Re: Ultra-Wide 0.5× Lenses Have Utility Beyond ‘Photography’

['Richard Turner' via VIPhone]

I do not think OCR is going to be helped that much with an ultra wide lens. The key is lighting. If you hold the phone over the center of your document as far above the document as the document is long, you will get excellent results so long as there is enough light with any iPhone camera. I've done OCR since the early iPhones with just the 5 megapixil camera and got excellent results even then. Richard, USA "While striving for perfection, let us do what is possible." -- John Wesley My web site: https://www.turner42.com (sent from my iPhone 16 pro)  On Jul 4, 2026, at 4:55 AM, Jonathan Cohn <jccacc...@gmail.com> wrote: The below article talks about the advantages of an ultra-wide lens for scanning documents. It seems to be implying that the 17e might not be great for scanning because of the lack of lens. I have been pretty much ignoring which  lens OI use and let the automation do what it does for lens. However, I am finding more and more needs for a quick scan of a document.  Has anybody decided to purchase the pro iPhones to have more camera flexibility and thereby gotten better results from the AI interpretation of documents and/or scenes?   https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/22/ultra-wide-05x-lenses-have-utility-beyond-photography John Gruber Some follow-up thoughts on my earlier piece, regarding the second-gen iPhone Air’s additional camera lens being a 0.5× ultra-wide, not a 3× or 4× telephoto: Ultimately, it’s the fact that I use my 0.5× lens not so much for photography but for scanning documents and notes, and taking “What is this?” images of things in my hand, that explains its utility compared to a telephoto. I think of photography as meaning, roughly, “I’m trying to capture an aesthetically pleasing image that I intend to keep in perpetuity, to enjoy and remember for years to come.” A telephoto is only good for photography, in that sense. The ultra-wide lens is a tool with additional utility beyond capturing photos you want to keep in any artistic or emotional sense. You can always grit your teeth and use digital zoom if you don’t have a telephoto, but you can’t fake going wider or, importantly, closer. The minimum focal distance of the iPhone 17 Pro 1× lens is 20 cm. The minimum focal distance of the iPhone Air 1× lens is 15 cm. Those extra 5 cm make a difference, but the iPhone Pro’s 0.5× lens has a minimum focal distance of just 2 cm. It can focus on pretty much anything you put in front of it. The iPhone Air’s 1× lens can’t do that. With Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, taking macro photos of objects and text, simply to ask Siri or another chatbot about them, is increasingly important. One reader, who previously owned iPhone Pro models, but bought an Air last year, emailed to say: “It would be nice to have the telephoto; it’s annoyingnot having the ultra wide. When I was buying it I thought I’d miss the telephoto but actually it’s the other way around. If they add ultra wide it will be an instant upgrade for me.” I think that sentiment sums it up. Jonathan -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list.   If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself.   Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com   The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/257B8D36-2D8A-4709-BB0E-AC739A32EAF4%40gmail.com. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list.   If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself.   Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com   The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/82E54E94-0C13-4396-9B5A-B92F07CE988E%40comcast.net.