Glossary · Camera
Telephoto camera
The telephoto camera brings distant subjects closer without hurting image quality. For this, it has its own lens with a longer focal length.
What does Telephoto camera mean?
Typical levels are 3× or 5×. Unlike with digital zoom, the image is not simply enlarged and cropped, but actually captured with different optics.
A telephoto camera is also popular for portraits, because faces look more natural and the background becomes softer. It is often missing on cheaper smartphones. There, a crop from the high-resolution main sensor takes over this job.
A general explanation of the term, not from a video. How it plays out on a specific device in everyday use is covered in the reviews below.
