smartphone photography

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on smartphone photography:

Huawei’s latest deceptive ads try the same old camera stunt

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Weibo post busting Huawei for misleading ad
Huawei needs to have more confidence in its smartphone cameras.
Screenshot: Huapeng Zhao/Weibo

The cameras in Huawei smartphones are class-leading. Yet, the company was caught again using a photo shot with a DSLR in an ad to promote pictures produced with their handsets.

Best, of all, the gaffe was discovered by the winner of an iPhone photography contest.

Moment drops Android camera app to focus exclusively on iOS

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iPhone lenses
Moment's Pro Camera app is now iPhone-only.
Photo: Moment

Smartphone lens-maker Moment will develop photo and video apps exclusively for iPhone, after the company said Monday it will discontinue the Android version of its popular Pro Camera app.

Moment, known for its high-quality lenses, bailed on Android because it does not have the “engineering bandwidth” to keep up with the various camera systems among Android brands. The Pro Camera app continues on iOS.

Galaxy S20 Ultra camera ups ante on iPhone with Space Zoom and 108-megapixel photos

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Lots of promised power in this camera bump.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung fired a powerful-sounding salvo in the battle for smartphone camera supremacy Tuesday when it introduced the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The Ultra kicks off a new decade in smartphone camera technology with an impressive list of specs packed into its four-camera module. Some of the features include 8K video, a 108-megapixel sensor on its main wide-angle camera, and a 100X zoom feature called Space Zoom.

iPhone 11 Pro scores highest in 2019 for video camera

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iPhone 11 Max Pro cameras
The next iOS update will have an additional off switch for Location Services after recently data privacy concerns.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple has seen the rise of competitors launching smartphones with cameras declared by reviewers and consumer labs as surpassing the iPhone.

But the iPhone 11 Pro dismissed some creeping doubts when it launched this fall and it will end 2019 at the top of several recap and best-of lists.

Among the first with its 2019 review is independent lab DxOMark, which tested 31 new smartphones this year and ranked the 11 Pro as its favorite for video.

Adobe’s new camera app brings ‘AI magic’ to iPhone photos

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new camera app from Adobe
Raise the cool factor on your iPhone photos with the Adobe Photoshop Camera app.
Photo: Adobe

After finally bringing Photoshop to iPad, Adobe says it will roll out a new smartphone camera app with a slew of creative lenses and AI powers that come at the point of capture.

The upcoming Adobe Photoshop Camera seems to borrow the lens-swapping feature of Hipstamatic. Adobe promises it will give users “Photoshop-grade magic right from the viewfinder.”

Forget lighting effects. These compact flashes bring pro light to iPhone portraits.

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With light in hand, the Profoto C1 flash brings studio power to your iPhone photos.
The C1 Light by Profoto is among the Bluetooth-enabled options to add strobes to iPhone photos.
Screenshot: Profoto/YouTube

Apple is trying to bring the advanced lighting of a photo studio to your iPhone without actual lights. And while featured effects like High-Key Mono and Stage Light can bring a studio-like finish to your iPhone portraits, software and algorithms can’t beat the real thing.

Profoto, makers of highly regarded and expensive studio lights, introduced this week two compact studio flashes designed for mobile photography.

6 months using only an iPhone camera leaves pro photog inspired

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Photographer Noe Alonzo used only an iPhone for six months
What could you do with an iPhone as your only camera? Plenty says Noe Alonzo.
Screenshot: Noe Alonzo/YouTube

Photographer Noe Alonzo gave himself a challenge that some people called ridiculous: He worked exclusively with his iPhone 7 Plus for six months.

The results proved stunning. Even more surprising to Alonzo, his project landed him new clients — and gave him humbling insights into his own creativity.

Meet the new head of testing for selfie cameras

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mannequin for selfie camera tests
Sienna never blinks.
Photo: DxOMark/YouTube

The automotive industry has crash test dummies. The lab testing virtually every kind of digital camera made has Sienna, a lifelike mannequin created to measure the quality of a smartphone’s selfie camera.

DxOMark has been an independent tester of conventional digital and smartphone cameras since 2008. Sienna is the newest addition to the team because the French lab only started testing front-facing cameras this year.

