Editing photos with the Apple Vision Pro

Sunday 18 February 2024, 16:32 by Elja Trum | 2,536 views | 5 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

It's not available to buy in the Netherlands yet, but you can already get one in America: the Apple Vision Pro. Apple's virtual reality headset focuses less on gaming and more on entertainment and productivity. Is it useful for photographers?

I call it a virtual reality headset above, but Apple itself refers to it as 'spatial computing'. By this, they mean that it combines the real world with the digital world. That you use a computer in the same way you would use something in the real world.

I think that vision, combining reality with added digital elements, also known as 'augmented reality', is a great development. The fact that Apple has now joined in is a good sign that this will probably become more commonplace.

And that also means more will be developed for it, both in terms of software and hardware. I'm very enthusiastic about it!

Editing your photos in the Vision Pro?The Apple Vision Pro unfortunately comes with a hefty price tag. In America, you currently pay 3,499 dollars for it. That's a substantial amount! The question, of course, is what practical use you would get from such a headset. Can you edit your photos with it, for example?

The answer is yes. Although you can still wonder whether it really offers any added value compared with editing your photos on your laptop.

At the moment, there isn't an app specifically for the Apple Vision Pro for editing your photos. However, there are two alternative ways to edit your photos after all.

The first method is to connect the Vision Pro to your MacBook. You then see a large virtual screen in the Vision Pro, while you can simply use your MacBook's touchpad and keyboard. You can see this in the video below.

The second method is to use a compatible iPad app. Such as the Lightroom app for iPad. If you're already used to the iPad app, this is a good option.

The blur you see in the video above is caused by a technique used by the Vision Pro to use less processing power. The image is only sharp where the person wearing the headset is looking.

Do you take a lot of panoramas? Then viewing your panoramas in the Vision Pro is impressive, at the very least. In the video below, Terry shows how great it is to view a panoramic photo in the Vision Pro.

Hopefully Adobe will make a specific app for the Vision Pro itself. I think there is a lot of potential for editing your photos in a special way.

3D photography

Another way in which the Vision Pro is interesting is for viewing 3D photography. Viewing such photos is very impressive in a headset like this. You can view 3D images in a lifelike way.

In my view, 3D really adds something to photos, but at the moment it's still very difficult to actually view photos in 3D. You always have to make do. If the Vision Pro becomes popular, that could change.

Once more people have such a headset, there will also be more demand for 3D and VR photos and videos. So it may be worth looking into this as a photographer.

With the Vision Pro, you can already make 3D photos and videos yourself directly. Unfortunately, the quality of the cameras in the headset is still too poor. The quality is lower than what you may be used to from an iPhone, let alone a real camera.

Still too expensive at the moment

Personally, I find the Apple Vision Pro very interesting, but at the moment it's simply still too expensive. Quite apart from the fact that it isn't available to buy anywhere in Europe yet.

I would certainly consider a cheaper future version if the price also dropped below 2,000 euros.

What about you? Do you see a future for this kind of device? Do you think this technology will finally break through now, or will we have completely forgotten the Vision Pro in a few years?

Let us know in the comments!

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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5 comments

Donald Willemsen wrote on Sunday 18 February 2024 at 22:46 | reply
Just like with AI, such a gadget will also be misused. Fake will then no longer be distinguishable from reality. It will mainly be used by people who have nothing good in mind. You can already see that around you. Through ignorance, people become victims.
With an article like this, commerce creates curiosity about a gadget and thereby also cultivates needs. I then have my doubts, Elja, that you allow yourself to be influenced by that.
Not everything that is possible should also be allowed. Certainly not if there are also harmful sides to it.
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Monday 19 February 2024 at 09:04 | reply
I understand the harmful sides AI can have (and the advantages), but with virtual and augmented reality I don't really see what the problem could be.

Perhaps you could elaborate on this a bit more?
Translated from Dutch.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Monday 19 February 2024 at 09:45 | reply
Elja, augmented reality has nothing more to do with reality. You should not want to create something that simply isn't there. Reality is what it is. You should not embellish or change it. I know that in photography a great deal is already possible through digital editing, but does it all have to happen? Reality is not a dream world and let's keep it that way.
Augmented reality in itself is a manipulative tool. Is that what we want? We are already constantly being manipulated by the media, politics, those in power. Are we no longer allowed to see reality? Are we no longer allowed to discover things for ourselves? Not every technological development is progress. Just look at PFAS, for example. That substance is extremely good at repelling water and ideal for non-stick coatings in pans. But what turns out? The substance is not biodegradable and highly carcinogenic. Healthcare costs us a gigantic amount of money, among other things because we want to cure people of cancer. Cancer caused by substances that we make ourselves for the sake of technological progress and make 'the man in the street' believe are good for us.
Who says augmented reality is good for us? There is a well-known saying that goes: 'Think before you start'.
Translated from Dutch.

Chris wrote on Tuesday 20 February 2024 at 13:28 | reply
Very pleasant to watch for once, but even those slight head movements make the image move too much for me. You feel like you're on a ship that is rocking. But perhaps that's just me nitpicking personally.
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Tuesday 20 February 2024 at 13:44 | reply
You're of course looking at a recording now. If you have it on yourself, the movement in the image is the same as the movement of your head, just like you would move your head in real life.
Translated from Dutch.

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Photofacts; everything to do with photography!

Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about Photofacts

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