iPhone photography - page 5

Apple shows iPhone X camera in a new light

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The iPhone X camera's Portrait Lighting will blow you away.
The iPhone X camera will blow you away.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone X’s advanced camera gets some prime time in the spotlight in Apple’s latest ad.

Apple dropped the fun new spot, which highlights the next-gen photographic features of the $1,000 iPhone, this afternoon. While Portrait Mode loomed large in 2017’s marketing, Apple apparently wants to make Portrait Lighting the next big thing this year.

With iPhone X, Apple reinvents the camera. Again.

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iPhone camera
Sure you can take pictures with it. But the iPhone X shows the future of the camera will have little to do with the photographic image.
Photo: Apple

Each generation of iPhone has brought with it a camera more amazing than the last. As users ogled over higher resolution, bigger sensors and new computational features, few saw the device’s evolution as more than just the making of a better camera.

But the iPhone X gives the camera a new job description — it’s not just a photography specialist anymore. How iPhone cameras function in the future will have little to do with the photographic image. And the iPhone X previews the innovations to come.

Apple’s latest acquisition could be game changer for iPhone camera

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sensor technology
An iPhone 6 shooting along side a camera modified with a Quantum Film Sensor in 2015.
Photo: InVisage/YouTube

Apple has reportedly bought a California startup that developed new image sensor technology that could boost the iPhone’s photo and video capability.

A news website that covers the digital imaging space reported on Apple acquisitions of InVisage, citing unnamed sources that said the deal was completed in July. Some former InVisage employees are already working in Cupertino, according to the report.

Smiles trigger selfies with Camera+ app update

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iPhone photo app
Camera+ adds features like smile mode and depth support.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Even when your arm is stretched out as far as possible, it can be a struggle to get a finger or thumb on the shutter of your iPhone camera to take that selfie. An update to the app Camera+ trips the shutter with a smile.

Version 10 of Camera+, one of the more popular apps for iPhone photographers, announced new features this week with improvements that take full advantage of iOS 11.

Flashy 3-in-1 lens lights up your iPhone photos

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iPhone lens
One attachment with three lenses, an LED light, and a selfie mirror.
Photo: RevolCam

Lens attachments can extend the reach of an iPhone camera. But now you are carrying extra stuff and compromising the compact convenience of the camera that is always with you.

RevolCam is one attachment, but with three lenses, an LED light and selfie mirror and avoids the bulk each of those accessories could add to your pockets or bag.

Advanced iOS app zaps backgrounds from photos

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iOS photo app
The touch of a finger on a slider bar makes erasing backgrounds in photos simple.
Photo: Jon Colverson

Portrait mode on the iPhone does a very serviceable job of blurring out a distracting background. A new app makes it easy to remove the background entirely.

Depth Background Eraser, made for iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus and the soon-to-be-released iPhone X, uses the depth data stored in a photo to let your inner artist easily remove any background.

iPhone cameras just got a whole lot smarter

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iPhone camera
Sure you can take pictures with it. But the iPhone X shows the future of the camera will have little to do with the photographic image.
Photo: Apple

Hard to believe that a smartphone camera born from two tiny megapixels and a fixed-focus lens10 years ago now includes 3D facial recognition, augmented reality and a studio lighting emulator.

The camera system on the 2017 iPhones features more than incremental improvements for making pictures and recording video. In fact, the new camera hardware transcends photography and plays a deeper role in personal communication, entertainment, and data security.

Time photographer uses iPhone for stunning cover shots

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Time featured 46 women changing the world and photographed them using iPhones.
Time featured 46 women changing the world and photographed them using iPhones.
Photos: Luisa Dörr/Time

Luisa Dörr is not the first photographer to do a magazine cover shoot with her iPhone. But her 12 covers for Time magazine of women changing the world may be the most impressive to date.

Dörr photographed 46 influential women, from Oprah Winfrey and Serena Williams to Hillary Clinton and Selna Gomez, for the magazine, which published a piece called “Firsts,” featuring women who are changing the world.

iPhone becomes a reliable light meter with Lumu Power [Review]

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Lumu Power light meter
Is that an iPhone or a light meter? It's both.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Lumu Power light meter for iPhone

The iPhone democratized photography and disrupted the video and camera industry. Now a new product that plugs into the iPhone’s Lightning port aims to replace an important photographer’s tool — the handheld light meter.

