Why the New iPhone 7 Plus Camera is Amazing for Instagrammers
Every photographer has their own preference for their camera and lens set up, but for anyone who does #iphoneonly photos, this can be a challenge since you only have one camera with one lens on your phone. For businesses, bloggers, and anyone in general, iPhone photography is a really accessible way to boost an Instagram profile. Taking photos on DSLR cameras is great, but a lot of people can't afford one, and even if they can, they don't know what to do with the photo after. Once they figure that out, then they have to get it off the camera, onto their phone to share to Instagram. That is quite a lot for people to handle just to get a good photo. With the increasing quality of iPhone cameras, there has been a rise of people just using their phone to take the photos. The surge of iPhoneographers led to an increase in quantity and quality of photo processing apps as well.
Some great examples of #iphoneonly photos:
Having quick access to a great camera is amazing, but as any photographer can tell you, it can be nice to have lens options when you want them! Having only one standard lens and camera with limited settings can be a hindrance for some people. Luckily Apple is helping solve this issue. When the iPhone 6 Plus was released with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) it was a big deal for people who shoot photos on their phone. Some people got the 6 Plus just because it had the OIS and the iPhone 6 didn't have it. Now the iPhone 7 will have OIS built in which is amazing, but again if you are into photos or video on your phone, the Plus model is the one to look at.
Not only does the 7 Plus have all the new software and hardware of the 7, they have added in a second camera. This is a big deal for a lot of reasons. The standard lens on iPhone's have always been wide-angle lens, meaning that it takes in a lot at one time. If you have ever taken a picture on your iPhone and thought, "It seems smaller in the picture..." then you have noticed that your phone has a wide angle lens. The second camera on the iPhone 7 Plus is actually a telephoto lens, meaning it captures a smaller area, closer in. The two cameras take photos together and then merge it into one photo on your phone. This allows users to choose which perspective the photo appears in by selecting the "zoom", which in reality, is just switching between the two photos taken. Not only does the telephoto lens make the image closer in without losing any quality, Apple updated the photo software to allow up 10x digital zoom with minimal quality loss. Freaking amazing!
This shows the same phone looking at the same object, but the one on the right is using the new telephoto lens. Look at how much closer it appears without losing any quality.
This telephoto lens will make it easier to take portraits of people without being really close to them to get a tighter shot. Another feature that will come in the future is a background blur which helps mimic a shallower depth of field than the iPhone actually supports. Professional photos usually use a shallow depth of field to help keep the focus on the person in the photo rather than what is going on in the background, which makes this feature a great addition with the new lens.
People always say, it's not about the tools, but truthfully, having more options really can help hone someone's craft. The new camera won't make or break your photography or elevate your personal skills, but it certainly will allow for more experimentation and a different perspective with iPhone photography.