Your phone’s camera isn’t as good as you think - Rachel Yang
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Date: 2025-10-11
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Comments and reviews: 20
comeraczy2483
This simplistic overview is misleading on all 3 of the mentioned performance areas.
First, resolution: 50MP is becoming a standard on many phones and 200MP has been available for quite a few years. As a comparison, most full frame and APS-C cameras have a resolution significantly lower than 50MP, with a maximum at 100MP.
Then, dynamic range and noise: phone sensors routinely implement technologies that are prohibitive on larger sensor in order to increase dynamic range and signal to noise ratio (SNR. One example is the ability to combine multiple non-destructive readouts of a single exposure to improve dynamic range and SNR - typically with results comparable to modern consumer mirrorless cameras. Another example is the optimizations of photosites to make them close to 10 times more efficient at capturing light than modern consumer mirrorless cameras - again, expanding dynamic range and SNR.
That said, phone cameras are severely limited by the size of their lens: a lens with a diameter of 4mm collects 25 times less light than a lens with a diameter of 20mm. Also, typically, phones don't make good use of all the features of the camera, because the most advanced features of the cameras aren't always well aligned with the marketing strategy of the phone manufacturer.
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This simplistic overview is misleading on all 3 of the mentioned performance areas.
First, resolution: 50MP is becoming a standard on many phones and 200MP has been available for quite a few years. As a comparison, most full frame and APS-C cameras have a resolution significantly lower than 50MP, with a maximum at 100MP.
Then, dynamic range and noise: phone sensors routinely implement technologies that are prohibitive on larger sensor in order to increase dynamic range and signal to noise ratio (SNR. One example is the ability to combine multiple non-destructive readouts of a single exposure to improve dynamic range and SNR - typically with results comparable to modern consumer mirrorless cameras. Another example is the optimizations of photosites to make them close to 10 times more efficient at capturing light than modern consumer mirrorless cameras - again, expanding dynamic range and SNR.
That said, phone cameras are severely limited by the size of their lens: a lens with a diameter of 4mm collects 25 times less light than a lens with a diameter of 20mm. Also, typically, phones don't make good use of all the features of the camera, because the most advanced features of the cameras aren't always well aligned with the marketing strategy of the phone manufacturer.
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jello-im-mello
If anybody's is curious the reason why phones have more than one camera can be summed up by these points. I'm sure I might have missed a point, so continue the convo in the replies!
1) You can't remove the lense off a phone's camera and therefore can't change the native focal length. If you want a really zoomed in shot while still having quality, then changing your focal length is better than just digitally zooming and loosing lots of data in the process. If you want to shoot a wider frame, you are out of luck with only one camera. Unless you want to after the fact generate fake pixels on the resulting picture to make it wider, it's not happening. Therefore instead of making interchangeable lense phone cameras, it's a lot easier to just add more sensors with different focal lengths to accomplish the same thing.
2) As far as I know, some phones take advantage of the multiple cameras, and use them at the same time, to do computational photography.
3) Having multiple cameras act like a good differentiator between lower end phones and higher end, more expensive, higher margin phones. Companies can more easily justify a higher price when they tack on another camera.
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If anybody's is curious the reason why phones have more than one camera can be summed up by these points. I'm sure I might have missed a point, so continue the convo in the replies!
1) You can't remove the lense off a phone's camera and therefore can't change the native focal length. If you want a really zoomed in shot while still having quality, then changing your focal length is better than just digitally zooming and loosing lots of data in the process. If you want to shoot a wider frame, you are out of luck with only one camera. Unless you want to after the fact generate fake pixels on the resulting picture to make it wider, it's not happening. Therefore instead of making interchangeable lense phone cameras, it's a lot easier to just add more sensors with different focal lengths to accomplish the same thing.
2) As far as I know, some phones take advantage of the multiple cameras, and use them at the same time, to do computational photography.
3) Having multiple cameras act like a good differentiator between lower end phones and higher end, more expensive, higher margin phones. Companies can more easily justify a higher price when they tack on another camera.
