The power of the pixel 9 camera! Impressive, isn't it?

#googlepixel #pixel9pro #macromode

Eye of the tiger's maternal aunt. Neighbour's sleepy cat finally let me get the camera close enough to get a #MacroMode shot.

#MacroMode photography is my only mindful activity. #InsectsOfSky

A lovely #flower in the rains.

#photography #macrophotography #macromode

Honeybee on clover.
#shotonpixel #macromode

Scott Oldfield on Instagram: "Honeybee on clover. #shotonpixel #macromode" https://www.instagram.com/p/CtXjmOnvHTj/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
>0 likes, 0 comments - Scott Oldfield (@scuttlefield) on Instagram: "Honeybee on clover. #shotonpixel #macromode"

I fell in love with the world of insects over last few years, partly because of a decent #macromode support in commodity phones allowed me to look at them closely. #photography #nature #dragonfliesofthefediverse

Testing #macromode on the #pixel7pro. #teampixel

Halide App Brings Macro Photography to All iPhones

The new iPhone 13 Pro Macro mode allows for perspectives that are new to the iPhone, but limited to those who purchase Apple's newest devices. Halide wants to change that and has announced an update to its app that brings macro to all iPhones.

Halide says that when it saw Apple was bringing macro photography to the iPhone for the first time, it got them pretty excited. So much so that the team wanted to get everyone excited about shooting macro, and built a way to make it possible for all iPhones (from the iPhone 8 and on) to shoot macro with the Halide app -- no accessories required.

Halide says that Macro Mode is supported by a new technology it calls Neural Macro. The company says that it does a few "clever" things to help make macro photos. First, it checks which of the cameras it has access to can focus the closest and switches to it. After that, it gives the shooter what Halide describes as "ultra-precise" focus control -- down to the sub-millimeter -- in order to allow even small subjects to be photographed perfectly sharp. In the final step, Neural Macro kicks in and the artificial intelligence-based detail enhancement process pulls even more data out of a processed image.

The Neural Macro relies on Apple's Neural Engine, which is why this feature is only available on iPhone 8 models and later. The photos below are examples of images that were captured in Halide's app from an iPhone 12 mini.

Captured on iPhone 12 mini Captured on iPhone 12 mini

The image below was captured on the iPhone 12 Pro:

Captured on iPhone 12 Pro

The company says that while these look impressive, using Halide on the iPhone 13 Pro will enhance already powerful macro features with "staggeringly close, microscope-like shots that are even more highly magnified." Below are some examples of that:

Captured on iPhone 13 Pro Captured on iPhone 13 Pro Captured on iPhone 13 Pro Captured on iPhone 13 Pro Captured on iPhone 13 Pro Captured on iPhone 13 Pro

One major immediate advantage of Halide is that while Apple has said that manual switching for macro mode is coming later this year, Halide already offers that feature in the app. Halide says it only uses the lenses that are explicitly selected, and Macro mode always uses the macro-capable lens.

Macro mode is available to all existing Halide users and can be accessed in the focus controls. The Macro Mode update is available starting today from the App Store. Halide continues to be available with both a subscription price and one-time purchase, with an option for a 7-day free trial.

#mobile #news #software #apple #camerapp #halide #iphone #iphone12 #iphone12mini #iphone13pro #macromode #neuralengine #neuralmacro #smartphoneapp

Apple to Allow Users to Manually Toggle iPhone 13 Macro Mode This Fall

Apple's new iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max smartphones have a new macro photo mode that allows them to get extremely close to subjects for unique angles. Unfortunately, the mode activates automatically and can't be turned off, but that will change.

The new Apple iPhone 13's macro mode automatically switches from the Wide lens to the Ultra Wide lens which has the macro-capable camera when the device senses that the camera is within 5.5 inches of the rear camera, according to Input Mag 's Raymond Wong.

While handy and seamless, this function cannot be turned off, which can result in some frustration for users who want to use the wide lens for certain photos that happen to have somewhat close subjects or want to manually activate the macro mode even if they are not yet close to the desired subject.