The Lumu Power light meter is a small, plug-in photodiode that looks like a pingpong ball cut in half. The light meter, a product of Lumu Labs from Slovenia, rose out of a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. It’s won favorable reviews from photographers and photo websites as the company works to improve the companion app.

His eye and iPhone reveal shapes of San Francisco

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Burton Rast iPhone photos
Unpainted Ladies from Burton Rast's Shapes of San Francisco.
Photo: Burton Rast

Burton Rast had his first look at San Francisco 20 years ago and wondered aloud to a friend if it was possible to photograph one of the world’s most photographed cities in a new way.

With his iPhone 6s and some creative tweaking of the pictures in Adobe Lightroom Mobile, Rast has succeeded in producing a unique view of the city’s iconic architectural landmarks.

Think you need pro gear for great iPhone photos? That’s fake news.

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iPhone rig
You don't necessarily need expensive gear to make a great iPhone video.
Photo: Marques Brownlee/YouTube

You can make great photos and videos with just an iPhone. There is nothing fake about that statement. Thousands of great iPhone photos appear on our camera rolls and Instagram feeds every day to prove it.

Nevertheless, a recent YouTube video suggested Apple uses more than just iPhones to create its “Shot on iPhone” commercials. The video quickly went viral. Headlines it generated sowed seeds of doubt about the authenticity of Apple’s claims.

So, are we really getting the great camera Apple says it puts in its iPhones?

The stories behind 3 of the best iPhone photos of the year

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iPPA awards
Dina Alfasi finds intrigue and beauty in her fellow commuters.
Photo: Dina Alfasi

Dina Alfasi sat across from a slim man on a bus who looked to her as though he was levitating and traveling someplace magical. With her iPhone, she made a picture.

What she captured was magic — and the picture made its own journey this week by getting published all over the world as one of the year’s best photos shot with an iPhone.

How the iPhone revolutionized photography

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iPhone photo shoot
Fashion photographer Georges Antoni uses the iPhone 7 Plus on Portrait mode to photograph Margaret Zhang for the June cover story of Elle Australia.
Photo: Bauer Media Australia/YouTube

iPhone turns 10When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, no one imagined that in 10 short years it would become the world’s most popular camera and herald a new era of visual communication.

Yet we are witnessing the death of point-and-shoots, the explosion of massive social networks devoted to pics and videos, and the rise of perhaps the most popular photo style of all time — the selfie.

Just consider that we are expected to take 1 trillion pictures this year alone. That’s a million million photos.

Here’s a brief overview of some of the ways the iPhone was transformed photography forever.

AI-powered iPhone photo storage device never forgets a face

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No Wi-Fi, no cloud with this iPhone photo and video storage solution.
No Wi-Fi, no cloud with this iPhone photo and video storage solution.
Photo: Fotofami

You’ve heard my speech from the soapbox: Backup your iPhone photos. A little device called Fotofami couldn’t make it easier.

In fact, it’s shaped like a little thin box that will travel well in a pocket. It works by getting to know the faces of family and friends in those pictures while fiercely defending them from the reach of hackers.

This case adds more lenses to the iPhone 7 Plus

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The iPhone 7 Plus plus six more lenses with the SHIFTCAM.
The iPhone 7 Plus plus six more lenses with the SHIFTCAM.
Photo: SHIFTCAM

Maybe the iPhone 8 will be great. But a product called SHIFTCAM has six reasons why you should keep or maybe upgrade to the iPhone 7 Plus.

The SHIFTCAM is a protective case for the 7 Plus that claims it is the first to feature a 6-in-1 dual lens, greatly expanding the view of the 7 Plus’s wide angle and telephoto lenses.

This rugged case turns your iPhone into a GoPro [Review]

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The Hitcase Pro 2.0, shown with a super-wide lens, is now available for iPhone 6, 6s and 7 on Kickstarter.
The Hitcase Pro 2.0, shown with a super-wide lens, is now available for iPhone 6, 6s and 7 on Kickstarter.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Yes, the iPhone can shoot pictures in the same places as many pro-level cameras. But because the iPhone lacks pro-level durability, you may not bring it on your most rugged adventures.

Hitcase’s latest product should ease your mind and let capture your most extreme imagery ever.

