
Inside Apple's iPhone XS camera technology - ValentineC
https://medium.com/s/story/inside-apples-iphone-xs-camera-technology-50d47ba7be8f
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jsjohnst
> I emailed Souza one last question: If he were asked by a future president to
> photograph the administration, would he use an iPhone for official photos or
> still rely on his DSLR?

> “DSLR,” he wrote back, perhaps crushing a few Apple dreams, “though [I]
> would still use iPhone for some Instagram posts as I did during the Obama
> administration.”

I don’t see why people think this will ever change. iPhones (and other
advanced smartphone cameras) will always be getting better, but I doubt
they’ll ever truly surpass the quality of a dSLR. The laws of physics in the
larger camera will trump until we get much more advanced in image processing
(and we’ve come a long way already).

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Someone
Theory vs practice. In theory, DSLR designers have more freedom of design, so
their designs always should be at least as good as cameras in mobile phones.

In practice, economies of scale probably already give the phone the edge in
software. Doing whatever mobile phones do in Photoshop always should be at
least as good, though, if the DSLR stores the multiple images the iPhone uses
to make a ‘photograph’ (I think ‘picture’ is becoming a better word for what
these cameras do)

Also, a phone could have tens or even hundreds of lenses on its back side,
making it catch as much light as a DSLR, which, I think is the main reason
DSLRs still are better (I think having many lenses technically is possible
already, but it may be too expensive, and probably requires too much
processing power to be useful at the moment)

Also, photographers may grow up who don’t know how to get the most out of a
DSLR.

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jsjohnst
The quote wasn’t from an amateur photographer and most of my point was based
on the quote being from a pro photographer. For an amateur, they will usually
get better photos with a currentish iPhone than they likely would a dSLR. But
a pro photographer should know how to squeeze the most they can out of a dSLR.
Not to say they can’t get a great photo out of an iPhone too, just they are
more guaranteed to get it with the dSLR and right set of lenses.

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Someone
I wasn’t around at the time, but I think people argued the same when 35mm
analog cameras were the new kid on the block. Cameras using larger film still
have their use, but eventually, they almost only were used for studio work.

Having interchangeable lenses may save them, but it wouldn’t surprise me if
DSLRs went the same way viz camera phones. Reason: if processor speed keeps
going up, there’s a lot one can do to counteract the disadvantages of having a
device only a few millimeters thick.

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jsjohnst
> there’s a lot one can do to counteract the disadvantages of having a device
> only a few millimeters thick.

There’s only so much you can do in software to negate the lower absorption of
photons due to the dwell size.

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jl6
I love my iPhone 8 Plus and I think it can take some great photos, but the
saturation marketing of how it would be equivalent to a DSLR set me up for
some disappointment - particularly in low light where the “watercolor” effect
washes away a lot of detail.

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Gravityloss
Neural engine for photography?

Sounds a bit suspicious to me. Where does the photo manipulation stop?
Ultimately one could just customize stock photos with your face. Schedule it
and you have a perfect instagram feed and you don't even need to leave home.

