iPhone XS Depth Control
Quick Thoughts
Depth Control allows you to adjust the depth of field after you’ve captured your shot.
I think depth control is an amazing addition to the iPhone camera. When this feature was announced at the keynote back in September I was both shocked and excited. In the past, to have anything that even remotely resembled a depth of field feature on an iPhone you would need to install a third party app from the app store. This update to the camera was worth getting excited for. While it still has some issues with hair and sometimes glasses, depth control is a solid feature.
For people who are interested in taking a nice looking photo quickly, this is where I say Apple will win every time in the ease of use category. They’ve taken a semi difficult principle of the exposure triangle, aperture/DoF and simplified it so people who are NOT photographers can actually see and understand what a shift from f/16 to f/1.4 could look like.
Although portrait mode is very easy to use, I would love to see Apple offer a “Pro Mode” feature as a separate camera option like Samsung has. With Samsung’s Pro Mode you are able to adjust the shutter speed, ISO, aperture and even white balance before you take photo. For us iPhone Photography enthusiasts, in 2018, it’s become a thing we need on iOS devices.
The camera sets off at f/4.5 when you take a photo and you can adjust it from there. Depending on the lighting situation and what the camera is actually able to keep in focus, I would stay around f/2.8 and up to keep the DoF credible. I’m really enjoying experimenting with the latest update to portrait mode. It’s an exciting feature and I can’t wait to see what Apple adds to this.
Shot on iPhone XS - Edited in native iPhone camera application. f/2.8
Location: City Center - Washington, D.C.
Edges of hair still a bit of problem…..
Getting all of the hair in focus is still a problem. Edges of hair are blurry. But it doesn’t ruin the photo. I can definitely get away with it here.
Shot on iPhone XS - Edited in native iPhone camera application. f/2.8
Location: City Center - Washington, D.C.
City Center-Washington,D.C.
Shot captured and adjusted to f/4.0. Another problem we ran into was the camera having issues processing some parts of her hair as pictured even with plenty of light available. A small piece of her hair is completely blurred out but this can easily be fixed in post.