---
id: devices
title: Camera Devices
sidebar_label: Camera Devices
---

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs'
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem'
import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl'

<div class="image-container">
  <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="283" height="535">
    <image href={useBaseUrl("img/demo.gif")} x="18" y="33" width="247" height="469" />
    <image href={useBaseUrl("img/frame.png")} width="283" height="535" />
  </svg>
</div>

## What are Camera Devices?

Camera Devices are the physical (or "virtual") devices that can be used to record videos or capture photos.

* **Physical**: A physical Camera Device is a **camera lens on your phone**. Different physical Camera Devices have different specifications, such as different capture formats, resolutions, zoom levels, and more. Some phones have multiple physical Camera Devices.

  > Examples: _"Backside Wide-Angle Camera"_, _"Frontside Wide-Angle Camera (FaceTime HD)"_, _"Ultra-Wide-Angle back camera"_
* **Virtual**: A virtual camera device is a **combination of one or more physical camera devices**, and provides features such as _virtual-device-switchover_ while zooming (see video on the right) or _combined photo delivery_ from all physical cameras to produce higher quality images.

  > Examples: _"Triple-Camera"_, _"Dual-Wide-Angle Camera"_

## Select the default Camera

If you simply want to use the default [`CameraDevice`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice), you can just use whatever is available:

<Tabs
  groupId="component-style"
  defaultValue="hooks"
  values={[
    {label: 'Hooks API', value: 'hooks'},
    {label: 'Imperative API', value: 'imperative'}
  ]}>
<TabItem value="hooks">

```ts
const device = useCameraDevice('back')
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="imperative">

```ts
const devices = Camera.getAvailableCameraDevices()
const device = devices.find((d) => d.position === 'back')
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

And VisionCamera will automatically find the best matching [`CameraDevice`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice) for you!

**🚀 Continue with: [Camera Lifecycle](lifecycle)**

## Custom Device Selection

For advanced use-cases, you might want to select a different [`CameraDevice`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice) for your app.

A [`CameraDevice`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice) consists of the following specifications:

- [`id`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#id): A unique ID used to identify this Camera Device
- [`position`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#position): The position of this Camera Device relative to the phone
  - `back`: The Camera Device is located on the back of the phone
  - `front`: The Camera Device is located on the front of the phone
  - `external`: The Camera Device is an external device. These devices can be either:
    - USB Camera Devices (if they support the [USB Video Class (UVC) Specification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_USB_video_class_devices))
    - [Continuity Camera Devices](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213244) (e.g. your iPhone's or Mac's Camera connected through WiFi/Continuity)
    - Bluetooth/WiFi Camera Devices (if they are supported in the platform-native Camera APIs)
- [`physicalDevices`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#physicaldevices): The physical Camera Devices (lenses) this Camera Device consists of. This can either be one of these values ("physical" device) or any combination of these values ("virtual" device):
  - `ultra-wide-angle-camera`: The "fish-eye" camera for 0.5x zoom
  - `wide-angle-camera`: The "default" camera for 1x zoom
  - `telephoto-camera`: A zoomed-in camera for 3x zoom
- [`sensorOrientation`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#sensororientation): The orientation of the Camera sensor/lens relative to the phone. Cameras are usually in `landscape-left` orientation, meaning they are rotated by 90°. This includes their resolutions, so a 4k format might be 3840x2160, not 2160x3840
- [`minZoom`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#minzoom): The minimum possible zoom factor for this Camera Device. If this is a multi-cam, this is the point where the device with the widest field of view is used (e.g. ultra-wide)
- [`maxZoom`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#maxzoom): The maximum possible zoom factor for this Camera Device. If this is a multi-cam, this is the point where the device with the lowest field of view is used (e.g. telephoto)
- [`neutralZoom`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#neutralzoom): A value between `minZoom` and `maxZoom` where the "default" Camera Device is used (e.g. wide-angle). When using multi-cams, make sure to start off at this zoom level, so the user can optionally zoom out to the ultra-wide-angle Camera instead of already starting zoomed out
- [`formats`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice#formats): The list of [`CameraDeviceFormat`s](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDeviceFormat) (See ["Camera Formats"](/docs/guides/formats)) this Camera Device supports. A format specifies:
  - Video Resolution (see ["Formats: Video Resolution"](/docs/guides/formats#video-resolution))
  - Photo Resolution (see ["Formats: Photo Resolution"](/docs/guides/formats#photo-resolution))
  - FPS (see ["Formats: FPS"](/docs/guides/formats#fps))
  - Video Stabilization Mode (see: ["Formats: Video Stabilization Mode"](/docs/guides/formats#videostabilization))
  - Pixel Format (see: ["Formats: Pixel Format"](/docs/guides/formats#pixelformat))

