Category Archives: Photography

Focos depth masks

iPhone, Photographs

A closer look at a useful app.

I made mention of the inexpensive Focos app as part of my preliminary look at the new iPhone 11 Pro.

Since then I have done more reading and learning and set forth below how to use manual masking to optimise out of focus areas.

I mistakenly stated that Focos used the depth map which iPhone 11 saves with the image. In fact iPhone 11 only saves such a depth map – a detailed database showing the distance of each pixel in the image from the lens – with images taken using the Portrait mode. In Portrait mode the iPhone 11 switches to the 2x lens and, indeed, the extent of the blurring of out of focus areas can be changed in the iPhone stock Photos app. Go into edit mode, tap the yellow concentric circle at top left and you can adjust the aperture and hence the OOF effect.

Yet Focos allows DOF manipulation even on images taken on pre-iPhone X models, the first iPhone with a depth sensor. That sensor is also used as part of the FaceID security access protection system for the device.

How does Focos do this? It uses Artificial Intelligence to guesstimate the distance of image points from the lens, such AI based on analysis of over one million images, according to the developer. This allows the photographer to not only change the degree of blurring in post processing, but also to change the exact point of sharpest focus, something that cannot be done in iPhone X and 11 Portrait mode images, or in any other image from those iPhones in post-processing.

Mostly, for solid components in the picture, Focos does a good job at establishing its own depth map based on this AI approach. But sometimes it’s not so good.

Take this image:



Original iPhone 11 image, no Portrait mode.

Passing this through Focos keeps the jacket and embossed stitching razor sharp, but the hair is not sharply rendered.

In such cases, Focos has a manual facility where the depth map and the sharp area can be changed.

The default depth map (red areas) for this image has been extended to add the back of the veteran’s head, originally not shaded in red:



The sharp area mask has been extended in Focos on the iPhone.

Rather than using an imprecise finger to mask the sharp area, I use an inexpensive electrostatic pen, something like this:



Pen used for masking.

Further, while the image can be enlarged on the iPhone for greater masking precision, it’s far easier to do this on the larger iPad screen, so I use AirDrop to export the image to Photos on the iPad, and have at it there. The aperture/OOF effect are adjusted in this screen:



Adjusting the degree of blur on the iPad.

Then the blur appearance is modified using your lens of choice. I invariably use the Leitz 50mm Elmar as I like the benign bokeh it delivers – and because I used one for years:



Lens choices, shown on the iPad.

And here is the happy result, which takes less time to do than it does to explain:



The final result.

So for those instances where Focos does a poor auto-masking job, manual masking easily fixes what ails it.

What happens when the going gets tough? This is the sort of image which is a nightmare for computational photography when it’s a case of blurring backgrounds. In Portrait mode the iPhone 11 does a very poor job:



SOOC in Portrait mode.

At f/4.5, the camera’s selected aperture, some of the spokes have gone missing. This is likely because there are simply too few pixels in the depth map sensor to permit creation of a sufficiently detailed enough map. The spokes are small in the image and likely preclude sufficiently accurate depth map recording. As this image was taken using Portrait mode, meaning the iPhone has stored a depth map, how does it look when the aperture is increased to the maximum available, f/1.4 in the Photos app? Even worse:



Aperture changed in iPhone Photos edit mode. At maximum aperture spokes disappear.

How about a regular, non-Portrait mode image snapped on the iPhone 11 Pro and manipulated in Focos for an f/1.4 aperture? Still awful, though better than the iPhone’s Portrait mode + in camera depth map delivers, but some OOF areas are shown sharp:



The final result.

So until depth sensors get finer ‘grained’ both the iPhone’s Portrait mode and Focos’s AI approach leave something to be desired. And only a true masochist would seek to edit the spoked wheel image for proper rendering. Simply move the slider to f/16 in either image and all is sharp. Forget about bokeh. That will have to do for now as we await a better iPhone depth sensor – which is likely, given Apple’s increasing focus on 3D rendering in future iPhones.

When should you use Focos in lieu of the iPhone’s portrait mode? If taking bursts, as Portrait mode prohibits those. Or when you need the far greater versatility Focos offers for manipulating OOF areas. Otherwise, the iPhone 11 Pro’s native Portrait mode is perfectly fine, as long as your preferred daily rider and photo subject is not a classic bike with spoked wheels!

