Summary

Due to technical constraints and commercial choices, cameras highlighted by smartphone manufacturers can cause distortions, and big noses.We explain to you why...and how to remedy it.

A zoom camera capture X4 // Source: Frandroid

When you look at the 2021 smartphones, most models have several cameras on the back.We will generally find a very well defined main photo sensor as well as secondary sensors.Depending on the range of smartphones and photo positioning of the phone, several solutions are then available.Most of the time, all models have an ultra-angle camera.For the others, we will sometimes have a macro module, a module for portrait mode, a monochrome module and, possibly, one or more modules with telephoto to offer an optical zoom.

To go further what are the best smartphones for the photo in 2022?

However, there remains a constant: the best equipped camera is always the one with a wide-angle lens.

What objective for what use?

Before going further, it is necessary to explain what the Grand-angle, standard or long focal length objectives are.

A camera // Source: Frandroid

Generally, we are talking about a high-angle lens for a focal length (Full Frame equivalent) less than 35 mm.These are the objectives, in photography, privileged for street, landscape, starry or architecture photos photos.These optics have the interest of allowing a large field of vision and therefore to place a subject in its environment.

From 35 to 70 mm, we will more easily talk about standard focal length.Why this name?Well because, according to a preconceived idea, the 50 mm lenses best correspond to the perception of the human eye.This is not entirely true, since the eye offers a wider field of vision, but this remains the case in terms of distortion.With a 50 mm lens, you will have the same optical perception as with your eye.The deformations caused by the perspective will therefore be the same.

A goal 50 mm // Source: Frandroid

Finally, from 70 mm, we will talk about telephoto lens, or long focal length.The plans will then be much closer to each other and it is these objectives that will be privileged for close -up portraits.

In the world of photo, photographers - such as objective manufacturers - therefore favor five focal lengths, corresponding to five uses: 24 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 85 or 135 mm.

The objectives 13, 26 and 77 mm of the iPhone 13 Pro Max // Source: Frandroid-Melinda Davan-soulas

However, in the world of smartphone, it is often different focal lengths that are offered on the different devices.Most of the time, the manufacturers offer a 28 mm equivalent main angle camera, an ultra-wide equivalent 17 mm equivalent and an equivalent telephoto lens 50 or 75 mm depending on if the manufacturer communicates on an X2 or X3 optical zoom zoom.This results in viewing angles - given more highlighted by the manufacturers - of 75 °, 113 °, 46 ° or 32 °.

Largely privileged grand-angle devices

The constant of these photo modules is that each time, it is the same choice that is made by the manufacturer, the same camera which is privileged: the Grand Angle of 27 or 28 mm.

It is often this sensor that has best features, whether in terms of HDR, night fashion, optical stabilization or video performance.It must be said that these cameras have a major advantage: they have larger sensors.Systematically, when a new smartphone announces, we can expect the Grand-Angle sensor to be the paragon of the photo module.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has a 108 megapixel sensor associated with a Grand-Angle // Source lens: Arnaud Gelineau-Frandroid

You only have to see three separate cameras to be convinced: the Google Pixel 6 Pro, the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra:

In the three cases, we see that it is this high angle camera that offers the highest focal length and therefore the brightest lenses.In addition, if the photosites of the Grand-England modules on the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Pixel 6 Pro are a priori smaller, they are in fact grouped by 9 or by 4 to offer a better definition or better capture of light.

Thus, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is, by default, proposed with a definition of 12 megapixels with photosites of 2.4 μm side (against 1.4 or 1.22 for other sensors).The same goes for the Pixel 6 which captures, in fact, clichés of 12.5 megapixels, with photosites of 2.4 μm side (against 1.25 or 0.8 μm for the other sensors).This is the principle of Pixel Binning.In addition to this size, the photo sensor, also is generally more important on the sensors associated with the high angle lens, a particularly important point on which we will come back.

The Google Pixel 6 Pro photo module is protuberant // Source: Anthony Wonner - Frandroid

If the Grand-English modules are largely favored by the manufacturers, these objectives are above all thought to take photos of street, landscape or architecture.They are not the most suitable for portraits.However, when we look at what smartphones users take the most picture - as the researcher t.J.Thomson in 2019 on a database of 5000 shots - the main subjects of photographs are certainly objects, at 43.6 %, but closely followed by people or animals, at 31.4 %.Global buildings of buildings or in nature-more suitable for the Grand Angle-are only 24.9 % of the captured shots.

What is the problem with the Grand Angle?

At first glance, we could say that this does not change anything, that the portraits taken in the big angle are identical to a photo taken from the telephoto with zoom x2 or x3 if we were moving away.This is however not the case.

It is no coincidence that photographers favor 85 or 135 mm optics for portrait photos.As we have seen, these focal lengths are those that will the least distort the perspectives.This therefore means that the shorter focal lengths, the famous grand angles, will strongly distort them.

Four photos taken at Pixel 6 Pro in Ultra Grand Angle, Grand-Angle, Zoom X2 and Zoom X4 // Source: Frandroid

Concretely, this is where the big nose effect will come from the photos taken at the smartphone.With a similar framework, you will have to approach much more from your subject with a great angle lens than with a telephoto lens.Logically, the closer you are, the more the nearby elements will grow by perspective effect.And, as the different plans will appear more separate from each other, the more distant elements will tend to become smaller.

Examples of portrait with different focal lengths on a camera // Source: Frandroid

This is why, if you have a portrait with a wide-angle lens-even ultra-angle-, the nose of your subject will appear much more prominent and its ears will tend to disappear behind its skull.

