Understanding the dual camera systems on smartphones

02 October 2017
We take a look at all the dual camera systems currently in use on smartphones.

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  • A
  • Alex
  • snT
  • 02 Oct 2017

What do you think, guys, what will give me better photos? A 800 or 1000 dollar premium phone with two cameras and lousy fake bokeh effect, or a cheap phone plus a small entry level SLR or mirrorless camera plus a couple of beers plus 100-200 dollars still in my pocket?

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 043
    • 02 Oct 2017

    Why seeing it so rational? I want 4 cameras!
    Normal for normal shots
    Wide angle for wider shots (but they have to fix the problem with the falling off edges)
    Telephoto for background blur and zoom
    B/W for overall better picture quality
    And A spftware which makes the best of all of it. And on the front, I just want 3, because telephoto makes no sense, maybe a depth sensor as the fourth.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 043
      • 02 Oct 2017

      Anonymous, 02 Oct 2017If you want wide angle you can move away from the subject..... moreThose many Megapixels give you worse quality

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • 043
        • 02 Oct 2017

        Anonymous, 02 Oct 2017How about no camera at all? An all-screen phone is more imp... moreWrong.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 043
          • 02 Oct 2017

          Seeker of Truth, 02 Oct 2017Dual or more camera but use a bad quality lens will only p... moreAnd the best is if you have an iPhone, because it got 2 cameras both with good quality.

            Dual or more camera but use a bad quality lens will only produce bad pictures. But with single camera with a good quality lens will produce a good picture. The importance is a quality not quantity.

              • B
              • Bddoc
              • uNV
              • 02 Oct 2017

              I wish Re-emergens of xenon flash with pureview tech...the only successful camera implementation in a smartphone.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • fCS
                • 02 Oct 2017

                Thanks GSMAreba Team. Looks Monochrome Camera seems to be better option.

                  • D
                  • AnonD-558092
                  • r7b
                  • 02 Oct 2017

                  I prefer a unique camera that is really good. Dual camera phones look weird because there is not yet an esthetic way to place them. Some are close, but not enough.

                    • K
                    • Kd10
                    • 4qB
                    • 02 Oct 2017

                    Nice article, I’ll take lossless zoom with incremental yearly improvements, by far.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • HkH
                      • 02 Oct 2017

                      Monochrome is the best. It users both camera to creat better shots.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • LkA
                        • 02 Oct 2017

                        BW and defocused background can be by software...
                        No need of second cam.
                        Just to charge more for the phone

                          • t
                          • t0nhu
                          • 8K4
                          • 02 Oct 2017

                          You forgot to say about the LG Optimus 3d (p920) and the Optimus 3d max (p720). I had the p920 and it was neck and neck with the Samsung s2 back at that time.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • iDd
                            • 02 Oct 2017

                            How about no camera at all? An all-screen phone is more important than a smartphone camera.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • IW@
                              • 02 Oct 2017

                              An ultra wide angle secondary camera in addition to a regular wide angle (primary camera) like in the LG phones is far more useful than a secondary telephoto lens like in the iphone. The reason is because smartphones are primarily social devices with mostly group or vacation photos ending up in Facebook, etc. Group photos are far more prevalent and common in social media. So are travel photos which show the person and the background. People want to emphasize the beauty of the place in addition to including themselves in the photo. Telephoto is not good for those types of photos. Telephoto is useful for concerts and stage photos but those are less common than dining and travel photos involving groups of people. Bokeh effects with smartphone lenses really look fake even with a secondary telephoto lens. Also, the small aperture in telephoto lenses in smartphones renders them useless in low light. Photo quality would be far better when you crop a regular wideangle photo in low light to achieve digital zoom than take a noisy/blurry photo with the secondary telephoto camera. If you frequently use telephoto, it would be best to go for bulkier camera-first smartphones with at least 5x optical zoom like the Lumia 1020, Samsung galaxy S4 or Samsung galaxy K zoom.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • IV8
                                • 02 Oct 2017

                                If you want wide angle you can move away from the subject.. If you want to zoom you can move closer to the subject.. What I need is the highest quality single camera available.. Not 2 cameras with compromised quality.. The best setup would be a single camera with lens attachment so that people can attach zoom lens or wide angle lens and still get the picture quality of the MAIN SENSOR!!..

                                My opinion 808/1020 approach is the best.. 41MP give you unrivalled quality and lossless zoom

                                The only useful 2 camera system is with B/W sensor to increase the quality of the main camera..

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • gBV
                                  • 02 Oct 2017

                                  By the way the reason why smartphones often use the main camera instead of the tele camera in low light is not just because of a worse f-number. If that was the only reason, then they would not disable the tele camera in low light. The other reasons are that the second sensor is 35-50% smaller and that you need a faster shutter speed. Even with OIS you might need a faster shutter speed than a wide angle + OIS.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • LkA
                                    • 02 Oct 2017

                                    I'd rather have one sensor 1/1.8" + 17MP + 26mm + 3x optical zoom.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • gBV
                                      • 02 Oct 2017

                                      The future of dual camera zoom: https://youtu.be/tlLBtmm-B-g

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • gBV
                                        • 02 Oct 2017

                                        The tele option is not the most used dual camera (though it's the one I prefer the most). Monochrome dual cameras are just as common although most manufacturers don't have an algorithm that is good enough to leverage it: Essential, Huawei, Xiaomi, HMD and Lenovo/Motorola released phones with a monochrome camera. The tele option is used by Apple, Asus, Oneplus/Oppo, Samsung and Xiaomi