside, has anyone gotten the viewfinder to show through the "telephoto"?
Click to expand...


Weird. On mine if I cover telephoto and switch it shows a zoomed in pic for a sec then goes black. Then comes back as I uncover it
[doublepost=1474078102][/doublepost]Ok it's related to the light in the scene. If I cover it and point it at a bright light it goes dark. I think the wide is doing scene eval and it figures using a f1.8 digitally zoomed in darker scenes is better than an optical zoomed f2.8
 
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Bbqthis said:
Hmm Panzerino told me on twitter that the viewfinder always uses the wide angle for view finding since it has the wider aperture and is brighter? Actually shooting aside, has anyone gotten the viewfinder to show through the "telephoto"?
Click to expand...

Yes I did when the scene was well lit and I was at least a few feet from my subject. In that case blocking the telephoto and switching to 2x would show as blocked in the viewfinder.
 
I hope I didn't seem like I was making a controversy...I just noticed a weird thing in the phone and wanted to know what's up haha. Glad it seems we've cracked it.
 
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