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[Phys-L] smartphones



I'll be teaching optics in May. Some of my lens problems involve slide
projectors and SLR cameras. Real and inverted images on screens/films, etc.
I simplify these devices by saying they have a single biconvex lens.

I am trying to understand smartphone cameras. They used to have just one
camera (like my current one), and now they have three. I think one is for
wide angle, one is normal, and one is telephoto. Does the user have to
choose one before taking a photo?

Phones have a sensor to display a digital image. Is this a real image? If
so, are the lenses in the cameras biconvex? Single lens for each camera?

What are the focal lengths of these lenses? How are they able to move a
tiny amount to focus on a variety of object distances?