With all the new models of digital camera releaased at Photokina this week, I’m noticing a trend in the consumer-level digital cameras: face detection on digital cameras seems like it’s here to stay. Designed to automatically recognizes faces in a frame, face detection adjusts the autofocus to keep them as sharp as possible and the exposure to ensure they come out in the final frame.  At least in theory.  How well does it actually work?

How does it work?

Face detection tehnology is basically just a very specific form of pattern detection.  Not all systems work the same way, but most use an algorithm to locate the faces in a frame and give some sort of preview on the LCD screen.  Some cameras give you the option to turn off face recognition; others have enough confidence in their algorithm to leave it on all the time.

What are the limitations?

It’s important to remember face detection can’t work miracles. It’s not going to magically change your optics to keep two faces in focus that are dozens of feet apart or compensate for terrible lighting conditions.  It’s important not to become overreliant on face detection and forget the principles of good exposure or composition.

How well does it work?

From most studies, it works well in 97 percent of situations.  Especially since the technology matures, face detection has become able to handle most of the seemingly tricky situations you might throw at it.  From experience, it works just find handling off-center portraits, portraits with multiple people and group shots.  And when the group is rather large, the camera typically is able to identify a primary subject and several secondary subjects as well.

But it does fail on occasion - the technology still struggles with composition from extreme angles or occasions where the subject is backlit or dramatically underexposed relative to the rest of the frame.  But any photo you take under this conditions isn’t likely to be any good anyway - why even bother?  Sometimes props like a funny hat may throw it off as well, but it’s a simple fix: just turn the feature of and compose and shoot manually.

What types of cameras is it included in?

Face detection is becoming a mainstay of the entry-level consumer-class digital camera, where the user is likely to be in a fully-automatic mode most of the time anyway.  It really hasn’t trickled up to ultra-zoom digital cameras or to the pro SLR market at all.  Since the feature seems to be more than just marketing hype, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it included on more and more higher-level digital cameras in the near future, although we’d be shocked to see it make it to the pro-level cameras.

The bottom line: is it worth it?

Especially for beginner photographers, face detection can be a helpful set of training wheels, and the technology does what it promises.  While we wouldn’t necessarilly pay a premium for the feature - you’re still able to get just as good of results with some knowledge of manual settings - cameras offering the feature aren’t generally anymore expensive.  Some models to look out for are the Canon PowerShot A590IS, the Nikon Coolpix S550 or the Olympus FE-340, each of which offers face detection technology and is a good beginner camera for under $200.

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