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[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

I get what you are saying but zoom is a function of the lens. Calling anything else zoom is a lie.

[-] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 21 minutes ago

Well, it's why we distinguish "optical zoom" and "digital zoom". In its broader meaning, "zoom" means magnification and nothing more. I do agree with you that optical zoom is superior in every way, but if you shoot a 2x digital zoom image on a binning sensor its resolution will not be an upscaled "lie" as is the case for digital zoom generally.

I am not trying to defend marketing deceptions or pretend that optical and digital zoom are alike. I just wanted to mention this piece of technical information so that someone that cares can know that if you do want to zoom beyond the optical capabilities of your phone (provided it has a binning sensor, basically every "50MP" phone does*), exactly 2x is the way to go, as it is indeed higher quality than shooting at 1x and cropping to 2x afterwards.

*Admittedly this point is kind of moot because most phones have a dedicated telephoto camera that uses a different, smaller sensor when you switch to 2x. This only applies if your tele is 3x or higher or you have a single lens with a sensor >>12.5MP

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 minutes ago

If you are going to split hairs on it not being a lie then I am going to split hairs on it not being magnification.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2026
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