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“Behold the unparallel, the unprecedented, the amazing, THEEEE…. DUALLL CAMERAAA” the anchor screamed from his lungs and the brass speaker did its job.
Yes, it’s an article about the dual camera, the same dual-camera you have in your smartphone. Oh, you don’t, thank god. This might be a fun ride so stick with me, you may not find all the jokes worthwhile but trust me I tried my best to make this article as amusing as possible. But it’s actually not, it’s rather grave in nature and that’s the only reason I wrote these above four lines.
A history lesson that you don’t need
The dual camera revolution began when I and you were adults and had that resistive touch display. The first dual camera smartphone was HTC Evo 3D launched in 2011, some might argue that LG’s Optimus 3D was the first, but the EVO 3D made its hype in the tech market. Later, the dual camera tech was forgotten but when HTC introduced the HTC One M8 in March 2014, it blew everyone’s mind. And we started questioning if we really need this, will this dual-camera thing can save the smartphone’s camera future that was almost good. Not the best, but yeah, good.
The future of smartphone camera revolution, there were several articles about it, let me guess, you didn’t read it. That’s okay, nobody’s judging you. Point is, it has been 5 years since the dual camera tech began its journey. A round of applause, please. 👏
This journey has seen a lot of tech marvels and as technology got cheaper the dual camera made its way to the budget smartphone and it seems like the innovation has stopped. Why? Do you think there is no innovation in three cameras, four cameras, infinite camera and whatnot? I mean at some point it is but… I don’t know, I kind of have a disagreement here.
I don’t like budget dual camera anymore
Hmm… When HTC M8 launched the dual camera smartphone, it was meant for capturing portrait shots since the second camera was a depth sensor, it made sense. And compare to that timeline of smartphones it did capture some stunning portrait shots, with some good quality bokeh effects. But is it essential to put secondary hardware just for portrait shots? Why can’t we do that with software? Can we?
You see, the dual camera tech was introduced for that purpose, the quality to click better photographs. And it did well because, at the time, the software integration between Camera hardware and the smartphone was not that good, but let me tell you a secret. Today, it is.
Yeah, with today’s technology, software integration and the combination of AI, you can achieve that. So why aren’t manufactures opting for it? Don’t look at me, I don’t have the answer. There can only be two opinions, either manufacturers don’t have that kind of software optimization or they don’t want to.
Look its Google Pixel!
What Google has done with its flagship device Pixel is spectacular. I mean, that smartphone has single-handedly outperformed some of the top best flagship smartphones, including the iPhone Xs & Xs Max and whatever. And that smartphone has one camera lens, JUST ONE. How did they do that? Why can’t other manufacturers do that? Come on!
Don’t worry, I’m not going to the nuance technicality of Pixel’s hardware, software and machine learning integration. I just wanted to lambaste these so-called manufactures for making a goof of the audience. Because they are not concentrating on the software part of the smartphone and when you do that, you’re taking software for granted.
What is wrong with a budget dual camera?
First thing first, there is nothing wrong with dual-camera, I’m saying it’s superfluous to implement dual-camera just for the heck of it. Do you think I’m wrong? Just look at some of the budget dual-camera today, 48MP+5MP, 12MP+2MP, 13MP+2MP & 12MP+1.7MP, what are they trying to demonstrate? That they can implement dual-camera tech and keeps you up-to-date.
There is no significant perfection in terms of camera quality. Do you think just because of another lens your photographs will be better? If your answer is yes then evidently you don’t understand how the camera actually works. Photography doesn’t hinge on megapixels and lenses, there are other aspects that matter too. And one of that aspect is software and camera integration, something that Google has done much better than anyone.
It seems like the so-called budget manufacturers have given up, they’re like, “Hey bud, this is what we have and we can’t do any more than that.” I’m also not saying that they have completely forgotten the camera software. They are obviously doing something, things like Smart beauty, AI beauty, Spot removable, another beauty mode and makeup kits, yes, they are a kind of innovation, isn’t it?
Is it another delicious recipe?
Do you think so? Do you think the other camera lens is just another camera lens to lure you? Be your own judge. I honestly don’t care because I have a much better dual-camera. But jokes apart, if you think for a second there might be a shrewdly put strategy to make it look like you have made an ingenious purchase decision. You know why? Because that’s how they can make you believe that you’re having a real dual-camera experience in 2019. And surprisingly, you want that experience.
User these days are bound to technology, I and you are demanding more features in less amount and if this company is not giving you that experience, that company will. Yes, there is a competition, a competition to pitch the best deal possible to the user. Perhaps mimicking the premium smartphone experience is the new trend that everyone wants, and the reason is demand. I and you want that experience in less price, a few years ago the budget devices were made of plastic and we were okay with it but today that’s an endgame. We all want a smartphone that looks better, performs better and click better. Jokes on you Batman.
Okay, so the crux is, you can be any side of this spectrum, and no matter which side you pick, you’re far away from having a real dual-camera experience. And as technology gets older it gets cheaper. We might get a dual-camera in more smartphones, mayhap in cheaper devices. But will that experience will be THE EXPERIENCE? That’s still a question…
Also, if you have any suggestion or question please do drop them in the comment section below. That was my time.