### Examples on an iPhone

Here's a list of some Camera Devices an iPhone 13 Pro has:

- Back Wide Angle Camera (`['wide-angle-camera']`)
- Back Ultra-Wide Angle Camera (`['ultra-wide-angle-camera']`)
- Back Telephoto Camera (`['telephoto-camera']`)
- Back Dual Camera (Wide + Telephoto)
- Back Dual-Wide Camera (Ultra-Wide + Wide)
- Back Triple Camera (Ultra-Wide + Wide + Telephoto)
- Back LiDAR Camera (Wide + LiDAR-Depth)
- Front Wide Angle (`['wide-angle-camera']`)
- Front True-Depth (Wide + Depth)

### Selecting Multi-Cams

Multi-Cams are virtual Camera Devices that consist of more than one physical Camera Device. For example:

- ultra-wide + wide + telephoto = "Triple-Camera"
- ultra-wide + wide = "Dual-Wide-Camera"
- wide + telephoto = "Dual-Camera"

Benefits of Multi-Cams:

- Multi-Cams can smoothly switch between the physical Camera Devices (lenses) while zooming.
- Multi-Cams can capture Frames from all physical Camera Devices at the same time and fuse them together to create higher-quality Photos.

Downsides of Multi-Cams:

- The Camera takes longer to initialize and uses more resources

To use the "Triple-Camera" in your app, you can just search for a device that contains all three physical Camera Devices:

<Tabs
  groupId="component-style"
  defaultValue="hooks"
  values={[
    {label: 'Hooks API', value: 'hooks'},
    {label: 'Imperative API', value: 'imperative'}
  ]}>
<TabItem value="hooks">

```ts
const device = useCameraDevice('back', {
  physicalDevices: [
    'ultra-wide-angle-camera',
    'wide-angle-camera',
    'telephoto-camera'
  ]
})
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="imperative">

```ts
const devices = Camera.getAvailableCameraDevices()
const device = getCameraDevice(devices, 'back', {
  physicalDevices: [
    'ultra-wide-angle-camera',
    'wide-angle-camera',
    'telephoto-camera'
  ]
})
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

This will try to find a [`CameraDevice`](/docs/api/interfaces/CameraDevice) that consists of all three physical Camera Devices, or the next best match (e.g. "Dual-Camera", or just a single wide-angle-camera) if not found. With the "Triple-Camera", we can now zoom out to a wider field of view:

<div align="center">
  <img class="doc-image" src="/img/multi-camera.gif" />
</div>

If you want to do the filtering/sorting fully yourself, you can also just get all devices, then implement your own filter:

<Tabs
  groupId="component-style"
  defaultValue="hooks"
  values={[
    {label: 'Hooks API', value: 'hooks'},
    {label: 'Imperative API', value: 'imperative'}
  ]}>
<TabItem value="hooks">

```ts
const devices = useCameraDevices()
const device = useMemo(() => findBestDevice(devices), [devices])
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="imperative">

```ts
const devices = Camera.getAvailableCameraDevices()
const device = findBestDevice(devices)
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

### Selecting external Cameras

VisionCamera supports using `external` Camera Devices, such as:
- USB Camera Devices (if they support the [USB Video Class (UVC) Specification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_USB_video_class_devices))
- [Continuity Camera Devices](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213244) (e.g. your iPhone's or Mac's Camera connected through WiFi/Continuity)
- Bluetooth/WiFi Camera Devices (if they are supported in the platform-native Camera APIs)

Since `external` Camera Devices can be plugged in/out at any point, you need to make sure to listen for changes in the Camera Devices list when using `external` Cameras:

<Tabs
  groupId="component-style"
  defaultValue="hooks"
  values={[
    {label: 'Hooks API', value: 'hooks'},
    {label: 'Imperative API', value: 'imperative'}
  ]}>
<TabItem value="hooks">

The hooks (`useCameraDevice(..)` and `useCameraDevices()`) already automatically listen for Camera Device changes!

```ts
const usbCamera = useCameraDevice('external')
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="imperative">

Add a listener by using the [`addCameraDevicesChangedListener(..)`](/docs/api/classes/Camera#addcameradeviceschangedlistener) API:

```ts
const listener = Camera.addCameraDevicesChangedListener((devices) => {
  console.log(`Devices changed: ${devices}`)
  this.usbCamera = devices.find((d) => d.position === "external")
})
// ...
listener.remove()
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

<br />

#### 🚀 Next section: [Camera Lifecycle](lifecycle)