Should Apple make a stand alone camera?

iPhone

Capitalizing on its software and hardware advances.

In an end-of-2019 piece I wrote:

“I have had two transformative iPhone experiences – in 2007 when I bought iPhone 1 on the day it became available, and this year when I bought the iPhone 11 Pro which will change the photography hardware landscape permanently. All of the big makers will be gone in a few years. The iPhone’s camera is an order of magnitude better, doing things the clumsy SLR offerings can only dream of. The remaining reasons to buy clunky gear are that you need high definition from really long lenses – a couple of guys at Nat Geo – and because showing up at the Vogue studios with an iPhone to snap today’s supermodel just does not earn machismo points.”

So should Apple make a stand alone camera?

Apple has made a stand alone camera before. That was in 1997 and sensors were not up to much and, face it, the product looked like a door stop.

But now, with computational software making bad images great, with image quality rivaling that from big, clunky gear, and Sony’s superb lenses and sensors in the iPhone 11 Pro, is it not time for Apple to capitalize on its imaging prowess and make a true camera?

I no longer think this make sense. No one who has used the latest iPhone as a camera wants to revert to interchangeable lenses and all the bulk and weight of the traditional digital body. When you have computational photography working for you, a feature missing from every stand alone camera out there, who needs the clutter of lenses and gadget bags? Heck, even tripods are passé. On the other hand, most serious snappers using the iPhone will confirm that its ergonomics are pretty awful. There is a total absence of physical buttons and dials with all those satisfying, confirming clicks, and gripping the thing steadily – and keeping digits out of the way of the ultra wide lens’s field of view – is not easy. However, I do not think that Apple is about to return to physical controls in its pocket devices any more than it is likely to add a mechanical keyboard to the iPhone.

No, there’s lots of room for ergonomic improvement within the constraints of the iPhone’s small size and now, with chief designer Jony Ive no longer with the company, I expect that ergonomics will improve fast. Ive confused svelte with easy to use and his obsession with light weight and looks resulted in devices increasingly hard to hold and with mediocre battery life. A minuscule increase in thickness in the iPhone 11 fixed the battery life issue for good – good for a day of really hard use with ease – and I expect that the iPhone 12 will revert to the square sides design of the magnificent iPhone 4.


The iPhone 4 of 2011.

Aperture wheel? Not needed, as each image is stored with a depth map, allowing depth of field to be adjusted in post processing. Shutter speed wheel? Nah. With OIS shutter speeds don’t matter a whole lot and in action images burst sequences allow the best image to be easily chosen. Point of best exposure? Just touch the screen. So after much use of cameras in the iPhone I am coming around to concluding that the desire for physical controls is so much refusal to adapt and change. All that’s needed is a carcass design which allows this slippery-as-an-eel device to be held with solid purchase for the fingers. You know, like that iPhone of a decade ago.

Plus who wants a stand alone device robbed of all the functionality of the regular iPhone?

P.S. Apple – a longer fourth lens would be nice!

Rick Stein’s Secret France

Cooking, Photographs

Food and photography.

For an index of cooking articles on this blog click here.



Click the image to go to Amazon US.

Rick Stein started life as a British DJ then migrated to working in a kitchen. One thing led to another and now he has popular restaurants in Cornwall and Australia. His emphasis is on fish and seafood and relatively simple preparation. He travels the world discovering new cuisines which are profiled in popular BBC series. Get a UK server address and you can enjoy these here because, goodness knows, the BBC’s non-existent marketing acumen prevents US residents from watching these shows on their iPlayer app.

While Rick has put in strenuous duty in hell holes in Asia, Latin America and other disease pits where you spend more time sitting on the porcelain than eating from it, his latest book and TV series, named ‘Rick Stein’s Secret France’ shows that the best cuisine in the world is not very far from his native Cornwall. It is, of course, in France. In this series he tries to answer whether French cooking has gone downhill in a world obsessed with fast food ‘culture’ and Facebook.

