Miscellaneous Photography - all aspects

[PigSquealer]

it's hard to beat a camera phone these days

Every picture I’ve ever posted was taken with a phone camera. It’s always with me.
The sunset picture below was taken while in a car rolling and through the window.

 

[lig]

@PigSquealer I completely dig my iPhone 15 Pro camera array.

Even though I've planned my kit for the next trip (A1 II, 20-70F4 for walk around 35 1.4 for nighttime 70-200 GMII 2.8 + 1.4x teleconverter) I'm guessing many of the memorable shots will be iPhone snaps. 🙂

 

[atwl77]

Yeah, I take a lot of phone pics these days and they can be great, as long as you don't zoom in too much and pixel-peep at the details.

But one of my favourite shots came from a compact Sony RX100m6. This tiny little thing easily fits in a pocket, and has a pretty decent zoom range.

 

[dexdex]

Oh man ! Amazing talent, passion and diversity. Great thread !

 

[Tenor Viol]

Cameras in phones are very good and the 'smart' electronics do a lot of work processing the images. A lot of the time, the results are decent. My main criticism for a lot of 'straight out of the camera' phone images is that they are often over saturated. But they're great for getting a quick image, such as this Pelican paying a visit...

 

[dexdex]

Regarding phones, they are doing a great job. Their readiness and presence are 1 great advantage, as well as the ease to quickly share pictures.
I’m smashed and frustrated how cumbersome it remains to get our pictures out of dedicated cameras. Wireless functions are slow and dinosaurian, and many photographers still take out the memory card to stick it in a reader, like a nostalgia of rewinding the 36 shoots roll, taking it out, and sending it to the lab.
How about punched card readers ? Could be cool…
Apple decided almost 20 years ago with the iPhone that there was no such thing anymore like a removable memory card.
Who’s right, who’s wrong ?
Nikon is on the verge of collapse, Apple seems to be doing fine….

 

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

The best camera is the one you have with you … which is usually your phone.

But I’m often frustrated by (a) the results of “a lot of work processing the images”, which can not only be over-saturation (easily corrected), but huge compression artefacts, which are impossible to correct, and (b) “how cumbersome it remains to get our pictures out“ - yes, really. The phone doesn’t appear as a proper drive, so most tools can’t simply update all the images you haven’t yet copied, and you can’t simply copy files back to your photos folder. Maybe these would be solved with a premium phone, or a paid-for app, but I’d rather spend my money on a proper camera, or lens.

I do take the card out and put it in a reader, as that seems to be the easiest option. Occasionally I’ll use the camera’s built-in WiFi, and am reminded just how bad that is… I regard the SD cards in the same way as film, so I don’t wipe and re-use them, which means I don’t have to worry about whether I copied the files off, or if the wear levelling is about to fail. Then again, I don’t take enough images to worry about the cost of this approach - I know people who will take as many images in one day as I do in an intense 2-week holiday, so it wouldn’t work for them! Full cards are my first line backup, followed by PC and cloud.

 

[lig]

Regarding phones, they are doing a great job. Their readiness and presence are 1 great advantage, as well as the ease to quickly share pictures.
I’m smashed and frustrated how cumbersome it remains to get our pictures out of dedicated cameras. Wireless functions are slow and dinosaurian, and many photographers still take out the memory card to stick it in a reader, like a nostalgia of rewinding the 36 shoots roll, taking it out, and sending it to the lab.
How about punched card readers ? Could be cool…
Apple decided almost 20 years ago with the iPhone that there was no such thing anymore like a removable memory card.
Who’s right, who’s wrong ?
Nikon is on the verge of collapse, Apple seems to be doing fine….

Kind of fun to take food photos on our little adventure. My favorite lens for that was the 16MM 1.4 Fuji. Nice close focus and smooth out of focus bokeh. You could use the Fuji X App to transfer shots to your iPhone or iPad. It’s worked ok but wasn’t seamless.

Now I use Portrait mode on the iPhone for that job and even though it isn’t perfect it works really well.

Easily good enough for social media. The adjustable DOF is cool and the Photos app is almost all you need for web quality sharing. iPhone 15 Pro shot:

The Sony Creator’s App is even better at transferring images from camera to phone or laptop.

They both work pretty well for wireless remote shooting too.


Captured this Sony shot from the comfort of my warm and dry living room. 🙂 set camera on tripod. Dialed in exposure, iso nd aperture settings via app. Mashed the shutter button and hoped for the best while having a little wine with the missus.

 

[Tenor Viol]

Most technologies have weaknesses, and with digital imaging the current issue is definitely around things like getting the images 'out' of the camera (or phone). Some of this stems from a lack of an agreed standard/protocol. Some of it is that most methods of transmission require power and that is a constraint with cameras and phones - even though battery power has improved significantly over the years. Files have also increased significantly in size.

 

[ghostler]

Nikon is on the verge of collapse, Apple seems to be doing fine….

