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How to Use the iPhone 7 Plus Zoom

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Learn how to use the iPhone 7 Plus camera zoom in 30 seconds, and why shouldn’t zoom in too much when you take a photo with your new iPhone.

The iPhone 7 Plus is the first iPhone with two cameras on the back and the first iPhone with optical zoom. This allows you to zoom in on an object like a kid, a pet or a game without degrading the quality of the photo.

Technically the iPhone 7 Plus zoom is just switching to the lens that is already zoomed in more, but the effect is still the same — you are closer to your subject.

Here’s how to use the iPhone 7 Plus zoom to get closer to your subject.

Open the iPhone 7 Plus camera app either by tapping on the camera app on your home screen or swiping in from the right on the lock screen.

Once you are in the camera app look for the 1X on screen button. It’s in the middle of the bottom edge in portrait or in the middle of the right side of the screen in landscape.

Tap on the 1X on screen button to quickly jump to a 2X zoom. This is an optical zoom and does not change the quality of your photo. It’s the same as getting twice as close using your iPhone 7. Tap again to zoom back out to 1X.

The iPhone 7 Plus zoom uses the two cameras on the back of the new iPhone.

The iPhone 7 Plus zoom uses the two cameras on the back of the new iPhone.

You can also tap and hold on 1X or 2X and then slide your finger to the left to zoom in and to the right to zoom out. You can zoom in up to 10X, but anything past 2X is a digital zoom or software zoom.

The iPhone 7 Plus zoom also allows you to pinch to zoom, just like on the iPhone 7 and older iPhones.

This is the same as cropping an image so you end up with lower overall quality for your photo. It’s always better to get closer to the subject than to use the software zoom, but sometimes you cannot get any closer. In that case the software zoom is handy.

Above you’ll see a similar photo shot at 1X, 2X and 10X zoom on the iPhone 7 Plus. Notice that the photo quality is the same in the first two photos, but changes with the last photo.

20 Best iPhone 7 Plus Cases

Tech 21 Evo GEM iPhone 7 Plus Case

Tech 21 Evo GEM iPhone 7 Plus Case

The tech21 Evo Gem iPhone 7 Plus case delivers more protection than the pink and sparkly exterior would lead you to believe.

Like the rest of the tech21 cases there is material in the edges of the case that senses shock from a drop and spreads the impact out over the full area of the case. This prevents a sharp impact on a corner from deliver all of the force on that corner, which is what would normally lead to a broken screen.

In addition to the FlexShock material, there is a raised lip to keep the screen safe when you set it on a table and there are openings to easily access all ports and to listen to the iPhone 7 Plus stereo speakers. Available in Rose, Purple and Green.

$39.95 at tech21

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Dale Strauss

    09/29/2016 at 8:22 pm

    There always seems to be this “anything beyond 2x is just digital zoom” around these sites – this is NOT your typical digitl zoom. I don’t know how they are using the two camera’s to fill in detail and sharpness, but check out Serenity Caldwell’s comparison videos of the main lens; same picture scaled 100% (for effective digital zoom by cropping) and the actual 10x zoom the camera took – it is stunning:

    https://forums.imore.com/iphone-7-plus/371767-let-s-talk-cameras-3.html#post2824001

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