iPhone 14 Pro Why does iPhone 14 Pro video quality with zoom look so bad?

[slapple]

I recorded this video using the iPhone 14 Pro at either 2x or 3x zoom (probably 2x zoom). The quality looks pretty bad considering the iPhone 14 Pro has optical zoom for 2x and 3x.

 

[fatTribble]

Did you record at 4K or 1080p HD?

 

[slapple]

Did you record at 4K or 1080p HD?

At 1080p HD.

 

[fatTribble]

At 1080p HD.

I’m no expert but just based on my own videos you can tell a difference. If there’s much movement at all I do 4K at 60 fps. It’s a lot of storage though. Just my two cents but I doubt you have a defective iPhone or anything like that.

 

[Fat_Guy]

Just asking - was it a zoom or a crop. This may answer your question…

 

[slapple]

Just asking - was it a zoom or a crop. This may answer your question…

I tapped either the 2x or 3x button, then hit record.

 

[HDFan]

Maybe a focusing problem? At 40 seconds or so someone with "Poland" on their jacket blocks the view. You can see that the focus on the jacket text looks good for just a fraction of a second.

 

[Fat_Guy]

I tapped either the 2x or 3x button, then hit record.

2X is a crop.

 

[acorntoy]

I tapped either the 2x or 3x button, then hit record.

Sounds like it might be digitally cropped then, causing the bad quality.

On a side note, watch out for crocs!

 

[slapple]

2X is a crop.

So does that mean 2X zoom will always look bad, and 3X zoom will look better?

 

[antiprotest]

Regardless of the things people are asking about here, the video should still not look so bad though. There is no excuse for this.

 

[Fat_Guy]

Regardless of the things people are asking about here, the video should still not look so bad though. There is no excuse for this.

If I slap record and put the phone in my pocket the video will be bad. It’s called user error, but perhaps Apple could have made things clear about how 2X works.


Apple could have given us a 8K video codec as the sensor is up to that, then the crop of recorded at 8K may have been ok at a lesser resolution. Lesson: Don’t use 2X…

 

[JerseyDoug]

2X is a crop.

2X and 3X are both optical zooms. Not sure what you mean by crop. The resultant image circle hits the whole sensor, not a portion of it. Just like the zoom lens on my Nikon D500. Or am I not understanding how you are using the word "crop"?

 

[Fat_Guy]

So does that mean 2X zoom will always look bad, and 3X zoom will look better?

Yes. Having said that, I have never used a zoom in an iPhone for video. It just never occurred to me - better glass and camera/camcorder is what I use.

 

[Fat_Guy]

2X and 3X are both optical zooms. Not sure what you mean by crop. The resultant image circle hits the whole sensor, not a portion of it. Just like the zoom lens on my Nikon D500. Or am I not understanding how you are using the word "crop"?

No. 3X is the optical zoom. 2X is a crop of the main sensor and then blown up on the fly. It works for a photo but not for video.

 

[JerseyDoug]

No. 3X is the optical zoom. 2X is a crop of the main sensor and then blown up on the fly. It works for a photo but not for video.

You ae correct. Thanks for educating me. I mis-read the specs on Apple's site.

 

[sparksd]

No. 3X is the optical zoom. 2X is a crop of the main sensor and then blown up on the fly. It works for a photo but not for video.

Good info. I don't use zoom on video but it's worthwhile having this in mind.