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AlexSchendel
Most modern smartphone cameras actually don't upscale images (produce a higher resolution output from a lower resolution sensor. In order to minimize noise, most flagships do the opposite by default. Most flagships currently use 48MP sensors to shoot 12MP photos which allows for pixel binning (blending groups of four pixels into one, reducing noise in the output image. And this also allows lossless 2x digital zoom since you can just crop into 12MP of the 48MP sensor and produce native 12MP photos.
There are then multiple cameras to allow for even greater zoom ranges. For example, the Pixel 10 Pro has a 0. 5x ultrawide, a 1x main, and a 5x telephoto. With native resolution 2x digital zoom, that gives you full quality images at 0. 5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, and 10x. Plenty of zoom levels to choose from.
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Most modern smartphone cameras actually don't upscale images (produce a higher resolution output from a lower resolution sensor. In order to minimize noise, most flagships do the opposite by default. Most flagships currently use 48MP sensors to shoot 12MP photos which allows for pixel binning (blending groups of four pixels into one, reducing noise in the output image. And this also allows lossless 2x digital zoom since you can just crop into 12MP of the 48MP sensor and produce native 12MP photos.
There are then multiple cameras to allow for even greater zoom ranges. For example, the Pixel 10 Pro has a 0. 5x ultrawide, a 1x main, and a 5x telephoto. With native resolution 2x digital zoom, that gives you full quality images at 0. 5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, and 10x. Plenty of zoom levels to choose from.
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Sacto1654
I think based on what Apple and Samsung have done in recent years, there's really not much they can do to improve image quality. They should consider going back to 12 megapixel resolution but with much wider dynamic range (f/1. 8 or lower) and a 12-megapixel with true 10X telephoto using a periscope mirror system.
Maybe it's time to revive the old DXO One design, but now with a USB Type C connector. That way, we get 48 megapixel resolution with a MUCH larger sensor chip, capable of down to f/1. 4 stop, and true 10X optical zoom. In short, essentially a high-end point-and-shoot camera system connected back to the cellphone via USB Type C with the cellphone's main screen as the viewfinder.
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I think based on what Apple and Samsung have done in recent years, there's really not much they can do to improve image quality. They should consider going back to 12 megapixel resolution but with much wider dynamic range (f/1. 8 or lower) and a 12-megapixel with true 10X telephoto using a periscope mirror system.
Maybe it's time to revive the old DXO One design, but now with a USB Type C connector. That way, we get 48 megapixel resolution with a MUCH larger sensor chip, capable of down to f/1. 4 stop, and true 10X optical zoom. In short, essentially a high-end point-and-shoot camera system connected back to the cellphone via USB Type C with the cellphone's main screen as the viewfinder.
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Slartyfartblarst
Wideangle lenses are great for interiors. Not good for flattering portraits, (unless your subjects like big noses and disappearing ears. Can be good for surreptitious photography, but don't point the camera directly at your subject, or you may become toast. Care is required because of distortion.
Medium lenses are generally OK for portraits but keep away from your subject. Generally good for general use including online auction photos.
Telephoto lenses are more flattering for portraits, and getting up close without getting dangerously close. If you don't understand why, try getting a close-up of a wild elephant, without becoming pizza afterwards.
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Wideangle lenses are great for interiors. Not good for flattering portraits, (unless your subjects like big noses and disappearing ears. Can be good for surreptitious photography, but don't point the camera directly at your subject, or you may become toast. Care is required because of distortion.
Medium lenses are generally OK for portraits but keep away from your subject. Generally good for general use including online auction photos.
Telephoto lenses are more flattering for portraits, and getting up close without getting dangerously close. If you don't understand why, try getting a close-up of a wild elephant, without becoming pizza afterwards.
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distarast
As a Magic 6 Pro user and active photographer in general, I'll say this. Smartphone photography and videography doesn't strictly need to be AI, just resort to a third party camera app like Proshot [sideloadable], which doesn't even support anything AI to begin with. Proshot allows you to take unmodified photos, meaning artificial sharpening and noise reduction off. It from there purely just depends on the phone, camera and sensor how noisy or clean photos are gonna be at different ISO ranges. I've done amazing experimenting on a wide range of phones and you'd be in shock what kind of detail you can achieve with smartphone cameras by just knowing how to do it.
