For years, the conversation around camera phones has centered on bigger sensors, better optics and smarter computational photography. And while those advances have brought us to a point where mobile images can rival dedicated cameras in many situations, I don’t think hardware is where the next big leap lies.
The real future of mobile photography, in my view, will be defined by camera presets built directly into the camera app.
We’ve already seen how powerful this idea can be. Fujifilm’s Film Simulations and the thriving community around film recipes have given photographers a way to cultivate unique looks straight out of the camera – and given Fujifilm’s bottom line a big lift in the process.
The act of choosing a profile becomes part of the creative process itself; it’s not about hours of editing afterwards, but about sharing stylized images in the moment.
This is why Nothing’s new collaboration with photographer and director Jordan Hemingway on the Stretch profile feels like a big step in the right direction.
Nothing has included the ability to add LUTs directly into its camera app for some time – one of my favorite aspects of the Nothing Phone (3) after I developed a small obsession with its black-and-white street style profile. But this collab helps bring what might have been a niche to the forefront.
Hemingway’s look has been distilled into a camera profile that delivers the same rich shadows and stretched highlights for the dramatic, cinematic feel his work is known for.
The rollout has already started with the Nothing Phone (3), and support for the Phone (2) and Phone (3a) series will follow soon via OTA updates. That means more users will soon have access to a distinctive creative tool baked right into the camera.
Nothing’s Stretch is a high-profile example, but I doubt it will be the last. In fact, I believe we’re on the cusp of a new era where – with camera hardware becoming samey and boring – camera presets or profiles are the defining feature of mobile photography.
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Check out more of the best Android phones for photography, or the best camera phones in our guides.
