I recently got an iPhone 3GS, the camera that’s built into the phone is a pretty big disappointment for someone who shoots dSLR for the past year. Super-noisy at base ISO 100, no manual control, shutter lag… it’s a mess. Granted, big lenses and big cameras are super cool, and they take amazing pictures. But this post is about living with, and taking advantage of the tiny camera on a camera phone.
Lesson 1: Know the limit of your camera, and try to work around it.
Small cameras are known for their low dynamic range, so to get the most out of this sunset, I took two images at different exposure and merged them together with Pro HDR, right on the phone. This increased the dynamic range dramatically, making it equal to that of a dSLR. Then a bit of contrast and saturation boost completed the look.
Lesson 2: Post Processing
This picture came out very bland at first, but a few tweaks in Lightroom 3made it marginally passable. There are enough apps in the Apple Appstore to edit your photo into oblivion and back. Some of my favorite apps are Pro HDR, TiltShiftGen and Best Camera. Of course, for the most control, you’d have to use a desktop-based tool like Lightroom or Aperture.
Lesson 3: Color
What the tiny camera lacks in light-gathering ability, it makes up by upping the vibrancy and contrast. iPhone photos are usually a lot more vibrant and contrasty than what you get out of a high-end dSLR. Use this to your advantage to capture some eye popping pictures.
Lesson 4: Bokeh
You CAN throw the background out of focus even on a tiny sensor like the iPhone camera, but only if you are shooting in macro. Just be patient with the focus, it can take a while to get the razor sharp image that you wanted.
That’s all for now, I am still discovering the capability of the iPhone camera. Let me know if you have any tips regarding digital photography.