Haven't really kept up. Nikon used to be a flagship. Similarly, we have seen musical instrument brands that were once flagships disappear. Fuji at one time had quite a line up. They have faded, too. Yashica, a decent unsung consumer brand is no more along the Petri.

The best camera is the one you have with you … which is usually your phone.

This is true. A key picture captured on one is better than not captured at all, and a seasoned photographer will make use of its strengths and work around its weaknesses to compose good photos.

But I’m often frustrated by (a) the results of “a lot of work processing the images”, which can not only be over-saturation (easily corrected), but huge compression artefacts, which are impossible to correct, and (b) “how cumbersome it remains to get our pictures out“ - yes, really.

An easy solution for me is to Email the key photo(s) to myself. If I have a good number of photos to move, will connect the USB charge cord to it, then access on my PC like a hard or thumb drive. After, I use more powerful PC software to do my cropping and adjustments to fix photos to acceptable.

Then again, I don’t take enough images to worry about the cost of this approach - I know people who will take as many images in one day as I do in an intense 2-week holiday, so it wouldn’t work for them!

Having start out with a film camera, as an advance amateur with a high school friend, we'd chip in to buy bulk film. Then roll our own reloadable 35 mm canisters. But because of the overall expenses to develop and print, even though we saved by DIY, at least I was more selective in photos I took.

Therefore I didn't simply burn through a couple rolls of film so I could have that one winning one. On a hobbyist budget one is more careful.

One develops a knack of timing, bit of mental preplanning, so that at least for me, most of the ones I took were reasonably decent.

 

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

iPhone 15 Pro shot:

Just out of interest, I looked up the iPhone 15 [Pro] options. You pay a £150-£300 premium for a very modest extra zoom ability in the Pro, depending on if you're looking at new or refurbished prices. If (and I admit it's a significant if) you're prepared to drag out a camera for the occasions that merit it, you don't have to go through many lower-spec phones before it's paid for ... and I'd guess cameras and lenses will serve you longer than most phones. I've had my K-1 for nearly 8 years now, if you discount my dropping it 2 years in!

As you rightly say, perfectly adequate for web or socials, but in general those aren't my priorities. As ever, it's horses for courses...

Captured this Sony shot from the comfort of my warm and dry living room

Very nice - is that a single shot, or multiple strikes edited together? I got the following from a slightly damp balcony overlooking Lake Como, but it's a composite of 5 exposures totalling just over 3 minutes - wait for a lightning stroke, then start another exposure. I should get into the habit of using remote more.

An easy solution for me is to Email the key photo(s) to myself. If I have a good number of photos to move, will connect the USB charge cord to it, then access on my PC like a hard or thumb drive.

I think about 900 of our safari shots were on iPhones, so rather a big email! So like you, connected the phones to the PC when we got home, but you have to guess which folders to transfer. I have a utility which can compare folders, but it doesn't play nicely with the MTP protocol used by iPhones; they don't appear as a simple thumb drive.

Having start out with a film camera, as an advance amateur with a high school friend, we'd chip in to buy bulk film. Then roll our own reloadable 35 mm canisters. But because of the overall expenses to develop and print, even though we saved by DIY, at least I was more selective in photos I took.

Ah yes, that brings back fond memories, though I only had one bulk loader so had to keep switching its contents between Tri-X and Pan F. I don't recall processing being too costly, though of course one got quite good at assessing negatives or contact prints for the few that were worthy of enlargement. But yes, a day out was at most a few dozen images, not a few hundred.

 

[PigSquealer]

I use a iPhone 12. Never played around with portrait mode much. Zooming in or out being my issue with the mode. I primarily use “photo” set at 16:9.

 

[lig]

h4yn0nnym0u5e - thanks for asking. The lightning shot is a single shot. ISO 100, F16, 30 seconds. Just kept hitting the remote shutter repeatedly during the storm and hoped something would happen. 😀​

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I've tried and failed for years to capture the Aurora here in the Seattle area until one magical night in May 24. 20mm F1.8 2.5 seconds iso 640 using the remote.​

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Brought 2 bodies and kept firing. Easily visible to the naked eye. Hundreds of people on the waterfront experiencing it together.​

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Just amazing.​

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Being a car guy - if I'm not on track I like to shoot at the track. Fun learning to pan with a slow shutter for that blurred background.

Motion is kind of my current fixation…. Vietnam was perfect for that. I don’t know how to take these kinds of shots on an iPhone (although I’m sure it’s possible)

 

[Ballymenaboy]

Been a wildlife photo taker for some years and haven’t made the change to mirrorless

 

[jonf]

I was out for a walk today, taking some pictures of wildlife and beautiful Autumn colours at Hever Castle, in Kent, in the South of England. Really, the idea was to go for a walk, taking advantage of a break in the wet weather, but I took my Canon R6 with me thinking I'd get some good shots of the landscapes. I was quite pleased with the results, but this one actually caught my eye more than anything. A sort of 'found' image.

 

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

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[Tenor Viol]

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[ghostler]

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[Targa]

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[MikeMorrell]

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