Everything you need to know to take the best pictures imaginable with the iPhone, the best camera you have with you
The iPhone is good enough to replace a point-and-shoot camera for most people, most of the time. With a big sensor, an impressive f/2.4 aperture, an IR filter, and lots of software to make pictures as bright and beautiful as possible, the iPhone 4S camera does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. But it still can't replace a trained eye or the human heart.
You've got the latter. iMore's photography series is dedicated to helping you get the most out of your iPhone camera,
Annoyed by the Camera app storing double pictures in HDR mode and wondering how to stop it? Apple introduced an HDR (High Dynamic Range) setting to the iPhone 4 camera with iOS 4.1 and if used in the right circumstances can produce some much improved camera shots. Unfortunately, the way it works can cause a problem if your device is short of storage space. When HDR is turned on, the camera is actually taking four pictures, combining three of them into the HDR picture and saving the normal image in your camera roll. If you don’t want to save the normal picture in your camera roll as well as the HDR version, there is simple way to stop it happening, read on and we will show you how.
Passcoded your iPad but still worried someone could access your personal pictures via the Photo Slideshow button on the lock screen? Luckily, if you don’t want to use the slideshow button, there is a very simple way to remove it. We'll show you how... after the break!
Driving yourself nuts trying to figure out how to take photos from the Facebook for iPhone app? Don't worry, it's not you, it's them. Unlike iOS, you just can't tap, hold and select Save Image from a pop up. That functionality just doesn't come with the Facebook app. But don't worry, we have a work around and we're going to share it with you, after the jump.
Wondering how to turn your iPhone 4 LED flash into a flashlight? Click Home. Launch camera. Switch to video. Turn on the flash... and by then you've knocked your foot or your head or lost sight of whatever it is you were looking for. Luckily, you can get your flashlight on much faster with SpringFlash, an awesome tweak from Cydia. SpringFlash allows you to use the activator app, which is installed when you jailbreak your device, to get instant access to your iPhone 4's LED light. Setup is easy, hit the jump to find out how.
The iPad 2 is equipped with two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera and a rear facing 720p HD camera. Check out the video above for example footage with both cameras.
Recording video on the iPad 2 is a little awkward given it's large size, but it gets the job done. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that when using the front-facing camera to record yourself in landscape mode, the camera is positioned to the far left (or right). It feels strange looking so far from the center of the screen because I have grown accustomed to looking at the top of a device or just the screen while recording video. It's clear that you are not looking at the camera if you stare at the screen while recording.
The quality of video taken with the VGA and HD cameras are as expected. In well-lit situations, the HD camera produces excellent results and the VGA camera gives acceptable quality. Both cameras do an ok job in bad lighting situations, but admittedly do better than I was expecting. In fact, while taking footage in my daughter's poorly lit bedroom, the video looked pretty bad; but after uploading it to YouTube and watching on a computer, it didn't look too shabby.
Taking still photographs with the iPad 2 is not nearly as rewarding as video. The photographs come out mediocre even in excellent light conditions. With that said, I was actually rather impressed with the close-up photograph I took of a bush. Digital zoom with the rear-facing camera, however, is awful. It's not even worth your time to test it out.
Considering the fact that the iPad 2 is not, and should not be, regarded as a primary camera, I am content with the quality of the video and photographs obtained with the iPad 2. Of course, I would love to see better cameras, but they do a good enough job for my needs.
To check out the photos taken with the iPad 2, follow along after the break!
Ever wish you could easily crop a photo right on your iPhone? Well, if speed is more important than resolution you can. We'll show you how after the break!
New to iPhone and want to learn how to share those videos you have just captured to YouTube? Apple makes it easy to share your videos in a number of ways, including email, MMS, MobileMe, and yes, YouTube. We'll show you how after the break!
blueSLR is a bluetooth accessory that will allow you to use your iPhone as a remote control for your DSLR. In addition, blueSLR will embed GPS information from your iPhone into your photos. Since the device makes a bluetooth connection with your iPhone, line-of-site is not necessary to trigger your camera.
With the blueSLR companion app, you can use your iPhone to adjust focus, shutter speed, timer, and tell the camera to take a certain number of pictures within a given timeframe. You can also edit the GPS update frequency. GPS information will be embedded into the RAW or JPEG files and is compatible with iPhoto, Flickr, and Picasa.
blueSLR is currently only available for Nikon cameras, but XEquals promises to bring Canon support soon. There are three different models, Nikon Essential, Advanced, and Professional. From these 3 products, you will find support for the following Nikon cameras: D3100, D5000, D90, D7000, D3(S), D200, D300(S), and D700.
The blueSLR can be yours for $149 with free shipping if pre-ordered today. The companion app is available for free in the App Store.
Check out the photos after the break! Anyone planning to pick one up?
360 Panorama for iPhone just issued a large update to their popular panorama app that uses the built-in gyroscope feature. This essentially allows you to capture more accurate panoramic photos much easier. It can take a bit longer than a standard stitching app but the overall quality seems to be better. As iPhone photography becomes even more prominent and mainstream, good photography apps tend to do well. 360 Panorama is definitely an app to check out if you enjoy editing and taking photos on your iPhone.
You can say goodbye devilish red eyes and blemishes with Perfect Photo 2.0 for iPhone. The popular photo editing application has just released a significant update that, in addition to red eye removal and spot healing, also includes:
Retina display support
New user interface design
Sharing to Flickr
Sharing files via Documents folder
Hi-quality image processing
Perfect photo has recently become my favorite photo editing application and I welcome this update with open arms. The new interface is substantially better than the previous one.
Now for the give-away! The good folks over at MacPhun LLC have generously given us a few promo codes to give away to you, our awesome readers. Just let us know why Perfect Photo will be the perfect addition to your photography app collection and we'll randomly choose a few of you and send you a promo code. The contest begins now and ends Friday, December 3 at 8p EST. (Must have US iTunes account to win. Apple's rule, not ours!)
