Tap to Focus/Expose on iOS
By Charles Starrett
Contributing Editor
Published: Monday, April 18, 2011
Tips Categories: iPad, iPhone, iPod
If you’re new to the iPhone 3GS/4, iPad 2, or iPod touch 4G, you mightn’t know that Apple’s Camera application has a handy feature that lets you change the focus and/or exposure of an image. Taking advantage of this feature is deceptively simple: just tap on the area of the image you want to bring into sharp focus, and/or want to use for exposure purposes. You’ll see a blue box appear around the chosen area, giving you visible confirmation of your selection; the trick works for both video recording and traditional photography. Notably, only the rear cameras of the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 actually focus using this trick; all the rest—including the front-facing camera found in Apple’s most recent devices—will use your chosen spot to properly expose that area, instead of using the entire frame. Shifting the placement of the box can give dramatically different results, so feel free to tap multiple times until you get the look you want, and be sure to try the trick in your favorite third-party camera app, as many of those offer the feature, as well.
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