Jalpuna

This Is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile (It's Not Your DSLR Either)

Saturday afternoon: I set out, on a mission. I wanted to figure out if I would actually use the camera in my shiny new iPhone 4 as anything other than a last resort.

My point & shoot has been dying for some time now. Actually, the camera itself is in great shape, but its battery refuses to hold a charge, and that's fine since I refuse to carry it with me when I head out the door. Oh, I always intend to bring it along, but I pick it up and think "Am I really going to take any pictures today? Do I REALLY want to carry this thing around?"

My point & shoot isn't very big. It fits in an Altoids box forchrisssakes... but that doesn't mean I have room for it in my jeans pockets.

Front right is for my keys.
Front left is for my phone.
Back right is for my wallet.
Back left for a camera? I don't think so. Do my keys need a pocket of their own? Yes, they do, and they don't appreciate you insinuating that they don't, quite frankly.

Ah, but the new iPhone 4 has a 5 megapixel camera! That's what my point & shoot has. Problem solved... if an iPhone 4 can replace my point & shoot. Can it?

The answer is yes. A resounding yes, in fact. It can, and then some.

For me, the challenge of taking photos with an iPhone was learning to accept that it isn't a DSLR. I carry around aNikon D90 when I really want to do some serious shooting. Clearly, an iPhone 4 can't do what a D90 can do. But accepting the limitations of a particular camera should include embracing the possibilities of that camera. In the case of an iPhone, I'm talking about apps!

These shots were taken with the amazing Hipstamatic app.

Those are the kind of shots a DSLR will do a million times better of a job with.

The thing is, it's ridiculous to compare a cellphone camera to the combination of a $900 camera body with an $800 lens. It's dumb to even try. Instead, you just have to accept the fact that these are two entirely different animals, and learn to enjoy the iPhone's camera for what it is. And I'll tell you what it is: It's fun!

Here's the rest of the photos from my first outing with the iPhone's camera. Click any thumbnail for a larger view:

I'm certainly not going to give up my Nikon any time soon... but I won't hesitate to put my iPhone's camera to use. I really had fun with that tiny thing!

::::: | Thursday, Jul 15 2010 at 9:03 PM
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Jalpuna

This Is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile (It's Not Your DSLR Either)

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