It’s a common question for iPhone photography enthusiasts: “Can You Filter Photos By Type On Iphone?” Imagine wanting to review all your ultrawide shots or specifically find those taken with your telephoto lens. While the iPhone’s Photos app offers powerful search and album features, directly filtering photos by lens type isn’t a straightforward option on your device itself. However, there’s a clever workaround using the Photos application on macOS that allows you to achieve this, leveraging the rich metadata embedded in your iPhone photos. Let’s explore how you can dive deeper into your photo library and sort your images based on the lens used to capture them.
To understand how to filter photos by lens type, it’s crucial to know that your iPhone meticulously records metadata for each photo. This metadata includes a wealth of information, from location data to camera settings, and importantly, the specific lens used when taking the shot. This is how your iPhone distinguishes between photos taken with the wide, ultrawide, telephoto, or front-facing cameras. Although this data isn’t directly exposed for filtering within the iOS Photos app, it becomes accessible when you use the Photos application on a Mac.
Close-up of an iPhone displaying an ultrawide lens photo, highlighting the ability to capture expansive scenes with this lens type.
The key to filtering your iPhone photos by lens type lies in utilizing Smart Albums in the macOS Photos app. Smart Albums are dynamic albums that automatically update their contents based on criteria you define. In this case, we’ll create a Smart Album that specifically targets photos based on their lens metadata. Here’s how to set it up:
First, you need to identify the exact “lens name” metadata tag your iPhone uses for each lens. To do this, open the Photos app on your Mac and select any photo you’ve taken with the lens you want to filter by (e.g., a photo taken with the ultrawide lens). Press Command-I or navigate to Window > Info in the menu bar to open the Info window.
A detailed view of the Photos for Mac Info window, emphasizing the 'Camera' and 'Lens' information fields which are crucial for identifying lens metadata.
In the Info window, look for the “Camera” section. The second line typically displays the “Lens” information. This line contains a specific string of text that identifies the lens used. For example, on an iPhone 11 Pro, the labels might be:
| Camera | Label | Lens name |
|---|---|---|
| Ultrawide | 0.5x | iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 1.54mm f/2.4 |
| Wide | 1x | iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 4.25mm f/1.8 |
| Telephoto | 2x | iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 6mm f/2 |
These lens names will vary depending on your iPhone model. To find the correct names for your iPhone, simply repeat the step above for photos taken with each of your iPhone’s lenses. You can copy the exact “Lens name” text for each lens and paste it into a text document for easy access later.
Once you have the lens names, you can create a Smart Album to filter photos. Go to File > New Smart Album in the Photos app menu bar. Give your Smart Album a descriptive name, such as “iPhone Telephoto Lens Photos.” Then, set the Smart Album rules as follows:
- Set the first rule to “Camera” “is” and choose your iPhone model from the dropdown list.
- Click the “+” button to add another rule.
- Set the second rule to “Lens” “is” and paste the specific “Lens name” you copied earlier for the lens you want to filter (e.g.,
iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 6mm f/2for telephoto).
Screenshot of the Photos for Mac Smart Album creation window, showcasing the settings used to filter photos specifically taken with the iPhone telephoto lens.
Click “OK,” and Photos will create a Smart Album containing all the photos in your library that match these criteria – effectively filtering your photos by the chosen lens type. You can repeat this process to create Smart Albums for each lens you want to categorize, such as ultrawide or wide-angle lenses.
In conclusion, while the iPhone Photos app doesn’t natively offer a “filter by lens type” option, leveraging Smart Albums in the macOS Photos app provides a robust solution. By understanding how your iPhone embeds lens metadata, you can use this Mac-based method to effectively sort and view your photos based on the specific lens used to capture them. This allows you to easily review and appreciate your photography through the perspective of each of your iPhone’s lenses.
