View Full Version : iPhone becoming most popular camera on flickr
bascom
07-31-2009, 09:30 AM
Who needs fancy slr's or ultrazooms when you have an iPhone?
http://www.flickr.com/cameras/
Who needs fancy slr's or ultrazooms when you have an iPhone?
http://www.flickr.com/cameras/
"Ownership" of an Iphone does not equate to "camera" per se.
Most people who own Iphones never claim to be "photographers", as owners of SLRs or ultrazooms often do.
Paradox
08-01-2009, 08:05 AM
Well the iPhone has a camera in it. If that isn't a definition of a camera what is, exactly? Just because it isn't a DSLR doesn't mean it isn't worthy of being called a camera. Nor do you have to claim to be a photographer to own a camera or take pictures. :rolleyes:
However, I'd imagine this revelation means that badly composed noisy snapshots of the wrong end of a dog where it's run past during the shutter lag are becoming the most common photos on flickr! :p
cdifoto
08-01-2009, 08:11 AM
When you consider the convenience of having your camera, phone, mp3 player, and a myriad of other features rolled into one device, the compromise of IQ isn't that bad. Especially when you know the pics won't end up anywhere but on the web.
Paradox
08-01-2009, 08:16 AM
Call me old fashioned but I prefer to have a camera, a phone, and an MP3 player! For starters that means if you somehow misplace one, say it gets stolen, you still have the others. But mostly I just like having items for specific purposes rather than melding everything into one. Each to their own ;)
cdifoto
08-01-2009, 08:33 AM
I thought that way until I started traveling more. Having all those separate devices beating each other up in my pockets and their corresponding batteries taking up space is a nuisance.
Misplace one? That's not an issue when there only is one. It's easy to keep track of a single device in your pocket. :)
Paradox
08-01-2009, 08:39 AM
For travel I agree less is probably more, but if I was going anywhere I would definitely take my 40D, and that's about 5 times the weight of my MP3 and phone combined. As to batteries, surely an advantage of having separate devices is that if you need to make a long phone call your camera/MP3 player doesn't lose battery power, whereas with a combined device the call would sap the battery?
That said, I don't think I'd reject an iPhone if someone offered me one. :D
cdifoto
08-01-2009, 08:53 AM
If you make a long enough call that consumes all your phone's power, you're screwed for the rest of the trip anyway. If you make up for that with a charger and/or spare batteries then it's moot whether the MP3 player and camera are combined in the same device.
Elisha
08-01-2009, 09:53 AM
an all-in-one device comes in handy. especially in places like the gym.
i used to sit on the bike while listening to music and taking shots of the hotties working out :D
and MMS them to friends all at the same time!
cdifoto
08-01-2009, 10:26 AM
When I say "travel" I mean it in the most literal sense of the word. Seeing something while you're riding in the taxi. Meeting a hottie in the airport bar. Seeing a unique aircraft on the tarmac. Things you want a quick snapshot of but digging out the SLR would be time-consuming, impossible, or simply ridiculous. I'm not referring to it being the only camera for a once in a lifetime trip.
Even when not traveling it's great for quick snaps of people you're hanging out with and not "shooting" - basically anytime a DSLR is too much and yet you don't want to stuff your pockets with gadgets. I don't have an iPhone but use a Blackberry instead. The camera on it is actually quite sad compared to the iPhone but for most casual encounters it's good enough.
I also have my email, instant messaging, texting, calendar of events/appointments, maps/gps, web, alarm, etc on it so it's more than just three devices; it's also paper and a pen and an ass-saver when I'm running on E and need to find the nearest gas station.
It's also nice to go out with just my keys and my phone.
Paradox
08-01-2009, 10:37 AM
My phone is actually a Palm smartphone so has word processing etc on it, but I got that specifically because a laptop is really very heavy and bulky so being able to type up notes etc quickly was a very useful feature. So I'm not totally against combinations of things.
cdifoto
08-01-2009, 11:08 AM
Understandable. For you the convenience is in the weight. For others, the convenience is in the combination. I don't want to carry 3 objects to do 3 things when I can carry one object to do 300 things.
jekostas
08-01-2009, 11:11 AM
I do almost the same thing... when I don't have my dSLR with my my phone becomes my main camera.
