Finally, Apple's technology gives the Lenses more accurate depth detection, which leads to
better background blurs, among other style elements.
In general, though, if you want
better background blur you should use this mode, as it does a respectable job of simulating wide - aperture DSLR lenses.
Not exact matches
Both phones handled portrait mode very
well, where the
background is artificially
blurred to create that professional - looking «bokeh» effect.
Plus, they can't provide depth - of - field effects — the aesthetically appealing and narratively useful
blurring of the foreground and
background deemed essential to
good filmmaking.
A plain
background works
best, but if the subject is in a crowd or busy area,
blur the
background as much as you can with the help of a telephoto lens, wide open.
The maximum aperture makes this the
best Canon lens for low light video and we love the way it produces a
background blur when filming things up close.
It can also be quite dark and I must admit that the
blurring effect of the
backgrounds works quite
well.
When it went from regular to pro it made it so the audio sync became horribly off as
well as putting a
blur filter on that would randomly
blur everything in the
background / foreground and would often have the characters who were speaking be completely out of focus.
This time, your subject can be within eight feet of your camera, and the 8 Plus does a
better job of figuring out where the edges are
blurring out the
background behind them.
The big draw to this mid-range phone is its 12 - megapixel dual camera system, which allows for wide and telephoto shots with 2x optical zoom, as
well as Portrait Mode - style shots that
blur out the
background from your subject, similar to the effect seen in pictures from the iPhone 7.
Even in
good lighting, photos with
blurred backgrounds are often fuzzy and lacking detail.
Portrait mode gets even
better, with sharper detail, more natural
background blurring, improved performance in low light, and access to the flash when you need it.
At 70 points, the P20 Pro features the
best - performing
background -
blurring bokeh mode in our rankings (we tested «Aperture» mode at 55 mm eq.
And the Live Focus portrait mode still runs into processing issues where the f / 1.5 main lens can often provide
better, natural
background blur.
However, the
background in the Essential Phone's photo looks pixelated, and the Galaxy S8 offers
better bokeh — where the subject is in focus against a
blurred - out
background.
These combine to allow the iPhone X to offer 2X optical zoom, as
well as a portrait mode which lets you take incredible portrait shots with a
blurred - out
background.
To use this, you just proceed as if you were taking a regular selfie, only this one will look way
better because the
background will be
blurred, making you stand out in the picture.
It seems
better at
blurring out the
background while keeping your subject sharp, though some photographers may not appreciate the harsher details.
The selfie camera is by far the
best we've seen on any phone, with the same ability to simulate
background blur as the rear camera.
But instead of relying on two cameras to take
better portraits, Google is using AI software that adjusts photos automatically to enhance close - ups and
blur backgrounds.
It appears to be able to do really
well at determining the subject and only
blurring the
background.
Zoom and bokeh controls are becoming must - have features, especially for smartphone portrait photographers, and they're implemented
well on the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S, with excellent results using the 46mm - equivalent telephoto second lens at close range, creating a strong
background blur effect, as
well as
good depth estimation and subject masking applied to bokeh mode portraits.
We've seen plenty of other leaks over the last few months, and most are pointing to squeezable sides as an alternative input option (just like the HTC U11), an upgraded camera, and some special photo effects for
good measure, like that bokeh effect or
blurred background that seems to be everywhere at the moment.
Third, there's more to a
good portrait mode than accurate
background blur.
There's a bokeh mode as
well, which essentially
blurs the
background while keeping the subject in sharp focus.
You can see the improved depth effect on the iPhone 8 Plus compared to the older model, showing that the dual - camera system now does a
better job of
blurring the foreground like a true optical
blur, instead of
blurring only the
background.
The Vivo X20 Plus's bokeh mode produces a strong, but fairly natural - looking
background blur, and subject masking is reasonably
good.
A
background -
blurring bokeh mode is on board as
well.
The rear camera of the OnePlus 5T has a portrait mode as
well, and it suffers the same issues, occasionally chopping off bits of hair or
blurring missing assets in the
background.
In addition to a
better zoom feature, the dual - camera setup on the Note 8 allows you to add some photo effects on portrait shots, where you'll be able to
blur the
background for a more artistic focus on your subject.
It's not perfect, but comparing it side by side with a Note8, it seemed to actually do a
better job of
blurring backgrounds without getting confused by my curly hair.
Both the cameras work together to fetch you some awesome selfies with a bokeh effect as
well, where the
background will be completely
blurred out keeping your face on focus.
The portrait mode, which
blurs out the
background to keep in the object in sharp focus, does give
good results in some cases, though the
blurring effect can often extend on to the actual person.
The imaging bad boy enables a Portrait mode with «SLR - style
background blur», as
well as optical zoom, but that's actually not the only «premium» thing about the Xiaomi Mi 5X.
As
well as adding telephoto capability, Apple's dual - camera system allowed depth information to be calculated, enabling features like bokeh — sharp foreground and
blurred background — to be supported that were previously the province of expensive digital SLR cameras with high - end optics.
It does a very
good job of
blurring the
background.
This is now a dual - lens setup that allows you to capture some attractive - looking «bokeh» shots with artfully
blurred backgrounds, as
well as boasting a «lossless» zoom feature, which essentially means that zooming in on subjects will only result in a negligible reduction in image quality.
We took a photo of a heavily bearded GSMArena editor, and it worked pretty
well, but stray hairs behind other hairs tended to be
blurred out as part of the
background.
That's because of the telephoto lens on that phone, that
blurs the
background better.
Portrait mode continues to improve and can bring some stunning results, and while the front - facing camera isn't TrueDepth - enabled (so you can't do
blurred -
background selfies) it's still very
good.
The camera does a fairly
good job of finding the edges of the subject and accurately
blurring out the
background.
The calculation involved with creating this artificial
background blur is difficult, and OnePlus will no doubt improve it over time — even as - is it's
good fun to switch to Portrait Mode and try a shot.
That combination allows it to zoom in without loss of detail, as
well as capture some great bokeh shots with sharp subjects and a
blurred background.
The iPhone does a
better job with the
blur effect, as it's more consistent through the
background; with the Pixel 2, some of the hedges are in focus and some are not.
Like many other flagship smartphones, the dual - camera system offers features like 2x optical zoom and a Portrait Mode for a
blurred background effect, as
well as a wide - angle camera on certain devices like the LG V30.
The Nokia 8 features a dual - sensor rear shooter that can capture «bokeh» images with an attractive
background blur, and uses a RGB and monochrome sensor in tandem for
better low light photography.
On the rear its dual lenses allow for optical zoom as
well as digital zoom, as
well as live focus which enables you to do all kinds of effects including
blurring the
background - even after you've taken the shot.
The dual - lens system for adding a
blurred background for portraits works surprisingly
well — it's easy to use, fast, and produces some
good results.
We took this portrait of a handsome young man outdoors to see how
well both phones
blurred the
background.
This is most likely due to the fact that the second lens is no longer a telephoto lens, and it seems that dual camera phones with a secondary telephoto lens seem to take
better portrait mode shots, as they generally seem to identify the
background better for
blurring.