In summary - Smartphone cameras typically have a wide-angle lens equivalent to around 22mm and 30mm. Therefore, opting for the wide-angle option is recommended as it is considered the "normal" type.
According to the react-native documentation, there are three identifiers for physical cameras on devices:
"ultra-wide-angle-camera"
|
"wide-angle-camera"
|
"telephoto-camera"
"ultra-wide-angle-camera"
: A built-in camera with a shorter focal length compared to a wide-angle camera (focal length below 24mm).
"wide-angle-camera"
: A built-in wide-angle camera (focal length between 24mm and 35mm).
"telephoto-camera"
: A built-in camera with a longer focal length than a wide-angle camera (focal length above 85mm).
With that clarified, let's examine camera focal lengths equivalent to phone cameras' focal lengths (source)
Camera type |
Focal length |
Angle-of-view |
Wide-angle |
22mm to 30mm |
~84° to ~62° |
Telephoto |
50mm to 80mm |
~40° to ~25° |
Ultrawide-angle |
12mm to 18mm |
~112° to ~90° |
Periscope |
103mm to 125mm |
~20° to ~16° |
The ideal "normal" focal length is considered to be 35mm, so selecting the wide-angle option is suggested since it closely aligns with this standard (and may even provide an angle of view closer to 35mm). Additionally, wide-angle lenses are commonly used in phone cameras.