Observing the back of any smartphoneeven cheap, you will notice that presents multiple cameras. This choice is not only aesthetic or related to marketing. Each lens has a specific functiondesigned to expand the photographic skills of the device. The different objectives allow you to better face various situations: from large landscapes to distant subjects, passing through portraits with blurred wallpapers or black and white shots richer in contrast. The use of multiple optics allows the smartphone to adapt to very different visual contexts, improving the quality and versatility of the images. Not always slower mean better photos, this is very clear, but knowing what they are used will help you knowingly choosing which camera to use to maximize the quality of your shots. So let’s see the Features of the many objectives of the phone camera To better understand what they are for.
The 3 main types of smartphone objectives
The main types of smartphone objectives
Here is the list of Main types of smartphone objectives and their main characteristics.
Telephoto lens
One of the most common types of additional lens is the telephoto lens. In smartphones the telephoto lens is a lens with major focal length Compared to the main goal (it can safely exceed 100 mm), designed to really approach the subjects without quality loss, thanks to optical zoom. Unlike the digital zoom, which simulates the magnification by cutting the image, the optical one uses physical elements to obtain a more clear and detailed result.
Since the telephoto lenses need a certain distance between the lenses at the two ends to work properly, this represents a great challenge in modern smartphones, which very often are thin. To overcome this physical limit, producers are increasingly frequently resorted to systems periscopicwhich exploit an prism to deflect the light laterally inside the smartphone. In this way you can increase the distance between the lenses and the sensor horizontally, simulating a greater focal length and thus allowing a more “pushed” optical zoom without increasing, in fact, the real thickness of the device.
In addition to the zoom, the telephoto lens is fundamental in portrait mode. Thanks to its reduced depth of the field, it is able to isolate the subject by showing off the background, creating the so -called “bokeh effect”. This feature, borrowed from professional cameras, allows to obtain more artistic shots and with greater separation between subject and environment, enhancing the faces and improving the general aesthetic of the photo.
Ultra-grandans
In clear contrast to the telephoto lens we find the Grenade and ultra wide -angle objectives. These are ideal to include more elements in the scene, such as landscapes, urban skyline or group photos. With a Very reduced focal length (some smartphones on the market have lenses from 12-13 mm), capture a large visual field, often with spectacular visual effects. It is not possible to obtain the same artificially effect, so the presence of an ultra-wide lens represents a concrete advantage, not replicable via software. Some manufacturers employ ultra-glandular objective also to improve group selfies, mounting it on the front camera.
Monochrome
Less widespread (especially in recent years), but interesting for those who love artistic photography, it is themonochromatic objectivededicated to the capture of royal black and white images, not simulated with a filter. These lenses are able to offer a higher contrast, deeper blacks and a more rich dynamic range than digitally desaturated images. In addition, a monochromatic sensor can also improve color photos, because it is able to capture more light and therefore more details, which can be combined with the information collected by the main goal.
The principle of focal length
The principle behind each goal is the focal lengthor the distance between the lens and the sensor that captures the image (when the focus of the latter is set to Infinito). This value determines how large or restricted the visual field will be and how much the subject will be. A goal with a reduced focal length “sees” more scene, while one with longer focal length allows you to visually approach the subject.
The focal length, therefore, affects directly on two aspects: how much a scene captures and how much it enlarges a part of what is seen in the photo. The presence of multiple objectives on a smartphone is an ingenious response to a physical limit: not being able to change the perspective as on a reflex, each lens serves to “specialize” in a task. Knowing which goal comes into action based on the scene allows you to fully exploit the camera potential. Having clarified this, let’s see what are the main types of objectives that can be found on the back of a smartphone.
