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Other What is the advantage of a 3rd camera?

johannnn

johannnn

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 20, 2009
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Sorry if this is obvious or have been asked thousand times.
What is the advantage of a 3rd camera?
I understand we can't know anything for sure until 10 sep, but the rumors says it's a wide angle camera? I guess there are multiple Huawei/Samsung etc phones with a wide angle camera that we can use as reference.
Does this mean it's basically only good for nature photos?
I take mostly portrait photos of people, I guess the 3rd camera won't be used for that?
I find portrait photos to be very grainy when taking them indoors (i.e. no sunlight), and was hoping to see some update regarded this in the 2019 iPhone.
 
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Depth perception and enhanced AR capabilities would be my guess, especially if they add dual-lens to all products (So they can up the AR across the lot).
 
It’s so you can take those pictures with a blurred background while paying even more money for the privilege.

Also, it’s there so your friends know it’s the latest iPhone - sort of how they changed the orientation of the cameras from the 7 to the X for no reason
 
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johannnn said:
I find portrait photos to be very grainy when taking them indoors (i.e. no sunlight), and was hoping to see some update regarded this in the 2019 iPhone.
Click to expand...

Low light photos won't improve until Apple increases the sensor size in future iPhones. Sensor size isn't expected to change this year.
 
Three is better than two, which is better than one. Besides if Apple makes a phone with three camera lenses it must be better, right?

Interesting that there are already answers to a question that nobody can answer until the phone is released.
 
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johannnn said:
Sorry if this is obvious or have been asked thousand times.
What is the advantage of a 3rd camera?
I understand we can't know anything for sure until 10 sep, but the rumors says it's a wide angle camera? I guess there are multiple Huawei/Samsung etc phones with a wide angle camera that we can use as reference.
Does this mean it's basically only good for nature photos?
I take mostly portrait photos of people, I guess the 3rd camera won't be used for that?
I find portrait photos to be very grainy when taking them indoors (i.e. no sunlight), and was hoping to see some update regarded this in the 2019 iPhone.
Click to expand...
1. No. The ultra wide angle is just a different focal length of lens, allowing the flexibility when you take any kind of photos, not just nature.
2. The telephoto lens of the Xs accepts less light than the main camera. So in low light situations, iOS actually uses a digital zoom of the main camera lens for the telephoto shots instead of the telephoto lens itself. This might cause the graininess.
 
pika2000 said:
2. The telephoto lens of the Xs accepts less light than the main camera. So in low light situations, iOS actually uses a digital zoom of the main camera lens for the telephoto shots instead of the telephoto lens itself. This might cause the graininess.
Click to expand...
Very interesting, didn’t know!

AppleHaterLover said:
It’s so you can take those pictures with a blurred background while paying even more money for the privilege.
Click to expand...
Dude you sound like an Android troll, what are you even doing at Macrumors?
 
johannnn said:
Dude you sound like an Android troll, what are you even doing at Macrumors?
Click to expand...

I didn’t read that comment as trolling at all. I read it as sarcasm regarding Apple’s tendency of late to add subjectively lesser significant features like bokeh while simultaneously increasing prices.
 
ARizz44 said:
I didn’t read that comment as trolling at all. I read it as sarcasm regarding Apple’s tendency of late to add subjectively lesser significant features like bokeh while simultaneously increasing prices.
Click to expand...
Bokeh is arguably the definition of a "professional photo" according to many random joes. Most people love portrait photos.

The price difference between 7 Plus and 8 Plus (where it was added first) is $30. Not only did it come with a second camera, it also added wireless charging, True Tone, HDR, the much better A11, and 64GB instead of 32GB base model. That's a steal for $30.
[doublepost=1566484980][/doublepost]I mentioned grainy indoor photos in my original post. Maybe there is hope!

"Bloomberg says that the iPhone 11 Pro software will be able to take three images simultaneously from each of the lenses and combine them together to create higher-resolution pictures “rivaling some traditional cameras” and improve the iPhone’s low-light camera performance."
- https://9to5mac.com/2019/08/22/bloomberg-apple-iphone-11-more/
 
AppleHaterLover said:
It’s so you can take those pictures with a blurred background while paying even more money for the privilege.

Also, it’s there so your friends know it’s the latest iPhone - sort of how they changed the orientation of the cameras from the 7 to the X for no reason
Click to expand...

I hate to say it but my friends and business people I deal with do not run around and judge people by their phone.

In fact normal people do not really talk about their phone at all!

They just use it.
 
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pika2000 said:
2. The telephoto lens of the Xs accepts less light than the main camera. So in low light situations, iOS actually uses a digital zoom of the main camera lens for the telephoto shots instead of the telephoto lens itself. This might cause the graininess.
Click to expand...
Exactly- and we really can hope that the new wide angle lens will also have a nice wide open aperture, so we can take awesome portrait shots in darker environments and especially indoors because we won‘t be limited to the telephoto lens anymore but could take pix like on the XR but with a real depth map, not an interpolated one. I loooove the look of the XR photos! I really want to keep my X for another year and safe that 1k for the nnMP eventually, but I already know they’ll tempt us again with that camera and the probably bigger battery.
 
johannnn said:
Bokeh is arguably the definition of a "professional photo" according to many random joes. Most people love portrait photos.

The price difference between 7 Plus and 8 Plus (where it was added first) is $30. Not only did it come with a second camera, it also added wireless charging, True Tone, HDR, the much better A11, and 64GB instead of 32GB base model. That's a steal for $30.
Click to expand...

The 7 Plus also had a second camera, portrait mode, HDR, and every phone has a better chip. I’ll give you the higher base model, wireless charging and True Tone but what new phone hasn’t added new features? I agree a $30 increase isn’t bad but these new prices are a bit excessive in my opinion.

In the end, I’m most interested in better low-light photos. The decision not to implement the quantum dot cameras in 2019, if true, is a disappointment. I am holding out hope that there is more than just the addition of a wide angle lens given it seems very little other than the camera seems to be changing.
 
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