The iOS camera app is the simplest out there. Toggle buttons for front-facing camera, HDR button, flash, and shutter button. The only control you have is touch to focus. All the processing from autofocus and exposure happens behind the scenes, and you can’t control the exact specifics. You just have to hope that the iOS camera app solves that problem. And for the most part, it does.
But the new controls in iOS 8 let you handle specific camera settings. Even if it leads to a bad image. Well folks, it’s now possible to voluntarily take bad photos with an iPhone. The future is here.
It also means you’ll be able to take really great photos with your iPhone now. If you think iPhone photos so far are too neutral or bland, the new camera controls are for you. iOS 8 gives developers access to all the important camera controls you care about. ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focus and even white balance. What exactly do these terms mean and how can they be helpful in taking breathtaking photos? Well, if you’ve never held a DSLR in your life (really?), read on to find out.
ISO is a fancy term for brightness
Except not really. ISO is confused with brightness but technically, ISO is responsible for how sensitive a camera sensor is to light.
Increasing the ISO makes the image brighter but also increases noise. Increasing the ISO is a surefire way to make sharp images grainy. You shouldn’t overdo it with ISO and while this depends on the lighting conditions of the photo more than anything else, the ISO should stay in the 400-800 range.
Sliding speed determines how long the camera takes
Shutter speed determines how long the camera has to shoot in the light. If you are in a dark area, a manual shutter speed can help you take better photos.
Exposure is the sum of ISO, shutter speed and aperture
Exposure is determined by ISO and shutter speed. Shutter speed measures the duration of active exposure. The longer the shutter is open, the more light the sensor is exposed to. That means the image will be brighter.
An example of a long exposure. Not taken with iPhone.
For well-lit areas you want faster shutters and shorter exposure times while in low light you want slower shutters and longer exposures to capture as much detail as possible. Good.
If you’ve seen pictures depicting moving cars with dimmed taillights, you have to thank for the long exposure. When the shutter is open for a longer time, you can capture motion blur.
Unfortunately, there is no aperture setting available for you: Aperture determines the physical opening size of the lens when taking a photo. Due to physical limitations in the iPhone’s camera, manual aperture setting is not available to users.
Focus Ensures Your Subject Highlights
This is the easy one. Focus ensures that your subject is highlighted. You can use tap-to-focus on iOS 8 as always. Now, with precise focus controls, you can get DSLR-style images where the subject is sharp while the background is slightly blurred.
You will need to make sure that there is a fair amount of distance between the subject and the background. You can also tap on different objects on the screen to see this sharp-to-blurry transition quickly.
If you’re using an iPhone 6/6 Plus, Focus Pixels technology saves you from having to refocus every time you move the phone a little.
White balance
The light hitting your camera sensor has a direct effect on the color of your photo. Direct light will produce an orange tint while shaded photos will have a much cooler, bluish profile. But sadly we haven’t invented a way to remove the sun from orbit so you can get the perfect picture.
This is where white balance comes into play. It is used to neutralize edge colors. So your sun shots don’t look too orange while your shaded ones don’t look so horrible.
Actually using these features in iOS 8
This may sound counterintuitive, but iOS 8’s default camera app is still pretty straightforward, and only developers with third-party apps will have access to these manual controls. That means you’ll need to download a third-party app to get started.
Luckily, everyone’s favorite (no, not Instagram) photography app, VSCO Cam, has been updated with manual controls – and experimenting with white balance and other manual controls in This app is definitely very interesting.
Follow this hands-on, hands-on guide to using manual camera controls here on Guiding Tech.
Widescreen image via Shutterstock, Shutterstock. Screenshot of the application via Manual Cam.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