Why do manufacturers favor the great angle?

It is therefore a paradox we are witnessing on the photo on smartphone.Users largely use their camera to take portraits.But the cameras most highlighted by manufacturers are not optimized for this use.

This does not mean that smartphones manufacturers are wrong.They first face physical constraints, as a pixel smartphone official at Google explained to me:

Everything is compromise.A main sensor linked to a longer focal length would necessarily tend to increase the photo module inconsiderary.

The Xperia 1 III has three camera holes for four focal lengths // Source: Frandroid - Arnaud Gelineau

An opinion corroborated by Sony, both a builder of smartphones, cameras and photo sensors for smartphones: "The more the focal length of a lens is high, the more the distance between the objective and the surface of the sensor must beimportant.In addition, the greater the sensor, the more important the space is important.This explains why it is technically difficult to integrate large sensors and large focal lengths in fine smartphones "."Smartphones cameras are obviously based on an optical design, so they must follow the principles of physics.Consequently, they obey rules like "the more light there is, the better the photo", but also "the greater the sensor, the larger the objective" ", adds Oppo.

Users want great angle, even very much angle

Another element to take into account is the attachment of users to the high-angle cameras, as Oppo indicates: “Use the great angle as a main optics on smartphones today refers to the demand of users who wish togood ready -to -use device that works in most conventional scenarios.It is the focal range that responds to the most requests ".Same bell sound on the side of Sony, who tells us that he has studied the use "by professional photographers or amateur photographers" before moving towards a range of 16 to 70 mm on his smartphones.What also explains that most of the phones, even the most entry-level, now offer an ultra-angle device in addition to the main camera.

If there is a manufacturer who paid the price for this love of users for the ultra-angle, it's good.In 2019, the manufacturer launched the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 Pro, smartphones equipped with a 27 mm high-angle device and a second module ... Telephoto, 43 mm equivalent.The firm then ignored the ultra grand angle in an industry that already swore by this perspective.

The Google Pixel 4 was devoid of ultra-angle // source: Frandroid

Critics have been numerous, many testers and users deploring the absence of ultra-angle for landscape photos or if the photographer lacks hindsight.Today, Google is aware of this, the ultra grand angle has become an essential photo on smartphones: "When we ask our consumers, many of them prefer ultra grand angle, more prospectswide, because this device has a more global use in which we can crop and with which we do not have to back down so much ”.

High definition as an alternative to standard objectives

Both for technical and commercial reasons, smartphones manufacturers do not intend to associate a high -end photo sensor with a telephoto lens or a standard objective.This does not prevent them from looking for alternatives.And it is precisely the better defined sensors of the grand angles devices that are cut for that.

Today, manufacturers like Samsung or Xiaomi now offer main sensors of more than 100 million pixels on their smartphones.Samsung has also announced that it has developed a sensor reaching a definition of 200 million pixels.And these sensors have several attractions.The most obvious is to offer better definition shots, but this is not the case by default.Indeed, with the basic parameters, the pixels on these sensors are grouped by four or new, what is called the pixel binning.A way for manufacturers to emulate photosites four or nine times larger, and therefore capable of recording more light.

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But the main advantage, for the subject that interests us, is clearly the digital or hybrid zoom.By operating an X2 digital zoom in a 108 megapixel sensor, a definition of 27 megapixels is kept.An X3 zoom will allow him to keep an image of 12 megapixels.A largely sufficient quality, whether to share pictures on social networks, send them to loved ones or print them for small prints.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 was the first smartphone to embark a 108 megapixel // Source sensor: Frandroid

Above all, using the large angle device with a X2 or X3 digital zoom-to reach an equivalent focal length 50 or 75 mm-allows you to take advantage of a telephotoctive associated with the best sensor available on the smartphone on the smartphone.Consequently, the photos can benefit not only from this better definition, but also from optical stabilization, HDR or any other function which would be far too heavy to integrate on other sensors, as explains Oppo:

Tele -based telephurse telephones

To avoid the big nose effect on smartphones, several manufacturers continue to offer telephoto lenses, generally on their highest -end smartphones.This is the case for example of Google with its Pixel 6 Pro, but also of Samsung which, as we saw earlier, has drawn nothing less than two long focal lens - equivalent 72 and 240 mm - on its galaxyS21 Ultra.

The Oppo Find X2 Pro took advantage of a periscopic telephoto lens // Source: Frandroid

Paradoxically, if the grande-angle devices remain the best-equipped models on smartphone, it is the telephoto resets that are the subject of the main innovations and force demonstrations on smartphones.And in this area, if Oppo has not equipped its Find X3 Pro of Telephoto, the brand is used to this type of optics:

Huawei also was a pioneer in the teleobo -jectif fields by offering, with its P30 Pro, in 2019, an X50 digital zoom - 1250 mm equivalent - a first for a smartphone.A feat made possible both thanks to the very defined main sensor of 40 megapixels and the 8 megapixel sensor associated with a 125 mm equivalent objective.

The variable zoom of Oppo // Source: Oppo

We also know that several manufacturers work on systems which must allow, in the medium or long term, real variable zooms thanks to optical movements within the objective.This is particularly the case with OPPO, but also Samsung.The fact remains that these new features are precisely innovations and that as such, they will not be accessible as soon as they are released to the greatest number.To make them profitable, manufacturers should, once again, reserve these long focal lens of a new kind for premium smartphones.

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