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Apple iPhone 7 Plus

The massive expansion of available computing power, and declining price of pocket-sized imaging sensors, has spurred a moving ridge of startups hoping to combine those trends in products that feature computational imaging. The basic premise is to automatically post-procedure images from multiple sensors to create an improved image that would take been difficult to capture otherwise.

For example, Lytro famously used computational imaging to allow refocusing of an prototype after the fact. Pelican's array camera created depth maps, allowing depth of focus to be set afterward the epitome was shot. Light.co has appear a smartphone-sized camera that combines the output of 16 stock-still-focal-length cameras to simulate various effects including zoom. And then far, though, none of those startups has achieved mass market success. As a result, computational imaging hasn't received any existent validation – until now.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus has both a standard and a telephoto lens for its rear camera

Apple iPhone 7 Plus features a 2x optical zoom thanks to a second sensor and lensApple has announced that the iPhone 7 Plus will take a dual lens (and by inference, dual sensor) rear photographic camera. One volition be a state-of-the-art 12MP smartphone imager, essentially an improved version of the ane in its current phones (information technology features a faster f/1.8 lens, optical prototype stabilization, and 60% faster readout). The second lens has a much longer focal length (56mm in full-frame equivalent terms). This 2x focal length pattern echoes Light.co'southward pick of several different (for a total range of up to 5x) focal length lenses on its upcoming L16.

The 2nd sensor and lens permit Apple to do a number of things. First, and about obvious, information technology means you can zoom in on an image optically – by pressing the 2x push on the phone. That is a huge step forwards for anyone tired of being confined to a typical smartphone broad-angle (28mm in the case of the iPhone seven family, for example) field of view.

Beyond that, though, Apple is using the additional data to do some fancy post processing. Because the cameras are dissever from each other, they will run across slightly different versions of the image. That means that for objects inside the field of view of the 56mm lens, the iPhone 7 Plus tin can infer a map of the depth of the objects in the frame. In item, it can endeavour to choice out the subject of the image (face detection helps with this besides, of course).

Apple hasn't said exactly how the technique volition work, only one result volition be a new Portrait mode that keeps the subject precipitous while blurring the groundwork. Another volition exist an additional Depth manner — shipping afterward this year — that simulates the shallow depth of focus and pleasing background "bokeh" that photographers accept typically needed much larger and more expensive cameras to attain.

New 4 LED flash, RAW support, and 7 MP front-facing camera circular out the offering

The dual lens isn't the only update to the camera on the iPhone 7 Plus. It (and the iPhone vii) also feature a 4-LED, dual-tone flash for improved power output and better color balance. The front-facing camera has been upgraded from 5MP to 7MP. The new phones will also be able to capture 4K video, every bit well every bit slow motility in 1080p and 720p. For the first time, RAW image capture (in DNG format) will as well exist supported.