Well, I’ve finally had the new Iphone long enough to do a review on the camera portion of the phone. Frankly I love the phone. By no way am I an expert on the phone but I’m a semi-power user. I use it everyday and even in the evenings. I use the text and email functions religiously. I’ve even started playing an app called Flick Fishing since I don’t have time to do the real thing. Right now I’m listening to the Aztec postgame show while writing this post. But I digress.
When I did my first review I was excited about the new camera in 4.0. I’ve definitely used it to come away with a mixed review. One of the exciting new features was the new led flash. Although it’s a great improvement over the previous non-flash version there are mixed results. Red eye is a major problem. If your subject looks straight at you there will be this effect every time. The problem is because of the flash being so close to the lens. So, you either need to run it through a red eye reduction program or have the subject look slightly away so the flash doesn’t hit the back of the retina in the eye.
The image and lens quality are greatly improved. All the images above were made with the new Iphone. There is improved sharpness, image detail and color capture. The color capture is fairly accurate until you use the flash. My images turn to turn warm (slightly yellow) which can be easily adjusted in Photoshop or any other editing software.
The video on the camera is excellent. It give a good capture and the sound quality is excellent. On top of that you can upload your video to your MobileMe account and share with family and friends or….. even a client.
The original Iphone camera was a piece of junk, especially for the price you had to play. The 4.0 is much improved and hopefully Apple won’t be satisfied with it. With a little practice you can make some fun, even creative images. You can share, print and publish them with good results, provided used small. There is even a hdr capability I’ll expand on later. Thank you Apple for the improvement but you have a long way to go. (btw Apple, how about a photo contest to show the awesome Iphone images being created and show your support for photographers by not doing a right grab in the process.)
Tech info: I’m providing very little. the exposures varied but the ISO ranged from 80 – 800 for the night images. The still camera function is aperture priority with a fixed 2.8 lens. I may provide more in my next review but I’m more inclined to show and discuss creative possibilities with this fun phone.
Subjects: l-r Halloween decorations at our home, Lake Wohlford mailboxes, California Screaming at Disneyland, graffiti at Cal Tech, Lake Wohlford Cafe restroom and Casa Bandini entry design.
My other work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com
32.715329-117.157255
Being a smart shooter is knowing when to ask for help. I was recently asked to photograph this interior at UCSD for the builder. The primary use was to enter in a competition. The big problem was that the location was not going to be finished until the following Thursday, with the deadline that Monday. Thursday would be too late. So after a fair amount of negotiating my assistant Abbey and I decided to remove the cardboard off the desktops in the whole auditorium. After a quick call to my retoucher, Holly of Spitting Images we decided to remove temporarily the plastic off three rows of the chairs. That would give Holly enough of a sample to clean up the image. Additionally we shot a section of paneling which she also layered on top of the black wood to complete the retouch portion of the project. I then lightened the top projection screen and wal la……. image done, ready to send to the client.