He concludes, rightly, that the only cuisine a civilized person should consume is French and that the French remain the best cooks. Unlike the Italians who have yet to discover it, the French cook in butter, not oil, the way nature intended. And the variety of French fish, seafood, meats, cheeses, pastries and wines is all any aspiring gourmand needs in a lifetime of quality eating.

The BBC has published a book of recipes from his French sojourn which, like his earlier one, is profusely and beautifully illustrated not only with images of the dishes he prepares but also of the places he visits. Unlike the Mexican tome, replete with recipes for corn and crap (is there worse food on earth than Mexican, accompanied by equally bad music?), the French one is delicious in every regard.


Regular foodie hangout in Burgundy.


Seafood delights in Clermont-Ferrand.

There is a great deal to like here. Indeed, even if your preferred dining location is the local McDonald’s cancer factory, you will enjoy the photography in this fine book.

Vive La France!


A typical recipe which I made yesterday. Delicious.

The BenQ PD3200Q 32 inch monitor

Displays, Photography

Bringing in the New Year.



The 32″ BenQ monitor running Lightroom. Strong daylight over my shoulder does not distract.

My Apple 30″ Cinema Display was bought ‘pre-owned’ 5 years ago and saw daily use.

Elegantly housed and with a minimum of controls, it was easily calibrated, did not drift over time and was a joy to use. The 16:10 aspect ratio was squarer than the more common 16:9 and worked well with my applications and needs.

It failed at Christmas and was over a decade old. Originally selling for $3,300 I had paid just $400 for mine and that’s what its replacement, the BenQ PD3200Q cost new from Amazon. It went into service yesterday and comes with a 3 year parts, backlight and labor warranty. There are cheaper displays in the 32″ size range but BenQ has a tradition of catering to photographers and the display comes pre-calibrated, with the calibration chart included, no less:



Included calibration chart for my 32″ BenQ monitor.

Sadly, the aspect ratio is 16:9, and 16:10 no longer seems to exist. The stand adds a counterbalanced height adjuster to the tilt function, the latter shared with the old Apple Cinema Display.

Out of the box I found the Brightness setting of 72 too bright and turned it down using the easy to use touch buttons to 56. These buttons are located on the bottom right of the bezel and are only lit when being adjusted. To their right is an illuminated off-white on-off indicator which turns orange when the display is in sleep mode. The display’s power supply is integrated; there is no separate power supply transformer.

I measured illumination uniformity across the screen – extreme edge, center edge, center. There was no noticeable difference.

While this is a 2560 x 1440 display, I much prefer the larger font setting, thus:



Scale setting for the monitor.

This is yet another reason not to spend money on a 4K primary display, where the font size is ridiculously small.

There is a plethora of outlets and pass-throughs sprinkled along the side, rear and underside of the panel. The near useless ‘instruction sheet’ – one of those ‘no words’ things beloved of the Germans and now the Japanese – shows 2 USB3 power-in sockets, 4 USB3 power-outs, line-in and line-out (for external speakers), a Hockey Puck connector and four video outputs – DP, HDMI, DVI and mini DP. The DP cord provided is terminated with a mini DP connector, but I prefer the more robust DP to DP locking connectors and spent an additional $7 at Amazon for one. HDMI and DVI cables are also provided, so there is no lack of video connectivity. There’s an instruction manual on a provided CD (CD? Really?) but I did not bother looking at it.

The Hockey Puck is an exercise in redundancy:



The Hockey Puck.

The purpose is to activate and use the on screen display menus to adjust the monitor. As this is done once in a blue moon, and is easily accomplished using the touch panel referenced earlier, this is just so much useless clutter on your desktop, serving no useful purpose.

How is the color balance and fidelity? Perfect out of the box. This excellent performance out of the box is reason alone to pay a little more for this display. There is no light leakage and the construction quality, fit and finish are excellent. The display surface is semi-matte and does not suffer from specular reflections.

Interestingly, the side panel also has an SDHC socket for your camera’s storage card. As my only camera is now the iPhone 11 Pro, which I connect to the Mac Pro using a Lightning cable, this adds no useful function for me but will be appreciated by many still using old technology.

