iphonephotos
I notice when using Live photos you can change the key photo if you want. Is there any quality loss based on doing this? How does this differ from taking Burst mode photos? Is there a difference in how the camera (focus/aperature etc) behaves?
Does this function mean that if I have Live photos enabled there's no technical reason to use Burst mode (other than perhaps more control over how long to capture images for?)
The Preview does not lower the image quality, but will fit it in the given parameters.
If you use Preview to open a original image: Example:
5.5 MB file size with Dimensions of 3648 × 2736 pixels
Now open the Preview Tools - Adjust Size to see the current settings.
The default resolution is set to 72 which is standard for web applications.
In that window you can set it to the original size/resolution.
Now if you are using a copy/paste to move the image to Preview, the resulting quality will depend on the copy/paste settings. That can be found in the application it self.
I highly recommend importing your photos at full resolution, on the off chance that you ever want to crop or make a big print or display on a high res screen in the future. With Apple Photos, you can import at full resolution and it will upload the full image to iCloud.
Then, under Preferences: iCloud Photo Library select Optimize Mac Storage. Photos will now automatically switch to thumbnails when you start running low on space, and will automatically download the full-res version whenever you need to edit, view or export an image.
Best Answer
Changing the key photo of a Live Photo is not a replacement for burst mode in terms of quality.