Macro mode | Apple

When the camera switches to macro mode, the iPhone will display a crossfade-like visual cue, which is visible in Wong's video below:

MacRumors notes that the viewfinder still shows the 1x framing even though the camera uses the ultra-wide lens for autofocus in macro mode.

In his review, Wong writes that he is particularly bothered by the automatic switching of lenses because he does not believe that anything that changes perspective during the composition of a photo is a good shooting experience.

"Apple says this automatic camera switching is intentionally designed to help capture better close-up details for all three rear cameras on the iPhone 13 Pros," he writes. "I don't agree with this… Because the framing automatically changes from what you -- the person taking the shot or recording the video -- might intend to capture."

Wong reports that Apple initially told him that the automatic camera switching was intentional and designed to help users better capture close-up details without interruption. However, Apple has reportedly issued a statement to Wong and other reviewers and said that the ability to toggle the switching on and off manually will be coming in an iOS update later this fall.

Macro mode | Apple

"A new setting will be added in a software update this fall to turn off automatic camera switching when shooting at close distances for macro photography and video," Apple reportedly says.

Wong reports that there is already a feature in the camera app called "Lock Camera" that will prevent the automatic macro switching in video mode, so it stands to reason that adding the feature into photo modes would not be difficult for the Silicon Valley giant, hence the relatively quick timing of the coming patch.

#mobile #news #apple #appleiphone #appleiphone13 #iphone13 #iphone13pro #iphone13promax #iphonemacromode #macro #macromode #macrophotography

Apple iPhone 13 Demo Provides More Info on What to Actually Expect

Apple has shared a detailed video that goes over all of the main features of the four new versions of the iPhone 13 announced earlier this week. It's not only helpful but also provides a closer look at some of the promised features.

Apple is rarely active on social media other than instances to promote products or services. In this case, the video is a guided tour of the iPhone 13 series. The video is broken into several chapters and is objectively one of the better ways the company has shown the differences among its product line in a way that's easy for the average consumer to understand.

What it also does is show new clips of the features that are coming to the iPhone 13 devices, and may actually give a more realistic expectation of what those features will do than what was seen in the company's live stream. Apple is famous for showing outstanding performance on stage and while its products are undoubtedly popular, some features do need to have expectations tempered.

For example, the video spends a minute and a half showing how to use the new Cinematic Mode and what it looks like in practice. To recap, Cinematic Mode is akin to a digital version of rack focusing. Rack focusing refers to shifting focus in a frame to draw the viewer’s eyes to different locations in a way that aids storytelling. This usually requires physical control of the lens, but Apple has added the ability to do this by using artificial intelligence that evaluates a scene in real-time. When a subject is about to enter the frame, the iPhone can sense that and move focus to them. When someone looks away from the camera, the iPhone will shift focus.

The demonstration starts at 1:30 in the video above and reveals the technology behind the feature, which looks like an implementation of the artificial Portrait mode bokeh in video.

A sliver of the brick wall behind the main subject is visibly in focus still as the iPhone software creates artificial bokeh.

When watched carefully, areas around the foreground subject's head are a bit fuzzy with how they have been rendered to create a natural-looking bokeh, and the brick wall behind the actor is actually a bit in sharp focus around his face in a way that shows how Apple's artificial intelligence works and, arguably, could still be improved.

The addition of this feature into video is still impressive, even if it's not perfect. The videos that were shown during the Apple presentation (below) were cleaner, which might be due to the more advanced camera systems available on the iPhone 13 Pro. Eagle-eyed viewers might still see some of the effects of the software, but it's more subtle. Until the smartphone series lands in the hands of reviewers though, this is all speculation.

The rest of the video demonstrates other features like low light performance, water resistance, battery life, the addition of Photographic Styles, macro photography, and the new telephoto zoom capabilities of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max as well as the iPhone 13 and 13 mini smartphones starts today and devices will begin shipping on September 24.

#mobile #news #technology #apple #appleiphone #cinematicmode #iphone #iphone13 #iphone13mini #iphone13pro #iphone13promax #iphonecameras #macromode