The iPhone 13 Pro is one of the most advanced smartphones on the market, with a stunning design, a powerful processor, and a versatile camera system. It has a telephoto lens that offers 3x optical zoom and up to 15x digital zoom. This means that you can get closer to your subject without losing much detail or clarity. However, some users have reported that the image quality of the photos taken at 2.5x zoom is not as good as expected. This can be annoying especially when you want to click good pictures. Fortunately, there are a few ways to get high-quality images while clicking at 2.5x zoom view on your iPhone 13 Pro, and this guide will show you how.
Why do iPhone 13 Pro Images Look Bad at 2.5x Zoom?
The telephoto lens of the iPhone 13 Pro gives you a clear image when you zoom. However, when you use the 2.5x zoom option, the camera switches from the telephoto lens to the wide-angle lens and crops the image to achieve the desired magnification. This results in a loss of resolution and sharpness, especially in low-light conditions or when there is a lot of movement in the scene. This is the main reason why iPhone 13 Pro pictures look bad when clicked at 2.5x zoom. There are a few possible reasons why Apple decided to use this approach for the 2.5x zoom option as follows:
Telephoto Lens Narrow Aperture
One is that the telephoto lens has a narrower aperture i.e., f/2.8 than the wide-angle lens i.e., f/1.5, which means that it lets in less light and may produce darker or noisier images in some situations.
Telephoto Lens Longer Focal Length
Another is that the telephoto lens has a longer focal length i.e., 77 mm than the wide-angle lens which is 26 mm in length. This means that it has a shallower depth of field and may blur the background or foreground more than desired.
Smaller Sensor Size for Telephoto Lens
A third reason is that the telephoto lens has a 1/3.4 inch sensor size while the wide-angle lens has a larger sensor size of 1/1.9 inch, which means that it has smaller pixels and may capture less detail or dynamic range.
How to Take Good Quality Pictures at 2.5x Zoom?
If you want to take photos at this magnification level, you can use the 3x zoom option and then crop the image later to get the desired framing. This way, you will use the telephoto lens and preserve more detail and clarity.
The iPhone 13 Pro is an amazing device that can take stunning photos in most scenarios. However, if you are looking for the best image quality at 2.5x zoom, you may want to consider using 3x zoom instead of relying on the default camera app.
That’s why iPhone 13 Pro 2.5x pictures look bad at 2.5x zoom. Also, you can check out our other guides, such as How to Fix Camera not Focusing error on iPhone or How to use night mode on iPhone which might help you to click better pictures.
