Can i take portrait pics with a telephoto lens on a phone?

[AleksiDj73]

Hello everyone, my next phone in about 1-2 years is gonna be a Samsung phone with a telephoto lens because i like taking really cool pics and play the role of a photographer (even though i'm not) and my current phone does not have a telephoto lens and i don't really know a whole lot about telephoto, i know what it is ofc but i don't know when it comes to focusing etc. So i had the question that the title says. Can i take a portrait pics with the telephoto lens or do i just need to focus on the person/object and that will be my portrait? Or do i go to the "Portrait" option in the "More" tab in camera and then use the telephoto camera to take a portrait pic?

 

Thanks for your help

[saintlouisbagels]

Photography does not have any rules.

Any focal length can be used for portrait photography.

 

When smartphones have a "Portrait Mode" it likely means they're switching from the wide angle lens to the telephoto lens because it will produce a more flattering picture since it is closer to the lack-of-distortion human eyes see. There will very likely also be image processing done that will produce a fake depth of field blur (bokeh) because a lot of smartphone sensors are too small to gather enough light to produce a real blur. It is possible to have bokeh if you're really close to your subject and there's a lot of distance from the background environments.

 

But it's probably a good idea not to use something like 24mm or wider for close shots (like torso and above). This is because wide lenses make faces look different from IRL. It's partly why people have an uncomfortable reactions between front-facing camera selfies and pictures taken from a decent distance and focal length.

 

I don't really understand the question you're asking when it comes to focusing.

Of course you're going to be focusing on the subject's face regardless of what focal length or camera mode you're using.

 

I personally never use Portrait mode on my iPhone because I cannot stand the look of fake bokeh.

But I also think most people don't care and like the fake bokeh look.

 

Regardless, use the telephoto lens - whether you're manually selecting the lens, or you're using Portrait mode - for portrait photography. Obviously keep in mind, a longer focal length means it's a much tighter shot, so you either need to step really far back, or just switch back to the regular wide lens if you intend to include the environment in your shot. Use your own judgement.