So what’s not to like? Like every pitch black device in the home – hi-fi gear, TVs, toasters and so on – it’s butt ugly. The stand is an exercise in industrial competence and has all the charm and warmth of one of Brunel’s inventions from the Industrial Age. The screen will rotate through 90 degrees and as it’s already huge at 32″ diagonally, that’s just plain dumb, and will place lots of strain on your connecting cables. There are built in speakers but even modest external ones (I use old Logitechs) will be better.

I drive the display using an Nvidia GTX980 video card in my 2010 Mac Pro. I checked it with the ancient Nvidia GT120 using a mini DP connector and it works fine, though the video rendering can be slow with this prehistoric piece of hardware.

Gaming use? Search me and look elsewhere. This site is for grown-ups, not children.

For photographers needing a traditional display which comes properly calibrated, and who do not want the small fonts that 4K delivers, the 32″ BenQ PD3200Q is recommended.



Did I mention it’s ugly? The QR attachment for the stand conceals standard VESA wall mounting threads.

A revolutionary year in hardware and software

Photography

Big gear is dead.



First there were fragile, glass Daguerrotypes and messy wet collodion plates. Then along came inflammable and unstable nitrate cellulose base coated with light sensitive chemistry. And finally modern film made its appearance, offering stability and not suitable for use as a fuse in a Molotov cocktail. Kodachrome appeared about that time and after a few tries offered the best combination of fine grain, stability and exceptional color rendering, though the original 12 ASA speed was nothing to write home about.

So Kodak proceeded to invent digital imaging and, being Kodak, decided it would never rival film and went bankrupt as a result. Kodak’s management made the captain of the Titanic look like a winner and even today’s Boeing management looks competent by comparison. A huge technology gain was thrown away and with it tens of thousands of US jobs in Rochester, a company town if there ever was one.

The lead in digital imaging was taken by Sony with its ever better sensors and, really, neither Nikon or Canon could keep up. And while Sony has recently made a bunch of competent – if surpassingly ugly – mirrorless digital cameras, they saw the writing on the wall and devoted their sensor design brains to the next new thing, the cell phone. They dominate the sector today. It’s fitting that one of the few companies whose design chops were admired by Steve Jobs remains a key partner of today’s Apple, now the world’s largest public company.

Steve Jobs and Apple did not invent the cell phone any more than they invented the pocket music player or the desktop computer. Rather, they took what was out there, saw how awful the ergonomics were and designed these devices to appeal to everyman. The results were the iPhone, the iPod and the iMac, the ‘i’ denoting Steve’s interim CEO status after returning to the company he had founded and which had fired him a few years earlier. His design insights remained undimmed but during his absence he learned how to manage a team of hardware and software engineers, his charisma and communication skills attracting the best of the best. Good thing he shucked the ‘interim’ label.

And the iPhone became the transformative electronic device of our time. Everyone wants an iPhone and those poor souls struggling with Android devices offered by the serial thieves at Google and Samsung do so because their time is worth as little as their easily stolen data and, well, they just don’t get it.

I have had two transformative iPhone experiences – in 2007 when I bought iPhone 1 on the day it became available, and this year when I bought the iPhone 11 Pro which will change the photography hardware landscape permanently. All of the big makers will be gone in a few years. The iPhone’s camera is an order of magnitude better, doing things the clumsy SLR offerings can only dream of. The remaining reasons to buy clunky gear are that you need high definition from really long lenses – a couple of guys at Nat Geo – and because showing up at the Vogue studios with an iPhone to snap today’s supermodel just does not earn machismo points. Look at Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and you will see how that will change. The official snapper on the moon space station is using a camera scarcely larger than the iPhone to document the plotting of the day. Next generation’s David Baileys will too.

Sure some cranks will stick with DSLRs, just as others adhere to film and LPs, tediously proclaiming their purported superiority. But that’s not meaningful market share by some 5 orders of magnitude. As for my Nikons and Panasonics, they have all been sold along with the raft of lenses and attachments I was increasingly reluctant to lug about. They will shortly be nothing more than paperweights.

Surveying the pace of change in the iPhone’s capabilities over its first 12 years is breathtaking. Just think what the next 12 years will bring. Meanwhile, you can read about my journey of discovery of the best picture making device on the planet here.