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Just how good is the iPhone 7 Plus' Portrait mode? Good enough for 'Billboard' magazine's cover
Mashable ^ | February 16, 2016 | BY RAYMOND WONG

Posted on 02/16/2017 11:48:08 AM PST by Swordmaker

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To: aquila48
In other words if I took the same picture with a galaxy 7 with similar specs would one be able to tell the difference?

The Galaxy 7 does not have a Portrait mode. You'd get a very nice in focus person with everything else in the background also in focus. Nice photo but not like this. These kind of photos are usually taken with 135mm telephoto lenses to keep control of the depth of field. Apple is doing it with software.

21 posted on 02/16/2017 8:07:01 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Excellence
Oftentimes, clients request photo resolutions far greater than the iPhone 7 Plus’ 12 megapixels.

My Nokia 950XL has 20 megapixels.
What’s the big deal?

Like most people you mistake megapixels for quality. More megapixels will only allow you to blow up a photo to larger pictures and retain a give quality. . . it does not necessarily make a picture a better photo. For example you cannot pack more detail into a photo of a certain size than the human eye can discern. . . and there is a specific limit for that. Picture quality is measure in arc minutes of acuity and the distance the photo is from the eye, not megapixels. For example a 1080P image is sufficiently good enough for a high-resolution image on a Motion Picture screen that the audience cannot discern a loss of acuity at 60 feet, but the pixels are now ½" in size on a forty-five foot screen! The movie will look the same quality as they see on their HD TV at home at 10 feet.

22 posted on 02/16/2017 8:17:26 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: ptlurking
The hype is the iPhone 7’s ability to focus on the subject while the background is out of focus.

That's not "hype" because portrait photographers go to extreme lengths and charge lots of money to get that effect when taking portraits. It is not an easy thing to do using a smartphone.

23 posted on 02/16/2017 8:19:55 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: minnesota_bound
I think android and iphone cell phones take great closeup photos. They just do not have enough detail for anything past 20 feet where you start seeing the pixels. Most photos are within that range so I figure that is why the lens and the sensor chip have not gotten any bigger except for a few models.

There are several Professional photographers who have done work forNational Geographic who did that work using OLDER model iPhones that would completely disagree with you, Minnesota. Again, the number of megapixels has only importance when one is going to do a large print of the photo, a blow up. At most uses, They are fine.

iPhones have been used to make full length feature films which are blown up to 60 feet wide and look great. . . without pixelation which you claim make the unsuitable for anything beyond 20 feet.

24 posted on 02/16/2017 8:29:25 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Company Man
So, background blur is introduced due to some sophisticated digital image processing. Thanks for the info, I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

Here's an article from MacDailyNews about two new Apple ads that are demonstrating the differences in how photos look between ordinary pictures and Portrait mode photos:

Apple debuts two more new TV ads for iPhone 7 Plus focusing on Portrait mode

25 posted on 02/16/2017 8:37:51 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

Sounds like they’re using the second lens in the 7plus... But it can be done with software. Some apps are already available.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Can-I-emulate-the-iPhone-7-Plus-Portrait-mode-with-an-app-Lets-check-it-out-iPhone-7-Plus-vs-FabFocus_id87299


26 posted on 02/16/2017 10:04:09 PM PST by aquila48
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To: Swordmaker

More megapixels will only allow you to blow up a photo to larger pictures and retain a give quality

You assume I don’t know that. I started with a 2 MP camera, went to 5MP, then 13MP, and now 20MP. I know the difference, thank you.


27 posted on 02/17/2017 12:11:24 PM PST by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
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To: Excellence

Then your comment on the topic of the article is a non sequitur. . . Unless you explain why it relates to the topic.


28 posted on 02/17/2017 12:19:36 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

It relates because the images can’t be blown up to magazine or Bill board size or cropped because they aren’t dense enough. Yet they pay $700 to be able to take a useless, 13 MP picture. My daughter’s DSLR is 20MP. So is my phone, and her phone, since I gave her a 950 for Christmas.


29 posted on 02/17/2017 12:36:33 PM PST by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
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To: Excellence
It relates because the images can’t be blown up to magazine or Bill board size or cropped because they aren’t dense enough. Yet they pay $700 to be able to take a useless, 13 MP picture. My daughter’s DSLR is 20MP. So is my phone, and her phone, since I gave her a 950 for Christmas.

Excuse me, but there have been multiple iPhone images used on magazine covers in the past and this is on the cover of Billboard Magazine right now. You really are showing that you don't know what you are talking about when you make that claim. There are real Bill boards size images using iPhone images that were done with iPhones. Did you not read what I wrote about the pixel size on movie screens and the resolution of what the human eye can actually see? It is the angle of acuity that counts, not the number of pixels and how far away the view is that counts. A 1080 pixel view with half inch pixels on a 45 foot movie screen at 60 feet viewing distance is fine for most viewers and it will look the same as that same 1080 pixels on their HD TV at 10 feet with far smaller pixels. . . But the number of pixels remain the same. It's the appearance to the viewer that counts, not the megapixels of the screen or camera.

An iPhone is capable of taking 4K video, which is 8,294,400 pixels with 24 bit color resolution. That is FAR beyond the requirements of any magazine cover in six color printing separation. . . And in fact only the highest quality magazines are ever printed to that standard. Several large double page spreads have been printed in National Geographic in full color taken from iPhones by professional photographers, including the covers.

So, Excellence, you really don't know what you are talking about. The best camera is the one you have with you.

30 posted on 02/17/2017 1:09:21 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker
"Shooting with an iPhone 7 Plus and Portrait mode requires more thought into things like composition because, not only are you working with less resolution to crop later when compared to a beefy DSLR"

Not my opinion, dude.

31 posted on 02/17/2017 3:16:07 PM PST by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
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To: Excellence

Your statement is not responsive to your claim. . . The facts are the facts. You can keep dancing with claims that iPhones are incapable of being used for magazine covers or billboard but the facts remain that they are capable of such use and have been by professional photographers and have appeared on such magazines as National Geographic, Time magazine, and now Billboard as well as quite a few others, in addition to being used to for videography of motion pictures that have seen nationwide theatrical release. . . Which requires being blown up to very large sizes for exhibition. That blows YOUR contention out of the water.


32 posted on 02/17/2017 11:44:33 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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