By Dave South •
Set iPhone 15 Pro to “portrait” mode and took this picture. This is the default it delivered (no corrections).
Faking Depth with iPhone 15 Pro Camera
The iPhone 15 Pro simulates depth of field via a depth camera and advanced processing. Before the 15, I had to specifically set the camera to Portrait mode so it would capture depth data. Now, it automatically captures depth data whenever it recognizes a person, dog, or cat. This allows me to return to any picture of a person or our dog and add depth…later!
Here are a few tests of the same picture with changes to the depth of field. Note how the images are artificially deep but still look awfully close to the one I took with the Panasonic.
Of course, because there are no people in these shots, I had to manually set it to Portrait mode to get the depth data.
This is the same image, but focused on my dirty glasses. The focus depth is simulated and the camera remembers the depth of field measurements so tapping on the glasses changes the simulation. It’s fun to play with.
And then I changed the focus to the little metal ball (see me in the reflection). The depth is variable as well from extra blurry to just a little blurry.
This is the orginal image without the simulated depth of field. You can see the camera does have a little (the dome wall is blurry).
This is true depth of field from the Panasonic LX100. The iPhone 15 Pro will work better for me since I carry it everywhere. Having it capture depth data whenever it sees a person (or pet) is an amazing feature.