Smartphones keep twisting the knife on camera sales

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camera sales
iPhone photography is still incredibly good.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

When the CEO of one of the biggest brands in cameras said his company was in a losing battle against smartphones, he was dismissed by some of his contemporaries who insisted on a brighter future.

Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai today probably wishes he was wrong.

A new report by Japan’s Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA), shows camera sales for February dropping by 35 percent compared to the second month of 2018.

Huawei smartphone cameras beating iPhone at its game

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Huawei Pro30 Pro
That's some good bokeh.
Screenshot: Huawei/YouTube

The devoted iPhone photographer mostly shrugs at the camera tests of DxOMark, but the growing number of smartphones ranking above the best iPhone is hard to ignore.

With the recent release of the Huawei P30 Pro, there are now five smartphone cameras that best the iPhone XS Max in the independent lab’s gauntlet of tests. The top three spots belong to Huawei.

Is iPhone in danger of losing its photography crown? [Opinion]

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iPhone camera
The Nokia 9 PureView has five main cameras.
Photo: Nokia

On Sunday, Nokia quietly launched a first-of-its-kind smartphone called PureView with an array of five main cameras on its backplate.

Apple set a high bar just two years ago with the dual-camera iPhone 7 Plus. In a year where iPhone users are waiting for Apple to release its first model with a third camera, it’s hard not to feel like Apple has fallen behind in the mobile photography space it defined and owned.

Samsung eyes camera company that sued Apple

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CorePhotonics
The rear-facing dual-cameras of the iPhone X.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Samsung is reportedly close to completing a deal to buy an Israeli optics company accusing Apple of stealing its patented dual-camera technology.

CorePhotonics most recently developed a periscope camera module with 5x telephoto for the Chinese smartphone maker Oppo.

72-hour sale features great gear for iPhone photographers

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Moment sale
All the items you need to make that iPhone video masterpiece can be found at one sale through Thursday.
Photo: Moment

Smartphone lens maker Moment is hosting a 72-hour sale with 150 accessories from 14 brands, a one-stop-shop if you’re looking for a special gift for your favorite mobile photographer.

You can even book a trip to places like Japan, Norway, and Kyrgyzstan.

All items, including Moment lenses, camera bags from leading brands and steady rigs for video shooters, are 20 percent off with the code 72hoursale. The Moment sale began this morning for Cyber Monday and ends Thursday at 8 a.m.

Brass grip gives iPhone camera feel and control of a DSLR

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Pictar Pro
Get a grip on your iPhone when shooting pictures or video with the Pictar Pro
Photo: miggö

Each new iPhone and its ever-improving camera tends to stir up talk about the demise of the DSLR.

Yet, there are just some key features of a conventional camera’s form factor that relegates the iPhone to the casual camera category.

But the photography accessories company miggö has developed – and now improved – a nifty attachment dubbed Pictar tp bring DSLR-like speed and ergonomics to the iPhone.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker says smartphone killed photography

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Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders wants to find a new term for the type of photography done with an iPhone.
Photo: BBC

So many people are taking so many pictures thanks to the iPhone. And yet, renowned filmmaker and photographer Wim Wenders says photography is “more dead than ever.”

“The trouble with iPhone pictures is nobody sees them,” Wenders said in a recent BBC video interview during an exhibit of his Polaroid photos. “Even the people who take them don’t look at them anymore, and they certainly don’t make prints.”

Waiting for a triple-lens iPhone? This smartphone reportedly packs 9.

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multi-camera smartphones
Take a picture or nine with this smartphone prototype from Light.
Photo: Light via Photo Rumors

An iPhone with a third lens is in the pipeline, rumor has it. But why just three, when you can have a smartphone with nine lenses?

Light, maker of a futuristic camera with 16 lenses, reportedly plans to introduce a smartphone with five to nine lenses by the end of 2018.

This publisher will help you turn your iPhone photos into a fine art book

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Mobile photography meets the mobile photo book with an on-demand service by publishing house Out of the Phone.
Mobile photography meets the mobile photo book with an on-demand service by publishing house Out of the Phone.
Photo: Out of the Phone

Publisher Pierre Le Govic turned his mission into the company name. Out of the Phone seeks to liberate the beautiful photographs being made today by smartphones.

