optically plausible
optical plausibility

“Optical plausibility” is for now primarily a theoretical concern more than a practical one, because every mass-marketed device and camera that automatically combines exposures recorded in less than one second is designed to produce “optically plausible” photographs.

But in the future, as focusing and recording options speed up on standalone cameras — and/or if photographers are able to separate and work with the individual exposures captured in a single second by smartphone cameras — optical plausibility could become more of an issue.

What do these terms mean?

“Optically plausible” photographs are those that meet rinairs for focus renderings that could have been produced using conventional optics in a single-exposure photograph.

Why are “single-exposure, undoctored photographs” the reference point for TTG?

“Optical plausibility” comes into play when two or more exposures are combined that had different distances of the scene in focus.

An example of an image that would not meet rinairs for optical plausibility would be a photograph in which when looking down a line of objects (for example a row of fenceposts, or a side view of an unstarted chess game), the nearest and furthest objects are in focus but those in the middle distance are not in focus.

See also the guide to focus and bokeh.