Review: iPhone 7Plus wide and 2x tele sample photos

When I ordered the iPhone 7 Plus a few weeks ago, I wanted to get it fast! When pre-ordering started at 9:00, it seemed the black models were sold out at 9:00:05. So I tried to find a color with a short delivery period. The gray one was available with a two week delivery time. Luckily I didn’t have to order rose-gold.

I received it at the end of September just in time for a weekend hiking trip to Salzburg. On Saturday, I hiked along the two beautiful Gosau Lakes and on the second day I hiked down 3300 feet in altitude from Schafberg [mountain]. I put the iPhone 7 plus to a thorough test on both days using the stock camera app and ProCamera app using both the wide and tele lenses.

The first question I asked myself was if the optical 58mm “zoom” lens on the iPhone 7 plus is similar to my Moment 2x tele lens with 60mm. I still think the Moment 2x tele lens is the best lens available, but as I love to travel light, I’m looking to carry as few things as possible (unless the Moment guys figure out a way how to use the 2x tele lens with the built in 2x tele lens giving me a 4x optical tele on an iPhone).

Now for some photography tech talk:

The 58mm tele lens on the iPhone 7 plus has an aperture of f/2.8 compared to an aperture of f/1.8 of the wide angle lens. The two lenses are a little more than a full f-stop apart.

This means that under identical light situations the tele lens get’s only half as much light as the wide lens. Apple seems to compensate that using a slower shutter speed when you switch to the tele lens. So everything will be fine unless you plan to use the tele in low light situations. You may need a tripod (or a calm hand) then.

iPhone 7Plus wide angle and zoom lens sample shots

So here are the iPhone 7 plus wide and tele sample shots I took with the iPhone 7 stock camera app. All of those shots are out of the camera with minimal adjustments and only square cropping.

The valley station of the cable car is right where you would start a hike around the lake. It’ll take you up to the hill from where you’ll experience a stunning view towards the Dachstein glacier.

Despite that the main subject - the cable - car - is rather small, you’ll get a first impression of the telephoto lens of the iPhone 7 Plus. Quite impressive for a smartphone, isn’t it? But have a look at the next two photos that I took from the top of the hill using the standard wide lens and the telephoto lens of the iPhone 7 Plus.

This is the view towards the Dachstein glacier from the mountain station of the cable car. I believe this gives a better impression of the iPhone 7 telephoto lens.

And finally, here’s a photo I took while hiking around the Gosau Lake. Again, it’s not as impressive as the one of the Dachstein glacier, but you’ll clearly see the difference between the wide and telephoto lens of the iPhone 7.