iphone x dual lens cameraThe 2016 iPhone 7 Plus was the first Apple smartphone to feature a dual lens camera, and this year's iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X followed suit, improving upon last year's design with larger sensors and better signal image processing. The iPhone X also benefits from added optical image stabilization and larger aperture on the telephoto lens.

In what may come as a surprise to most casual snappers, the telephoto lens in Apple's dual camera isn't always activated when the 2x zoom is selected in the native Camera app. In some low light scenes, iOS opts to crop a wide angle image instead in an effort to obtain a better image with less noise and a lower likelihood of blurring.

With this in mind, Studio Neat designer Dan Provost recently conducted an experiment to see how much the telephoto lens in the iPhone X improves upon the one in the iPhone 7 Plus. To do this, he looked at how much light is required before an iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone X switches to the telephoto lens when the 2x zoom mode is selected. This would show Provost if the frequency of cropping an image is at all reduced in Apple's latest smartphone.

I placed an object (in this case, an old Rolleiflex camera) on a white backdrop, and flanked it on both sides with two LED studio lights. I set up the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone X on tripods (using the Glif, natch) and positioned them to keep the framing as similar as possible. Then, starting from a completely dark room, I slowly raised the light levels and observed when the lens switched on each camera. The results are in the video below.


As the embedded video demonstrates, Provost discovered that the iPhone X switched to the telephoto lens much more quickly in his artificial low light scenes, requiring approximately 2 fewer stops of light before switching to the telephoto lens, compared to the iPhone 7 Plus.

"This is obviously great news, and speaks to how improved the second lens is after just one year," says Provost. "In my own use of the phone for the past couple weeks, it does indeed seem to be the case that I am very rarely presented with a 2X cropped image."

You can learn more about Provost's iPhone X low light photography experiment over on the Studio Neat website.

Related Forums: iOS 11, iPhone

Top Rated Comments

PickUrPoison Avatar
94 months ago
Yet, no OIS on the telephoto lens on the 8 plus. £800 for a phone that is purposefully handicapped.
No, the iPhone 8 is not purposely handicapped. You are correct that it doesn’t have OIS on the telephoto lens like the flagship iPhone X does, but then again it is $200 cheaper than a X. The iPhone 8 also doesn’t have FaceID, and there are other differences.

Weird that this requires explanation, but you won’t get all the features of the highest priced phone unless you buy the highest priced phone.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chfilm Avatar
94 months ago
I can confirm that the telephoto lens is MUCH improved over the 7+. A shot like this would have been impossible to get with the old phone in portrait mode, it was super dark there. Look at the bokehs!

Attachment Image
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Archer1440 Avatar
94 months ago
Yet, no OIS on the telephoto lens on the 8 plus. £800 for a phone that is purposefully handicapped.
Yet, no turbo on my base model Porsche 911. $94K for a car that is purposefully handicapped. Oh, wait...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Scottsoapbox Avatar
94 months ago
It's funny to me that 2X isn't ALWAYS the tele lens on the X. Even with OIS and wider aperture, Apple still knows best on what I really want. :rolleyes:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chfilm Avatar
94 months ago
Is Apple still applying way too much noise reduction and JPEG compression? In other words, do the photos still look like smudged watercolor paintings when zoomed all the way in? Every model since the iPhone 6 has had this problem, and I'm surprised that none of the camera reviews so far has mentioned this.
I feel it has gotten a little better with HEIF. But a scientific observation would be interesting in fact.

I was shocked when I took my first pix with the Lightroom app and saw the real quality that the camera can deliver without all this compression!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wesley96 Avatar
94 months ago
I highly doubt you'd actually accept the noise and/or motion blur. Once an image gets noisy (and/or blurry) enough, people tend to not display it at 100%, they'd display it smaller to hide some of the noise (and/or motion blur). And if a downsampled 'tele' photo looks worse than a full-size wide-angle shot in a double-blind test, there is zero reason to prefer it.
[doublepost=1511606027][/doublepost]
Unless the phone does upsampling, the image should have smaller dimensions (ie, less than 12 MP).
[doublepost=1511606513][/doublepost]
£800 and it doesn't have FaceID. £800 and it doesn't have a 5.8" screen. £800 and it doesn't have an OLED screen. £800 and it doesn't have a 458 dpi screen.
1. Based on my experience, the zoomed wide angle lens shot is indeed better at a casual glance in most normal point-and-shoot situations. However, you can get a sharper result with the telephoto if you tweak the settings... but by that point you're just better off using a 3rd party camera app. They let you select the type of lens being used anyway.

2. It seems you haven't taken a look at how the default iPhone camera app takes photos. It always does upsampling regardless of the digital zoom level, so that the resulting photo has the same dimensions. It's frankly quite annoying sometimes.
[doublepost=1511610453][/doublepost]
How can you tell if it’s cropping the image from the sensor with wide angle lens or using the one with the tele lens?
Two ways.

1. Use a photo app with EXIF info display. You'll be able to know what lens the photo was taken with.

2. In the case of the video in the article, you'll notice a slight shift in the location of the object on the screen when the lens is switched. Because the two lenses are located apart from each other, this is inevitable (and also useful for obtaining depth information, to a degree).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
m2 macbook air blue

M4 MacBook Air Release Continues to Appear Imminent

Monday February 10, 2025 10:56 am PST by
There continue to be signs of a new MacBook Air with an M4 chip, indicating that we could see the machine launch in the not too distant future. A private account on X today shared the identifiers that the MacBook Air will use, and those identifiers correspond to the M4 chip. According to the source, both the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 15-inch MacBook Air will be equipped with Apple's...
oppo find n5 fingers

World's Thinnest Foldable Phone Launches Next Week

Monday February 10, 2025 3:05 am PST by
Oppo has confirmed a February 20 global launch for its Find N5, which the company claims is the world's thinnest device in the foldable phone category. The phone is expected to be re-branded as the OnePlus Open 2 in the US. The Chinese vendor has been teasing the device in the last few weeks, touting its waterproofing and nearly invisible display crease, and highlighting its thinness by compa...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.3.1

Monday February 10, 2025 10:04 am PST by
Apple today released watchOS 11.3.1, a minor update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.3.1 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.3.1 can be downloaded by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to...
sequoia

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.3.1

Monday February 10, 2025 10:11 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, a minor update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that came out last September. macOS 15.3.1 comes a few weeks after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. Apple has also released macOS 13.7.4 and macOS 14.7.4 for those who are...
M4 mini Glowing Blue

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 Macs

Wednesday February 12, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024. Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries. ...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...