His Paris publishing house has produced coffee table-worthy books of some of the best photographers documenting the world with their phones. Now Out of the Phone wants to make it easy for everyone to preserve their work with a tangible book.

Why you shouldn’t place all your trust in iPhone camera tests

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Two cameras that excited the world about photography, the iPhone and the Kodak Brownie.
Two cameras that excited the world about photography, the iPhone and the Kodak Brownie.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Miroslav Tichy roamed the streets of his Czech Republic town with a camera made of plywood, a cardboard tube and a plexiglass lens he polished with toothpaste and cigarette ashes. His crude, distorted photographs now hang in museums around the world.

So don’t worry if the camera on that iPhone 7 you just purchased doesn’t score high in some laboratory test that pits its image quality against other cameras.

This smartphone case will print out your snapshots

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The Prynt Case has a built-in photo printer.
The Prynt Case has a built-in photo printer.
Photo: Prynt

The early pioneers of photography, the ones who nearly choked to death inhaling toxic chemicals needed for making prints, would probably faint if they could see there is a smartphone case with a built-in photo printer.

The Prynt Case, a smash hit on Kickstarter earlier this year, is now shipping to the nearly 9,000 people who backed the campaign. For the rest of us, the campaign raised enough money for a huge production run to make it available for order in time for Christmas.

Tiny ring light does more than make your selfies shine

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The SELFLASH is essential for selfies plus a whole lot more.
The SELFLASH is essential for selfies plus a whole lot more.
Photo: SELFLASH

Tech accessories tend to solve a single problem really well. The SELFLASH, a small ring light you attach to your smartphone for selfies, is not just around to make you look pretty.

In offering a flattering wink of light in a variety of colors and intensities, the SELFLASH also provides up to 128 GB of storage for file transfers, can serve as a backup battery for your phone and has a Bluetooth tracker. Not satisfied with your smartphone’s camera? A pro model of the SELFLASH also comes with a 15.1-megapixel camera.

Pistol grip helps get your photography on target

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The Grip&Shoot steadies a smartphone photographer's shaky hand.
The Grip&Shoot steadies a smartphone photographer's shaky hand.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Best List: Grip&Shoot Bluetooth smart grip for photographers

Nobody likes a blurry picture. And while smartphone snappers might think they don’t miss a viewfinder, holding an old-school camera close to the face allowed photographers to use their arms against their torsos to steady things.

With a smartphone, which is held out in front of our bodies, there’s far more risk of shake and blur. Luckily, the Grip&Shoot is a simple solution that will steady the hand.

The SHOTBOX puts a well-lit iPhone photo studio on your table

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Product shots, documents and photographs can easily be documented with your smartphone camera in this collapsable tabletop studio, known as the SHOTBOX.
Product shots, documents and photographs can easily be documented with your smartphone camera in this collapsable tabletop studio, known as the SHOTBOX.
Photo: SHOTBOX

Give Aaron Johnson the chance to give you his elevator pitch and he just might convince you that you need a tabletop photo studio.

But even if you accept his points, you probably don’t have studio know-how or the room for the lights, the tripod, backdrops and a ladder.

Johnson answers with the SHOTBOX, a collapsable tabletop studio with seamless diffused lighting with a setup that can have you camera-ready in seconds. The SHOTBOX is designed for iPhone and other smartphone users who want to make simple product pictures, digitize family photos and copy documents.

Get your digital memories off the computer and onto the page

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Photo books created with apps Mosaic, Cleen and ZOOMBOOK.
Photo books created with apps Mosaic, Cleen and ZOOMBOOK.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

There is a slight soapbox on which I stand sometimes when I write about photography. Nothing too high-minded, but when the topic allows, I will gently remind people to print out their pictures from their iPhones and computers.

Today, I stand before you, not on a soapbox, but on a short stack of photo books. The books are designed with iPad apps from pictures I made on my smartphone. I chose three companies I liked for ease of design and the final product.

All three – Cleen, Mosaic and ZOOMBOOK – have apps that allow you to quickly design a 20-page book from your mobile device and have a tracking number for shipping all within 10 minutes. In four to 10 business days, a hardcover book arrives in the mail that you can neatly shelve.