Review: VSCO Cam 4.0 for iPad

24. Nov. 2014
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VSCO has made waves on iOS and Android for its smooth interface and impressive array of film-like filters, most of which are available in affordable bundles in the store. With its 4.0 update last week, VSCO Cam just got a lot bigger for folks on iOS 8. The app is now available on iPad, a substantial step up from its iPhone counterpart. The device upgrade also comes with the announcement of VSCO Journal, a publishing platform for longer projects. Think of it as an expanded VSCO Grid. Of course, since it’s just been released, we’ve only had so much time to use it, so here’s our first impressions.

Review: Manual (iOS 8)

16. Nov. 2014
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julius motal the phoblographer manual ios image-2

Shooting with my iPhone 5 has always been a hassle. That was largely because of the lack of control, and I could never seem to get the images quite right. Having spent years with a variety of cameras, I’m predisposed towards buttons and dials. Then I saw a video for an app called Manual by a company called Little Pixels. It promised control of shutter speed, ISO and a number of other things all for the price of $1.99. More over, it didn’t have that dreaded “Offers in-app purchases.” For two bucks, I could essentially unlock the features of my phone that Apple kept hidden away.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Todd Heisler Puts the iPhone 6 Through its Paces

02. Oct. 2014
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The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus quite possibly have the best smartphone cameras around. While Apple’s latest handsets have proven to be amazing on paper, how does it handle in the hands of a seasoned professional photographer? The New York Times’ Molly Wood challenged NYT photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Todd Heisler to put the camera through its paces and create stunning images.

In his testing Todd praised the iPhone 6 for its new ability to shoot slow motion even in lowlight conditions, whereas high-speed cameras typically need a well-lit environment. More importantly Todd said shooting slow motion video changes the way you see everything and adds a beautiful sentimental quality to the footage.

The Pulitzer Prize winning photographer also enjoyed the easy access exposure control on the iPhone 6 letting him nail the lighting he wanted. Meanwhile, the updated editing capabilities on iOS 8 allowed him to tweak his image without using a third-party application.

Of course, the iPhone 6 camera isn’t without its flaws. Namely the timelapse tool is neat, but it requires patience and steady hands. Todd was also interested in picking up the iPhone 6 Plus for the added image stabilized lens, but was ultimately put off by the handset’s additional bulk. The video is after the jump.

Via PetaPixel

The 8MP iPhone 6 Outresolves a 16MP Samsung Galaxy S5

24. Sep. 2014
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Apple made some major camera improvements on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and now the two handsets have taken top spots in DxOMark. The two new iPhone models set the highest DxOMark mobile score with 82 points. Despite only sporting an 8MP sensor, the two iPhones beat out the 16MP Samsung Galaxy S5 and 20.7MP Sony Xperia Z3, which both previously scored 79 points.

From the chart we can see the iPhone 6 and it’s bigger brother get a big autofocus boost thanks to the Phase Detection implemented right on the imaging sensor. It seems the iPhone 6 models capture lots of detail in well lit situations. Sadly, though, in low-light shooting Apple’s handset still resolves images with a noticeable hint of fine-grained luminance noise and a minimum chroma (colored) noise.

DxO Mark also wrote that the iPhone 6 Plus’ OIS offers several advantages including better noise performance in low-light shooting and less ghosting while taking HDR images. Oddly enough the OIS also created more stabilization artifacts when shooting video. Be sure to head past the break for another look at how the check out how the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cameras stack up against a fleet of Android phones, and visit DxO Mark for a more in depth and graphical breakdown.

Via DxO Mark

What You Want to Know About the New Apple iPhone 6 Camera

09. Sep. 2014
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Apple has announced a new and larger 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and an even bigger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus and with them comes a new camera. Apple claims it has created an all-new 8MP iSight sensor made up of microscopic 1.5-micron-sized pixels. The headlining feature about this new sensor is it packs Focus Pixels, which is the Cupertino company’s fancy way of saying it has added a phase detect autofocus system, which purportedly locks onto subjects twice as fast as the iPhone 5S.

Apple has also improved its optics adding optical image stabilization to the iSight camera’s f2.2 lens. The iPhone maker claims the newly added OIS will help correct for camera shake going up and down as well as side-to-side. Apple has also improved the rear camera and now it can take HDR shots in a single click rather than three. Meanwhile, iPhonegraphers will now be able to take 43MP panorama shots.

The iPhone 6 is also significantly more capable on the video front. Users picking up the new handset will be able to shoot 1080p movies at 60fps and slow motion footage has been upgraded to 240fps. Lastly Apple has brought back True Tone Flash, which lights up subjects using two differently colored LEDs to produce a more accurate color temperature and better flash photos.

Up front, selfie takers will be happy to know the front facing iSight camera also been overhauled with a larger f2.2 aperture lens that takes in 80% more light. Apple’s head of marketing Phil Schiller also coined the new term “burst selfies” in which the front camera will take 10 self-portrait pictures in a single go. The front facing camera will also let users shoot HDR selfies and HDR video for FaceTime calls.

Check past the break for more images of the iPhone 6 and what its iSight Camera can do.

Apple Gets Serious About iPhoneography, Opens up iOS 8 to Manual Camera Controls and More

03. Jun. 2014
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At its WWDC keynote yesterday, Apple announced a whole freighter full of updates coming to iOS 8. Perhaps the most exciting announcement of all was that users will soon have full manual control of the iPhone camera. Apple is opening up all the camera controls to third-party apps, with everything from white balance, focus, and every exposure setting. In the future, that means that photo apps on iOS 8 will be able to control settings such as aperture, shutter-speed and more.

Currently apps on iOS 7, and those system versions before it, have only had access to flash control, HDR modes, and ISO. Now that apps will be able to take the camera off full auto, apps like Camera+ could allow users to take long exposures, keep the lens wide open at f2.2 for more bokehlicious photos, etc. What’s more, Apple is seriously buffing up its own built-in image editor to let iPhone shooters adjusts exposure, brightness, contrast, and more.

Read about even more iOS 8 enhancements after the break.