Selfies have been around far longer than smartphones. Why do pictures taken with the front and back cameras differ so significantly? One tends to be more flattering than the other. But of these two cameras, which captures the image that resembles how we look in real life?
The back camera shows more accurately how you appear to others, as the image is not reversed, unlike the front camera. The front camera has a wide-angle lens which can make your features appear plumper, but the image is more familiar to what you see in the mirror and likely more flattering.
With new trends and “challenges” on the rise, people are using their back cameras or the inverted filter on their phones to understand better how they look to other people. How accurate are these perceptions?
The Superior Accuracy Of The Back Camera
Smartphones have more and more lenses, usually 4 or 5 lenses, and even 16-lens cameras. The quality of the phone’s camera is also getting better. Even if your phone’s camera is of the most superior quality, it will never accurately represent your real face. However, the back camera will give the most accurate image of your facial features when comparing the front and back cameras. That said, your face may appear somewhat distorted if the angle from which you take the shot isn’t level, at arm’s length, and with a reduced aspect ratio.
Is The Back Camera More Accurate But Less Flattering?
The back camera on smartphones is designed to be the superior camera. It, therefore, has more megapixels and was intended to capture more detail. If you have any blemishes or features you would rather not see in high definition, pictures taken with the back camera may not be to your liking.
One advantage is that, unlike the front camera, the rear camera does not have a wide-angled lens which tends to add “weight” and exacerbate features such as noses. With no wide angle, a person would need to be closer to the camera, which further distorts the image.
The More Flattering Outcome Of The Front Camera
Why would most people favor the front camera if the back camera is more accurate? The fact that it’s more easily accessible is one reason. But mostly, it is because it is more flattering. The front camera’s purpose is for video calling and, more commonly, selfies. When utilizing the front camera, you may have more control over your pose and angle before taking a picture.
Is The Front Camera Really More Flattering?
You could also ask why you appear more attractive in a mirror than in a photo. The front camera has a mirroring effect, so what you see is flipped and more familiar to your brain. The front camera is considered to be more flattering, but it has a wider angled lens than the back camera. This can cause a person’s face or features to appear slightly larger or plumper.
Wide-angled lenses focus more on the image in the foreground and reduce the background noise. Many of the more modern smartphones these days have a built-in blurring effect specifically for selfies which is why your pictures taken with the front camera may appear more attractive.
Conclusion
We will never truly know what we look like, especially to other people. To other people, you will appear more as you do in the back camera, purely because, unlike the front camera, the image is not mirrored and reversed.
The unflattering parts that may be captured and exaggerated by either camera are not an accurate depiction of what you look like in real life. Captured images are only a representation of this.