You could just take the full photo, totally zoomed out, then blow it up and crop to get the same image. What does all this mean? Simply put, smartphone zom isn’t doing you any favors. “Zooming” in this instance is just cropping the outer parts of the same image, and increasing pixel size (or extrapolating them). The image you see when fully zoomed out is the same as the fully “zoomed in” one. The smartphone camera lens is NOT magnifying anything. Like a telescope or binoculars, it allows you to look at things further away with greater clarity.ĭigital Zoom – This is a software effect. Optical Zoom – This is what you’re really thinking of when you say “zoom in.” It magnifies the image. Part of the issue is that we use the word “zoom” for two very different processes. There are exceptions, of course, but for most phones, it’s not helping you get a better picture! The software is tricking you into thinking you’re magnifying the image when you’re actually not.

On my phone why dies ut zoom