Example of blurred view when camera shifts while changing zoom

[Vegggie]

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra - SM-G998B (Exynos)

I uploaded a video describing the issue to this adress: http://billshemsida.st/s21ultra
The video starts with the standard (wide 108MP) camera at zoom 2.9. Then I change zoom to 3.0 which makes it shift to the 10MP (3x) camera. As you can see the 108MP camera is much more blurred than the 10MP so my question is if this is as it should be or should I return the phone?

/ Bill

[Joeeye]

The 108MP is digitally zooming as opposed to the 3x telephoto lens which is it's native optical resolution, so it's perfectly normal to look less blurry. Testament to the zoom actually working fine. There's nothing wrong here so no need to return your phone over this. FYI your main sensor is only running 12MP binned when it auto switches to the other lenses so precise details will typically be slightly worse off than standard 108MP (but very scene dependent).

[Vegggie]

Okay, thanks Joeeye. So if I understand this right, the the 108MP camera is only 12MP in my zoom example? And 12MP with 1x optical zoom is therefore worse than 10MP with 3x optical zoom?

[Joeeye]

Yes, 108MP can only be achieved on the main sensor and thus it never switches to the other lenses in this mode.

In regard to zoom, optically zoomed images will typically always be better than a digital one. Don't get hung up over megapixel count as this has little in regard to focal lengths when it comes to photography and imaging. The 3x telephoto lens is dedicated for zoomed shots and thus will always give more detail than the main sensor at the same focal length (although results may vary based on lighting conditions).

[Vegggie · Accepted solution]

I guess it needs even more lenses to get a perfect zoom. Thanks anyway for your expert explanation Joeeye. I'll keep the phone then.