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As a Magic 6 Pro user and active photographer in general, I'll say this. Smartphone photography and videography doesn't strictly need to be AI, just resort to a third party camera app like Proshot [sideloadable], which doesn't even support anything AI to begin with. Proshot allows you to take unmodified photos, meaning artificial sharpening and noise reduction off. It from there purely just depends on the phone, camera and sensor how noisy or clean photos are gonna be at different ISO ranges. I've done amazing experimenting on a wide range of phones and you'd be in shock what kind of detail you can achieve with smartphone cameras by just knowing how to do it.
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lifemotivation6789
It’s amazing to see how far phone cameras have comefrom the tiny 0. 11 MP Visualphone in 1999 to today’s pocket-sized devices using advanced processors and algorithms to rival professional cameras. What’s even more fascinating is realizing that the real magic isn’t just in the megapixels, but in the balance between resolution, dynamic range, and noise control. Phones may never have the giant sensors of telescopes, but computational photography shows how creativity and technology can overcome physical limits.
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It’s amazing to see how far phone cameras have comefrom the tiny 0. 11 MP Visualphone in 1999 to today’s pocket-sized devices using advanced processors and algorithms to rival professional cameras. What’s even more fascinating is realizing that the real magic isn’t just in the megapixels, but in the balance between resolution, dynamic range, and noise control. Phones may never have the giant sensors of telescopes, but computational photography shows how creativity and technology can overcome physical limits.
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kaydi7947
I think the video suggests, though doesn’t explicitly say, that phones have multiple cameras because using more lenses helps them produce better photos. The video focuses on phone cameras in general, highlighting how they take several images in quick succession and process them with powerful algorithms. This allows the phone to generate clearer, sharper photos that approach the quality of traditional cameras with larger sensorsa necessary workaround since phone cameras are limited by their tiny, pea-sized sensors.
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I think the video suggests, though doesn’t explicitly say, that phones have multiple cameras because using more lenses helps them produce better photos. The video focuses on phone cameras in general, highlighting how they take several images in quick succession and process them with powerful algorithms. This allows the phone to generate clearer, sharper photos that approach the quality of traditional cameras with larger sensorsa necessary workaround since phone cameras are limited by their tiny, pea-sized sensors.
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notcorrect
The camera lens is just as important to image quality as the sensor. Physically larger lenses and higher quality glass increases the lens' resolving power and the amount of light provided to the sensor which reduces noise. Its the reason why we have larger and larger camera bumps, optics require a lot of space. As sensors improve and increase in resolution the lenses need to keep up with their resolving power to feed the sensor's resolution.
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The camera lens is just as important to image quality as the sensor. Physically larger lenses and higher quality glass increases the lens' resolving power and the amount of light provided to the sensor which reduces noise. Its the reason why we have larger and larger camera bumps, optics require a lot of space. As sensors improve and increase in resolution the lenses need to keep up with their resolving power to feed the sensor's resolution.
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HindsightLore
Excellent breakdown of the pivot from hardware limitations to software ingenuity. It raises a fascinating question about authenticity. If the final image is a computational composite rather than a direct capture of photons, are we moving away from 'photography' (light-writing) to something more akin to 'reality rendering' It fundamentally changes how we perceive a photograph as a record of a moment.
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Excellent breakdown of the pivot from hardware limitations to software ingenuity. It raises a fascinating question about authenticity. If the final image is a computational composite rather than a direct capture of photons, are we moving away from 'photography' (light-writing) to something more akin to 'reality rendering' It fundamentally changes how we perceive a photograph as a record of a moment.
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Rebel_One-e6t
When it comes to smartphone cameras, you gotta take about 100 photos or more to find a good one, background affects appearance of people as well, even wall color, making images look weird, dull, dim or odd, also got to use angle (tilt or high rise arm extended and hand movements, believe me, it's the camera.
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When it comes to smartphone cameras, you gotta take about 100 photos or more to find a good one, background affects appearance of people as well, even wall color, making images look weird, dull, dim or odd, also got to use angle (tilt or high rise arm extended and hand movements, believe me, it's the camera.
