How to Make Your iPhone Camera Even Better!

The tiny camera sensor in the iPhone (even the iPhone 4, as you can see here) doesn't handle high-contrast situations very well. Here is a shot from my back deck that includes a lot of shadow and a generous helping of bright cloudy sky. It's pedestrian to say the least. I could probably take it into Photoshop and make it a little better, but it is a JPEG and not likely to have much detail in the clouds or the shadows, no matter what I do. 

One of the benefits of having thousands of very smart software developers trying to make a buck off of my iPhone app addiction is that there are some really cool solutions to a wide variety of problems. It just so happens that there is one for this crummy shot, too!

What if I could take a shot that exposed the sky real well...

...and then exposed a frame that emphasized the shadow detail...


...and then combined them with some magic that aligned the two shots and took the best parts of both photos. Viola!  Instant Masterpiece!



It's called High Dynamic Range photography and there are a boatload of expensive programs you can run on your desktop or your laptop to do it, but the above gem was processed in an easy-to-use little iPhone app called Pro HDR. $2 will get you this wondrous bit of magic that, with a few seconds of help from you, turns your pedestrian shots into keepers.

At iTunes App Stores everywhere iPhones are sold.

iPhone 4 Review

One word review: Awesome

Okay, a few more words:
I also had a 3G, so I was ready. The iOS4 software gave me some nice features on the 3g, but some things stopped working because its poor processor is simply overtaxed. iOS4 was designed for the iPhone 4 and works great on it. 

iPhone4 is way fast. iPad fast. My 3G, even before the iOS4 update was really doggy. I now have a phone that works for me and doesn't make me wait for it.

The screen is way beautiful. If you haven't seen one in person, you have no idea how great a handheld screen can be. Tiny print is visible. Pixels are non-existant. They're there, but you cannot see them, unless you have better eyes than I have.

The camera. Ah, the camera! It alone would make it worth the price. It takes better pictures most of the time than my $400+ 15megapixel Canon G10! I don't even think about using that thing any more. Low-light shooting is a delight. In that sense it is WAY better than the G10. It probably goes without saying that it absolutely destroys the camera in my 3G. Good thing I got the 32Gig model because I'm going to fill it up with pictures. (See previous post.)

I haven't tried FaceTime yet--nobody else in my family has a 4 yet, and I haven't gotten around to calling Apple.

It's nice to have video. 3GS owners already know that, but it's new to me and I haven't given it much of a workout yet. The upgrade here is that it's HD (720p) as opposed to the 3GS's standard def video. I got the iMovie app, but haven't done anything with it yet.

A note about the antenna issue that is in the news a lot lately: Yes, I've experienced it. Many have reported that their reception actually improved with the iP4, so it may depend on a lot of factors that don't apply to everyone. One interesting factoid is that SOME 3GS users have been affected by this problem as well. One rumor I read this morning is that the problem may arise from the way the software picks cell towers and that there may be an iOS4.01 update out this week to address the issue.

Overall, though, it's a great phone.

My favorite feature? It looks incredible!

I Love the iPhone 4 Camera!

I have a high-end point-and-shoot camera (a 14.7 megapixel Canon G10) that has never been quite as sharp as the megapixel count would seem to have indicated. The first shots I have taken with my new iPhone 4 have impressed me so much, and at times have appeared to be sharper than the G10, that I plan to do more shooting with the phone and less with the camera. 

One of the first things you'll notice is that the camera falls a bit short in the area of dynamic range. While shadow detail is surprisingly good, bright areas tend to wash out. It definitely does not shoot in RAW format like the G10 does.

Overall, though, I think it does pretty well!

Here are some samples I shot around my yard the past few days. No adjustments were made, except for a bit of cropping.

New iPhone Camera App

As mentioned on this week's MacBreak Weekly: Plastic Bullet!

Harkening back to the great icons of the cheap camera crowd: the Diana, the Holga, the Lomo, Plastic Bullet gives you a series of options of your shot with random focus issues, color shifts, light leaks, lens flares and not a little bit of serendipity. 

There's a weird sort of disconnect when you employ the latest high-tech gadgetry to replicate the world's most famous low-tech cameras.

And then you look at your results and you find your "accidental masterpiece." 

Plastic Bullet for the iPhone: two bucks on iTunes.

A futile experiment

Just because I CAN do it doesn't mean I SHOULD...
 
Four operating systems actually running on only two processors. Not surprising nothing works once I get there.

"But it's pretty," says my wife.

Um, yeah.

--
Jonathan Fletcher
FileMaker 9 Certified Developer