2023-09-13 08:10:33
The telephoto lens of the newly released iPhone 15 Pro Max makes us very curious. What kind of reflection method is the so-called “four reflections”? Is this lens considered a “periscope lens”? Compared with the current mainstream periscope telephoto lens in the Android camp, is Apple’s design stronger? Through this illustration, we will explain it completely.
This article is reproduced from Furch Lab photography laboratory Fan page iPhone 15 Pro Max telephoto lens analysis article, reposted here with permission.
iPhone 15 Pro Max telephoto lens fully illustrated!Four reflections and periscope lenses fully explained
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is equipped with a telephoto lens equivalent to 120mm f/2.8 and 5x zoom. Apple officially claims that this lens uses a “quadruple reflex lens”, which raises our questions, because generally periscope lenses There are only two reflections. Where does the iPhone’s four reflections come from?
The periscope style of iPhone 15 Pro Max is very different from what you think
The reason is that Apple designed a parallelogram optical lens. After the light passes through the telescope group, it can be reflected four times inside the lens before reaching the photosensitive element. It is worth noting that there are no other optical components (such as lens groups) in the middle of the telescope. This design directly integrates the telescope group into a group of lens groups, and the telescope is only used to extend the light path. Without this four-dimensional lens, If the lens is reflected, the telephoto lens will become very long.
Let’s take a look at how the current periscope telephoto lenses of Android phones are made. Most of the current mainstream telephoto zoom lenses are equipped with a 45˚ reflector at the front and rear ends to reflect the light at 90˚-90˚. , and then incident on the photosensitive element. This design can accommodate the zoom and focus lens group in the middle of the reflector, and also allows the telephoto lens to have more functions, such as the ability to design optical anti-shock elements into the lens group.
Who has the better telephoto lens between Apple and Android flagships?
So, what is the difference between Apple’s design and the current mainstream Android design? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two? Structurally speaking, the four-reflection telephoto lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a fixed-focus lens design. The advantage is that it has simple optical components and does not require a complex telescope group design. In theory, it should have better optical performance (because there is no zoom components), while reducing costs, the aperture is also easy to design larger.
The shortcomings of Apple are also the advantages of Android. Currently, many of the telephoto lenses of Android flagship phones have zoom functions. The zoom referred to here is true optical zoom, not zoom calculated by cropping and calculation, which means that it must There is real optical element movement to achieve the zoom effect. The advantage of this is that the lens is more functional, allowing the lens to have a zoom function. At the same time, because the lens group space is larger, there is no need to worry about the protrusion of the lens group, so more complex designs can be achieved. The disadvantage is of course that the aperture is usually smaller, and there are usually trade-offs in optical quality.
Of course, who is stronger and who is weaker depends entirely on actual measurement. Here we only theoretically propose the common advantages and disadvantages of the two optical designs. Which one is better and worse between the two can also be said to be the eternal problem between zoom lenses and fixed focus lenses. XD
Periscope design that leads to the same goal through different paths
Finally, back to our previous question, can the telephoto lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max be considered a “periscope lens”? I think in a narrow sense it is not, but in a broad sense it is. The definition of a periscope lens is that the light path must go through a 90˚ reflection, usually a double reflection. In fact, even a single reflection can be considered a periscope lens, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max does not have a 90˚ reflection (it is speculated that it may be 60˚-120 ˚-120˚-60˚ four reflections), and Apple officials seem to have never stated in official literature that their lens is a “periscope lens.”
But the telephoto lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max also uses a different design to achieve the same function, that is, the process is different, but the results are similar and the purpose is the same. Although it is four reflections, the purpose of this design is the same as two reflections. As for why four reflections are used instead of two 90˚ reflections? The reason is also very simple, because the four-reflection volume is smaller, which can simplify the space of the lens module. If it is designed with two 90˚ reflections, the length of the lens will be slightly longer than the current one.
Apple redefines periscope lens?
In fact, the periscope lens is a very old design. The prototype of the periscope lens appeared 56 years ago, and it has a history of nearly 20 years on camera phones. When we disassemble this lens and analyze it, we can find that Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max certainly does not “redefine” the so-called periscope lens. It actually adopts a very Apple way, with a simplified design and fewer components. To achieve seemingly complex lens functions, the image quality may be better at the same time. This solution is quite in line with Apple’s spirit of balance. It may not be the first in the industry, but it is obviously more suitable for the iPhone, and it will also be the strongest telephoto lens for the iPhone currently.
This article is reproduced from Furch Lab photography laboratory Fan page iPhone 15 Pro Max telephoto lens analysis article, reposted here with permission.
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