Optical zoom 4k filming expert technical advice needed - 15 Pro Max

I've read a bit about the sensors that each camera uses during photo taking, but I'm looking for some information about the cameras/sensors that are used during 4k video filming.

"Each lens on the iPhone 15 is backed by its own sensor, so an iPhone 15 Pro includes four separate cameras, including the front-facing one. Only the main camera includes a 48MP sensor, so for 48MP images, you need to be shooting at 1x zoom. The 0.5x ultrawide and 3x or 5x telephoto (on the Pro and Pro Max models) cameras use 12MP sensors."

"The ultrawide (0.5x) or telephoto (3x/5x) cameras each capture images optically, where each pixel corresponds to the area perceived in the field of view – if you don't tweak the zoom. If you choose an arbitrary zoom level between those ranges, such as by pinching two fingers on the screen, the camera zooms digitally and interpolates how the pixels appear based on that field of view, which can introduce softness or artifacts."

I'm only interested in using Optical zoom. The line highlighted in bold above is of great concern. Which cameras/sensors/megapixels/resolutions are used in these scenarios:

• Start filming in 4k at 1x zoom > place finger on magnification bar so zoom wheel pops up > slowly zoom from 1x to 5x (from near to far with gradual increase)

• Start filming in 4k at 1x zoom > tap zoom to 3x > tap zoom to 5x (from near to far with step increases)

Without using ProRes or Log Format - I'm looking for the best settings / best practices for zooming near to far while maintaining the best possible resolution.

Thanks in advance