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Apple Shares New Ad Highlighting iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode
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As usual, another feature which seems to polarise the population into extremes of love and hate. 
Personally I find it works very well and since it captures both the original image and the one with the simulated bokeh you lose nothing and potentially gain a beautiful photo. Even if the simulated bokeh isn't perfect, you have the choice to take the original photo to a professional or work on it yourself in order to achieve a better result.
What is the alternative? Oh yes, we would have to buy a very expensive DSLR or similar and then develop the skills to use it to create authentic bokeh. No thanks, I'll stick with my iPhone 7+ and save a few thousand bucks!
Personally I find it works very well and since it captures both the original image and the one with the simulated bokeh you lose nothing and potentially gain a beautiful photo. Even if the simulated bokeh isn't perfect, you have the choice to take the original photo to a professional or work on it yourself in order to achieve a better result.
What is the alternative? Oh yes, we would have to buy a very expensive DSLR or similar and then develop the skills to use it to create authentic bokeh. No thanks, I'll stick with my iPhone 7+ and save a few thousand bucks!
While nice, I still wish Apple would show you how along what it can do. I have taken the offered Apple Store class however it was mostly geared toward the "what is a camera phone" crowd. I experiment. Still, more often than not, I don't gather a print worthy photo. I use my DSLR a good bit. Still, as an impromptu camera, it isn't bad.
The iPhone 7 Plus has two camera lenses on the back. One is your typical lens, and the other is a "tele-photo" lens that gives you 2x optical 'zoom'. It's not an actual zoom, but the other lens has a longer focal length.
With Portrait mode, the iPhone switches to this telephoto lens and uses the other standard lens in conjunction with it to scan the scene and basically come up with a 'depth map' of the scene so that the iPhone can tell how far the objects in front of it are in relation to one another. With this information, the iPhone can add a blur effect to objects in the background of your subject with the blur increasing in intensity as objects are further and further away from the subject. This is essentially mimicking a "bokeh" effect that is common with lenses on larger DSLR cameras that keep your subject in focus while having a soft focus on everything else. The iPhone obviously cannot fit a large enough lens to produce this effect physically, so Apple incorporated a software work-around that actually works rather well.
Unfortunately since the telephoto lens on the iPhone has a small aperture compared to the standard lens, this means that that lens does not gather as much light as the standard lens, so to use this Portrait mode feature, you need to be in a place with a lot of available light. It is also software scanning the background and creating a depth map, so it does take a bit of time to get right, and it does not alway work correctly. But it works rather well with faces, since the iPhone is able to do facial recognition to more quickly and accurately apply this effect.
The fact that it only produces usable photos in a specific set of conditions is the issue. Unless your definition of "great" is a photo that is about as noisy as an iPhone 4 photo.
Its not the equipment that make a great photographer. Its the skill, and often years of experience. Having a big DSLR often means that the individual will have the many options within the camera of making a cheap motel 6 look like a resort owned by an individual with sophistication. While a skilled photographer can use an iPhone to take great photos, most individuals will see the DSLR as a person serious about his/her profession.
I much preferred the ad with the girl in Greece, where she was taking pictures of all the villagers.
Yes and No. Skill is a very critical part. A professional would not rely on a "phone" more use it as the primary device. Hence the paradigm.
I can get better pics with my DSLR than with my iPhone. The iPhone is "touchier" than the DSLR and the "get it just right" spot is smaller. For planned shots I'll stick with the DSLR. For all else, a phone works well.
My first thought about this commercial was not about the technology, special effects or the music but how lucky that guy was in Shanghai to find a girl.
There are more men than women because of the failure of China's one child policy and millions of men will never find a soulmate because of it.
There are more men than women because of the failure of China's one child policy and millions of men will never find a soulmate because of it.
If the only difference was the screen size and battery, Apple wouldn't be able to justify the difference in cost.
Also, Apple have various versions of all of their products. iPads, the
Watch, iPods, etc. all have various features which "justify" the difference in price. Depending on where/when he got it, he could always return it for the 7+ though.
Loving my 7+. I'm hoping they speed it up noticeably in future updates or phones. It really does capture some great images that you would need a bit of a trained eye to tell the difference. Also I would love some post adjustments. Even just controlling the amount of blur after would be amazing. It is awesome being able to shoot with a live preview of it.
So you don't find the name "iPhone 7" is adequately differentiated by adding the capitalized word "Plus" to the name? As in the Plus means bigger screen, higher resolution, dual cameras...
I traded up from the 6 Plus to the 7 Plus specifically to get that longer lens, but I have yet to try the portrait mode. Maybe I will some day, just out of curiosity, but comments here tend to confirm that it's not useful for me, mostly due to the requirement for lots of light. I shoot mostly indoors, so that kind of light is rare.
As good as camera phones have become, I still think they are "point and shoot" cameras, great for convenience and quick shots, but too often the quality is not everything I would like. Especially with the 7 plus "telephoto" (it isn't); in moderate light, colors in fine detail start to block up. For serious work, overall versatility, or especially portraits, my DSLR still wins.
As good as camera phones have become, I still think they are "point and shoot" cameras, great for convenience and quick shots, but too often the quality is not everything I would like. Especially with the 7 plus "telephoto" (it isn't); in moderate light, colors in fine detail start to block up. For serious work, overall versatility, or especially portraits, my DSLR still wins.
When they may a post about a new ad for apple I refuse to watch it - no matter how good it may be. I've realized I'm going to HAVE TO watch it about a billion times on TV.
They should only do Portrait Mode with people in hats, otherwise hair gets blurred out and the whole thing looks fake.
Hello all,
In January Apple finally responded to my complaint that the Bouquet effect was not being applied to the photos (instead a Gaussian filter was being used)
...
Apple answer:
Apple Developer Relations10-Jan-2017 07:11 PM
Please know that our engineering team has determined that this issue behaves as intended based on the information provided.
We are in fact using a soft edged disc filter for the captured images - not a Gaussian as several reviews on internet have incorrectly stated. The on screen preview uses an approximated Gaussian for performance reasons.
A soft edged disc filter was chosen to try and match the look of lenses featuring apodizing filters, which help reduce harsh and distracting artifacts in the blurred out background.
In January Apple finally responded to my complaint that the Bouquet effect was not being applied to the photos (instead a Gaussian filter was being used)
...
Apple answer:
Apple Developer Relations10-Jan-2017 07:11 PM
Please know that our engineering team has determined that this issue behaves as intended based on the information provided.
We are in fact using a soft edged disc filter for the captured images - not a Gaussian as several reviews on internet have incorrectly stated. The on screen preview uses an approximated Gaussian for performance reasons.
A soft edged disc filter was chosen to try and match the look of lenses featuring apodizing filters, which help reduce harsh and distracting artifacts in the blurred out background.
Just like when I see a resort advert; I disregard and book a wealthy person's Airbnb on the coast.