Are there any useless parts or functions in modern smartphones? Well, obviously, there are noticeably fewer of them today than there were before. After all, if you remember, a few years ago, manufacturers every now and then tried to surprise the public with something, in their opinion, innovative, but at the same time completely useless. Modular design, the function of tracking the user's eyes, a mini-jack – which was just not there. Now vendors are trying to behave less wastefully, realizing what can really come in handy and what will be idle. Sorry, not all.
I don't know of a component that is more useless than a macro module
In pursuit of hype, some manufacturers began to equip their smartphones with four- and even five-module cameras. But if the appearance of ultra-wide-angle modules and ToF-sensors is, in principle, understandable, then the presence of macro cameras is still not clear to me personally.
Why do you need a macro camera
Objects look different in a macro lens, but you are unlikely to use it on a regular basis
The purpose of the macro module is to photograph small objects at close range. But, judging by, how often do you have to do this? The so-called ToF sensors are responsible for scanning space, determining its depth. As a result, with their help, it is possible to obtain higher quality portraits. Telephoto lenses create perspective and participate in zooming in photographs. Ultra-wide is great for architecture or landscape photography when you want to capture as much space as possible. Macro?
The macro module is useful if you are shooting small insects, blades of grass or trying to see something that is hard to see with the naked eye. In principle, it is quite interesting to see a mosquito nose or to see how the jaws of a spider are arranged. I'm not talking about the complexity of the implementation of such photos, because the living creatures obviously will not sit still and pose for you. I'm only talking about the unusualness of such pictures. Another thing is that the amateur will obviously not be engaged in them.
Cameras Android – smartphones
Especially likes macro cameras Xiaomi
If I am a professional photographer, naturalist or entomologist who studies insects, it is obvious that I will not use my smartphone to capture the object of my study. Most likely I will take an advanced camera or, that trickier, a microscope, under the lenses of which it is much more convenient to study the device of insects. Therefore, the question of having a macro lens is still open.
No, of course, at first you may be interested in taking pictures of all sorts of miniature objects. But get ready for the fact that after a few days the interest will subside, and the macro camera you paid for will remain hanging like a dead weight. Will you turn it on sometime in the future? Perhaps so, but you are unlikely to do it on an ongoing basis. Therefore, the deadweight argument remains valid.
Obviously, manufacturers who supply their smartphones with a macro module do it in addition. After all, if there is an ultra-wide-angle camera, a telephoto lens and even a 3D sensor, the role of which is played by a ToF sensor, it is logical that only macro photography remains, which can only be realized by introducing a special camera with a very specific focal length. But they just didn't think that this is a very narrowly focused shooting format, which only a very few would do. Therefore, it is obvious that there is no point in chasing this component, especially at your own expense.