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ribaldbohling2107
And none of those photos are real pictures anymore - Computational photography has taken the truth out of the picture and replaced it with an approximated representation of what a processor (and AI software) thought you should see. It's a lie and nothing is real. But who cares about that anyways.
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And none of those photos are real pictures anymore - Computational photography has taken the truth out of the picture and replaced it with an approximated representation of what a processor (and AI software) thought you should see. It's a lie and nothing is real. But who cares about that anyways.
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Django19
This is on a tangent but I LOVE that the story showcases an Asian father AND an Asian husband. I don't know how many of you notice this but Asian male family figures (especially dads) are often erased in American media (or depicted as incredibly stoic, if anything. It was cool seeing them here.
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This is on a tangent but I LOVE that the story showcases an Asian father AND an Asian husband. I don't know how many of you notice this but Asian male family figures (especially dads) are often erased in American media (or depicted as incredibly stoic, if anything. It was cool seeing them here.
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KhanhNguyen-jw6it
1. So why do modern phones need MULTIPLE cameras
2. The phone featured at 0: 23 actually has four rear cameras.
3. It's 2025 now, Mirrorless cameras are more popular than DSLRs, which camera manufacturers almost entirely stop production
Edit: well they changed the title
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1. So why do modern phones need MULTIPLE cameras
2. The phone featured at 0: 23 actually has four rear cameras.
3. It's 2025 now, Mirrorless cameras are more popular than DSLRs, which camera manufacturers almost entirely stop production
Edit: well they changed the title
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kruxt. 3773
Haven't watched the video yet. In terms of optical quality, there's still a lot to improve, but it wouldn't make a lot of difference, unless they make a sensor with higher stops of dynamic range.
In terms of AI and computational photography, there's endless possibilities.
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Haven't watched the video yet. In terms of optical quality, there's still a lot to improve, but it wouldn't make a lot of difference, unless they make a sensor with higher stops of dynamic range.
In terms of AI and computational photography, there's endless possibilities.
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BalazsBamer
I'm disappointed. The title promised to find out if these cameras have reached their limits, but none was mentioned. I expected to hear about diffraction, lens polishing problems, aspherical lens element, noise vs resolution tradeoff etc. Nothing.
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I'm disappointed. The title promised to find out if these cameras have reached their limits, but none was mentioned. I expected to hear about diffraction, lens polishing problems, aspherical lens element, noise vs resolution tradeoff etc. Nothing.
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Murat-k7e-h2f
Yeah when I took a picture of me and my friend from work this morning, his eyes looked closed for a sec in the camera app but then they got open, showing instantly that the phones take more than one photo and put the best parts together, nice.
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Yeah when I took a picture of me and my friend from work this morning, his eyes looked closed for a sec in the camera app but then they got open, showing instantly that the phones take more than one photo and put the best parts together, nice.
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semirhuskic8028
Good video but didn't answer the title why phone need multiple cameras (because only one camera can't zoom far away because of fixed lens no room for large lens. Sorry for nitpicking
Edit: they changed the title joke's now on me
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Good video but didn't answer the title why phone need multiple cameras (because only one camera can't zoom far away because of fixed lens no room for large lens. Sorry for nitpicking
Edit: they changed the title joke's now on me
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hexagonal717
Most people don't use RAW on their phones. If you shoot RAW and put it into Photoshop Raw denoiser. You know how damn good it is. Instead manufacturers use their post processing on it and make it look like an oil painting.
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Most people don't use RAW on their phones. If you shoot RAW and put it into Photoshop Raw denoiser. You know how damn good it is. Instead manufacturers use their post processing on it and make it look like an oil painting.
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gx0
The video title is literally describe the video, because they tall about that the sensor is so small that it shouldn't give a good photos but the processor is enhanced it, so that why your phone camera isn't as good as you think
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The video title is literally describe the video, because they tall about that the sensor is so small that it shouldn't give a good photos but the processor is enhanced it, so that why your phone camera isn't as good as you think
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