Category: Photography

Om Malik:

Photography as we know it has been around for about 150 years, though its origins can be traced to earlier civilizations. But it has never been so visceral, and so much a part of our daily lives, as it is now. In short, the arc of photography’s history is that it has always been about getting more and more people to take photographs. Our desire to know more about ourselves means we must have more of them, more often, in more places, and of many more things. Whether it was new chemicals or new film or new sensors, technological advances in this area have — by and large — been about making it simpler for us to capture the moment. All of it has brought us to today, when we have quietly passed the cultural tipping point where taking a photo is as second nature as breathing. There’s no art to it. It is just something we are always doing.

In many ways, the iPhone reminds me of another groundbreaking camera: the Brownie. Launched at the turn of the last century, the original Brownie was the catalyst of change that helped us record our own history — exactly what those servicemen were doing more than a century later as I labored at my art.

Erin Brooks, writing at The Sweet Setup:

I recently traded in my iPhone X for the XS, and it feels like a much bigger difference when it comes to the camera, than past steps up, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I feel a certain loyalty to iPhone, because it was kind of my first love when I picked up photography, and getting to be part of Apple’s World Gallery was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. On the other, I’m not sure I like some of the camera’s changes, or if I’m just not used to them yet. So, I come into this already wanting to love it, yet I feel a bit conflicted. Maybe it’s that I’m simply already spoiled: iPhone cameras have been excellent for so long that I take it for granted.

Reading through this, I couldn’t help but nod in agreement. The XS camera does some weird things under certain circumstances, and I can’t help but think that turning off Smart HDR should make a bigger difference than it does.

All that said, I love her conclusion:

Overall, I think I like the new camera on the iPhone XS. I’m still getting used to it. I don’t love smart HDR right now, but I have a lot of fun playing with portrait mode and being able to adjust it, and I know the enhanced dynamic range will come in handy when I shoot trickier light situations. The over-blur that sometimes happens now as a result of the noise reduction can be a bit much, but I just add a little grain if I feel it goes overboard, and it’s nice that dark shadows aren’t as noisy because of it. I also like that Apple is trying to improve auto exposure, even if it misses the mark sometimes. I like that it’s in an effort to help everyone get properly-exposed shots. I like that portrait mode keeps getting better and that I can now emulate the look of a prime lens with a device that fits in my pocket. And that is why, deep down, more than for my own sentimental reasons, I will always love the iPhone: It’s a powerful, accessible, and unintimidating camera.

And I believe photography is for everyone.

Shawn C. Steiner at B&H, writing about Canon’s newest camera:

It’s mirrorless. It’s full frame. It has a new mount, of course. The RF mount is Canon’s latest, and its engineers have created a versatile design with a 20mm flange distance and 54mm inner diameter, both of which will lead to more advanced optics and some brilliant new lenses.

If I were still living the Canon life, this would be a great upgrade from something like the 70D that I used to carry, but I’m really happy with my Sony a7R II. Sony is simply killing it in this space, and even with the EOS R, Canon has some catching up to do.