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Portrait Mode's True Value

Posted by Matt Birchler
— 1 min read

https://twitter.com/carreteronacho/status/939215505205886976

Some people will look at the above tweet and say "that's beautiful" and others will look at it and just scream "it looks so fake!" I think it looks pretty darn good, even if it's imperfect and you would certainly get a better shot with a DSLR.

BUT...

The real win for portrait modes are that they allow millions of people to take photos that they have never been able to get before. Yes, a fancy camera can get better depth of field than portrait modes in smartphones, but if a fancy camera is not in your future, then that's irrelevant.

Personally, I fully support all portrait modes, and envision a future in a couple years where portrait modes are just a part of the standard camera experience. Much like how HDR went from a special mode you had to toggle on and off and turned into something that just happens when it makes sense, portrait modes will get so good that the camera app will just know when and when not to use it and it will enhance your photos without needing to toggle to a special mode.