How to shoot iPhone video like a pro

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iPhone video tips
Learn all you need to know to get the most out of your iPhone's camera.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

While iPhones have pretty much replaced standalone video cameras, they don’t offer the same level of polish that a dedicated video camera or DSLR produces. It’s true that “the best camera is the camera you have with you,” but you can almost always spot a video shot on a phone.

The quality gap isn’t purely due to the lenses and tech within our phones, though. Bad habits make plenty of iPhone videos look lackluster. To show just how good an iPhone video can be, I put all my filmmaking knowledge to use for the montage below.

Instead of using my $3,000 video camera, I picked up my iPhone. With a minimum of accessories, I managed to produce what I think is a pretty cinematic video. You can see the results below — and then I’ll give you some useful tips and tricks for shooting iPhone videos like a pro.

New iPhone 7 case makes ZEISS lens super-convenient

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This case by ExoLens will protect your iPhone 7 and sport a ZEISS lens.
This case by ExoLens will protect your iPhone 7 and sport a ZEISS lens.
Photo: ExoLens

Many photographers have been impressed by the picture quality from their iPhones when paired with the mobile camera lens attachments crafted by legendary optics manufacturer, ZEISS.

But some of the compromises can be daunting. The brackets, made by partner ExoLens, used for mounting meant being in the field without a protective case. With that, combined with a rather hefty chunk of glass, the handset suddenly becomes something difficult to stuff in your pocket.

Using these pro-grade lenses are now easier, at least for shooters carrying the iPhone 7, after ExoLens announced Tuesday a protective case with a quick-and-easy lens mount was available for purchase.

Aukey lenses good for iPhone photogs on a budget

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The Aukey PL-A8 Ora lens kit for iPhone 7 features both wide-angle and telephoto lenses.
The Aukey PL-A8 Ora lens kit for iPhone 7 features both wide-angle and telephoto lenses.
Photo: Aukey

Mobile photographers itching to expand their view beyond the fixed lens of the iPhone can find an assortment of attachments that vary in quality and price. And like their camera and lens forefathers, a high-quality lens generally comes with a high price.

There have always been exceptions to that rule and in the case of mobile photography lenses, the tech accessories company Aukey stands out as the best of the budget lenses for iPhone.

iPhone photog shoots gritty street scenes ‘from the hip’

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iPhone photo book
From the pages of Shooting from the Hip.
Photo: Scott Strazzante

Scott Strazzante may have named his upcoming coffee table book of iPhone photos, Shooting from the Hip, for the way he holds his camera near his waistline to surreptitiously photograph people.

But the title is also apt because his love for shooting with the iPhone began with an itchy trigger finger.

Lightroom Mobile’s new HDR mode means even better iPhone photos

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Lightroom Mobile from Adobe now has HDR to balance shadows and highlights in contrasty settings.
Lightroom Mobile from Adobe now has HDR to balance shadows and highlights in contrasty settings.
Photo: Adobe

Your iPhone photos can look more spectacular than ever, thanks to an update to Lightroom Mobile that brings an HDR mode capable of capturing three RAW DNG files.

We’ll explain all the acronyms in a bit, but here’s the gist: Adobe Systems’ popular image processing app can now capture the kind of rich photographic details you previously could get only with a conventional digital camera.

These iPhone lenses work the corners to deliver super-sharp images [Reviews]

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iPhone lenses
The OOWA Pro Kit for iPhone with case and two lenses, a 15 mm wide and a 75 telephoto.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Screw the 15 mm wide-angle lens into the case, point your iPhone at breathtaking scenery and snap the shot.

If the experience made you say “Oo-Ah,” you will then know how to pronounce the name behind a pair of new lens attachments for the iPhone created by Singapore-based DynaOptics. The OOWA wide-angle and telephoto lenses for the iPhone 6 and 6s series were designed to create that kind of wonder, both in image quality and the sound your mouth makes while looking at your photos.

Moment’s new iPhone case will supercharge your photography

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Moment
The Moment battery case and wide lens for the iPhone 7.
Photo: Moment/YouTube

The iPhone camera is good right out of the pocket. Mobile lens company Moment Inc. launched three years ago believing it could make it even better.

It’s lens attachments have become favorites for many serious iPhone photographers trying to expand the range of the device’s fixed lens. Now, Moment is mounting an ambitious Kickstarter campaign with three new products to bolster the performance of iPhone cameras, from 6 through the 7 Plus.