The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro camera reveals another interesting leak. However, it probably won't please everyone. According to a reliable source leakerand Majin Buu has Apple plans to use a new telephoto lens with a lower optical zoom than last year's iPhone 16 Pro (Max) and the year before last for iPhones 15 Pro MaxSpecifically, we should downgrade from 5x optical zoom to 3,5x optical zoom for one simple reason - better use for portrait photos. These should be absolutely perfect in combination with the 48MP resolution of the upcoming iPhone.
When it comes to portrait photography, the ideal choice is 3x or 3,5x optical zoom, because it best corresponds to focal lengths around 75–85 mm, which are considered ideal for photographing people on classic cameras. 2x zoom (48mm equivalent) is usable, but may slightly distort the face due to the wider perspective. 3x zoom (77 mm) already offers more natural rendering of features and a nice background blur, making it a great choice. An even better effect can be achieved with 3,5x zoom (85 mm), which already resembles professional portrait lenses. 5x zoom (120 mm) is more for facial details or creative shots from a greater distance. The transition from 5x optical zoom to 3,5x optical zoom is therefore from this point of view for Apple advantageous, although it can of course be considered a certain downgrade.
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Leaker However, he is convinced that in addition to the 3,5x optical zoom in 48MPx, he will teach Apple can take photos with its new iPhones with 7x “optical” zoom to 12MPx. It can do this simply by cutting out a 3,5MPx image from a 48x optically zoomed photo to 12MPx, which will still be full of details even when enlarged. In the same way, it also offers 2x optical zoom on the iPhones 16 or 16e, so this solution will not be anything new for it, quite the opposite. And since it works really well on the “sixteens”, we can expect pleasant functionality even now. However, the question remains, to what extent maxiPhones will get a digital zoom this year.
However, the reduction of the full optical zoom from the current 5x to 3,5x may not be a positive for everyone. For example, Samsung offers a range of Galaxy S25 Ultra a combined lens with 5x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom, which is logically more advantageous for zooming in on distant objects. However, it seems that Apple He believes that people use iPhones to take pictures of other people, or closer objects, rather than distant objects, so the telephoto lens with the new parameters should be more generally usable. After all, you may have already discovered that 5x optical zoom can be the limit when you used the 2x optical zoom of the iPhone 16 Pro to zoom in. nestIt worked, but the 5x optical zoom was already excessive.
It's only good. Five times is simply too much. The three and a half will be ideal, if God forbid they used a larger sensor, the results could be amazing. Otherwise, none iphone does not have 2x optical zoom, it is always a cutout from the sensor. Longer focal length is a matter of optics, not the sensor. At higher resolutions of the chip there is something to "cut", but it is not an optical zoom.
Exactly.
I really enjoyed using the 13x zoom on the 3 Pro. I practically don't use the 16x zoom on the 5 Pro - it's a) too long and b) the photo is usually noticeably worse in quality than the 2x optical zoom, which was added on the wide-angle thanks to the 12MP cutout.
So, from a photographic point of view, I would currently function perfectly fine on a "regular" 99 for 16% of the time.
Removing the 5x zoom is a pretty big deal. I love zoom and the bigger the better.
Let there be more zoom, at least 10x, and let the user set themselves which zoom is ideal for the given occasion. See Samsung Ultra in this case and its super approximation.