Capture Control's video zoom is not yet usable, but I await a solution

Back in February, I talked about the difficulty of smoothly zooming video footage using on-screen controls and said that I really wish there were hardware controls. The iPhone 16 looked like it would give me what I wanted with the camera control video zoom feature.

Unfortunately that is not the case at the moment. Using the camera control slider to zoom in or out while recording video is currently so bad it's unusable…

The problem with the video zoom

I explained the problem with the on-screen zoom control and demonstrated it with some example shots.

Doing this smoothly is very difficult when sliding your thumb across a pane of glass. The inevitable variation in pressure when holding the phone at the same time means the friction varies too, so it's not unusual for nothing to happen, followed by a sudden jump – rather than the smooth movement we'd like. You can see several examples of this in the video below, including right at the beginning.

But the camera controls are currently worse, not better

Unfortunately, the Capture Control slider is currently even worse for two reasons.

First, the zoom range is limited to the very narrow width of the slider. Once you reach either the right or left size of the button, the zoom stops. I found that I could go from 5x to about 2.3, but no further. Or from 0.5 to 2.7 and no more.

There Is A momentum effect is created, but this only occurs if you slide very quickly. You can't zoom in at a controlled, slow speed and then keep holding your finger at the edge to continue zooming at the same pace – it just stops instead.

But the bigger problem is that it's not possible to achieve a smooth, consistent zoom at all. While screen control is taking place mostly fluid with some jerky movements, with Camera Control it's the opposite: mostly jerky, occasionally fluid.

As an example, check out the first 20 seconds of this short clip:

What you may What you can do is quickly zoom between lenses. If you swipe and release, the zoom stops at the next lens adjustment… -ish. For example, at 21 seconds I start at 0.5x and do a quick swipe. This bypassed the 1x objective but stopped at the 2x objective. Another quick swipe jumps from there straight to 5x.

Keep watching to see that the same thing applies when you zoom out – and interestingly, the 1x view has been bypassed again.

However, if you want to perform such swipes across the entire lens, using is much better camera Selector switch that only switches between the fixed focal lengths, not that zoom Control.

This can be fixed via software

The good news is that the functionality of the camera control button is completely software controlled.

If we swipe very quickly, then the current behavior is probably appropriate. For example, if I'm on a safari in Kruger Park taking a 0.5x shot of the landscape and suddenly I see a lion killing a zebra, then I definitely want to zoom in very quickly to make sure I don't miss a moment of the action .

However, if I want to zoom while recording, I probably want a smooth transition in most situations.

When we push our finger slow To the left, Apple could use software to ensure that zooming out occurs at a slow, steady pace – and continues at the same pace if we continue to hold our finger on the left edge. And of course zooming in also applies vice versa.

I think that is very likely

We know that Apple isn't finished with the button's functionality yet. The main feature, which allows you to emulate a traditional camera by half-pressing to lock focus and exposure and fully pressing to take the photo, will be available later in the year.

It is very likely that Apple will make further changes and improvements to the functionality of the camera control button based on user feedback. Given the current performance of video zoom, I have to assume that this is high on the list of planned improvements.