For as long as people have been taking cameras on holiday, group photos have been…difficult.
A designated “photographer” is all well and good, but what about getting everyone in the shot? When you’re posing in front of the Colosseum or the iconic New York skyline, that’s a non-negotiable.
The easiest solution is to take a selfie, but it can be extremely difficult to get all the people and the best background in frame. Very few front-facing cameras have dedicated ultrawide lenses so, unless you have extremely long arms or commit the social faux pas of using a selfie stick (*shudder*), underwhelming images are likely.
Google attempted to solve this by introducing ‘Add Me’ on the Pixel 9 series, which merges two photos to make it look as though the original photographer is standing with the group. But no-one wants AI-generated images to replace real holiday snaps – it’s a totally inauthentic way to capture memories.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
So, the best solution remains the most awkward one: asking a stranger. Phone theft risks aside (you can usually tell who’s about to run off with your device), the biggest issue is the wildly varying quality of photos that people take.
For every aspiring Steve McCurry or Annie Leibovitz you encounter, there are a few people who seem never to have taken a photo before in their lives.
Regardless, you’ll still thank them effusively, insisting that the blurry mess they’ve taken is “great”, before wondering how long you need to wait to ask someone else. At a busy tourist attraction or when the lighting is just right, this can be a bit of a nightmare.
For every aspiring Steve McCurry or Annie Leibovitz you encounter, there are a few people who seem never to have taken a photo before in their lives
But do we finally have a solution? On paper, a feature on Motorola’s new Razr 70 family of flip phones might just solve this long-standing issue.
The frame game
One of the biggest challenges for amateur photographers, especially while using a smartphone, is getting the framing right. It can turn a gorgeous background into a nondescript blob, or even remove crucial information from the scene.
This is always a risk when handing over your phone to a stranger, particularly if they’re not familiar with your phone model. Given the flip phone’s relative lack of popularity, that’s likely to be the case if you own a Razr.
However, a new software feature known as ‘Frame Match’ allows you to do the hard(er) work for them. Before handing over your phone, you simply need to take a photo of the background with the exact framing you’re looking for.
Chris Hall / Foundry
Then, when the other person receives the phone, they’ll get an on-screen guide showing exactly where to position the shot. Provided they can see the screen and know where the shutter button is (not always a given), satisfying framing should be almost guaranteed.
It won’t be a foolproof method – there are so many factors that go into a great holiday photo – but it could massively reduce the number of dodgy snaps you have to put up with.
Video goes fully touch-free
Another new camera feature that I’ve got my eye on concerns video recording.
Motorola already has one of the coolest features in the business, allowing you to automatically start recording any time you open the camera app and fold the screen to a 90-degree angle – just like an old-school camcorder.
Camcorder Rotate to Zoom should make what’s already a fun, nostalgic way to record video even more seamless
However, this touch-free experience was interrupted when you had to swipe on the right half of the display to adjust volume. This requirement has now been removed on the Razr 70 series, with the introduction of the aptly named ‘Camcorder Rotate to Zoom’.
Motorola
As the name suggests, you can now zoom in and out simply by rotating your wrist in one direction or the other. This introduces the possibility of a fully touch-free capture, with a double twist to open the camera app, then simply folding it in half to end video recording.
If it works as intended, Camcorder Rotate to Zoom should make what’s already a fun, nostalgic way to record video even more seamless.
A new model enters the fray
With the Razr 70 series, Motorola has added a third, Plus-branded model to the existing regular and Ultra variants.
It sits between the two in terms of price, starting at £999.99/€1,149.99. The regular Razr 70 is available from £799.99/€899.99, while you’ll have to pay at least £1,199.99 /€1,399.99 for the top-of-the-line Razr 70 Ultra. You can buy all three from the Motorola UK website now, though US pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed.
While the regular Razr 70 and Razr 70 Ultra are undoubtedly iterative upgrades, these new camera features could help them beat Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 8 series in the increasingly competitive flip phone market.
Look out for our full reviews of the Razr 70 phones soon to learn more. In the meantime, you can check out our hands-on of the Razr 70 Ultra to see our first impressions.