On the other hand, my phone has a 5MP sensor, and an autofocus, fixed-length 28mm F2.8 wide angle lens (it says Zeiss on it, but we all know what that generally means).
wirehunt
08-01-2009, 08:29 PM
When I say "travel" I mean it in the most literal sense of the word.
Well I do a fair amount of this travelling thing with work. The mp3 player (with cable for external speaker, car plug etc), 2 to 3 phones, laptop, small camera, car gps and now a small video camera all come along for the ride.
No dslr because the enviroment's would kill it fast.
Oh, and a pocket weather tracker :D It interests me whats going on with this stuff
Yep the phone can play mp3, use the gps, fry eggs and make calls. but it's hard to do at the same time.
When at work and the phone doesn't work why use it for a music player?
I've had an iPhone for close to a year and I have taken something like 80 photos on it of which I have put maybe 5 on Flickr. During that time I've taken between 7000 and 8000 on my DSLRs of which I have put several hundred at least on Flickr. I'm doing what I can to stem the tide. :D
iPhones are very popular. They seem to have taken over from Blackberries. I see a lot of phones in use and the iPhone is definitely the most popular amongst the set of people I meet. Similarly those mini laptops are very popular with Macs coming in about equal.
I don't have one personally. I did toy with the idea of getting an iPod Touch though before I realised I didn't use a PDA enough to merit one.
cdifoto
08-02-2009, 12:34 AM
I can't place a call and listen to music at the same time whether it's two devices or only one. Everything else can be multi tasked easily on my blackberry. Probably easier than if it was separate devices because I flip through menus rather than pick up and put down different objects. It's button presses either way.
At any rate, this sucker has streamlined my life - both personal and business.
wirehunt
08-02-2009, 01:05 AM
Those blackberry thing's seem to be a yank thing, I've seen them for sale but have never meet someone with one. I did read that in the US people wanted a 'full' keyboard where as over this way we adapted to the txt with a keypad.
The iphone is a bit more popular I think, but I still don't know anyone with one :D
Edit to add: I remember when I use the in phone camera, when I'm driving home I'll take a pic of the town names and send it to the cook so they know where I am. And at work sometimes, only because on some sites camera's are band so out with the Nokia :D:D
I know there was some limitation with Apple's contract that caused problems with them introducing the iPhone to other countries than the US. The UK copies a lot of American standards but when I was there last, Blakberries were very common as were PDAs.
fionndruinne
08-02-2009, 03:51 PM
The practicality of having a cam on your phone is great - especially as a communication aid ("see what I mean?" - quite literally). The wisdom of posting very many of the results on a public photo hosting site... not so much.
I can see that a woman's friends might send her video clips of her husband engaging in extra-marital affairs :p
fionndruinne
08-02-2009, 10:02 PM
"Really, dear! She was choking! I saved her life!"
John_Reed
08-02-2009, 10:54 PM
Here are a few:
My cat at 1/10 sec, ISO 596:
http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/609405391_g3X6a-L.jpg
A young baby at the Apple Store: 1/15, ISO 153:
http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/609405373_qFVXT-L.jpg
Some roses: 1/403, ISO 70:
http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/609405476_sVhxY-L.jpg
The iPhone 3GS's camera is quite an improvement over earlier models, in that it allows one to choose the point of focus (the old one was fixed-focus), and it can also shoot and edit movies, though they're not HD quality. Also, it shoots 3MP instead of 2MP, almost an acceptable image size. Focal length is always 3.85mm, aperture always f2.8. So what varies are shutter speed and ISO to control exposure. It seems like you can get up pretty close to a subject too, makes it handy for flower photos.
Still a little of a trendy gimmick but the iPhone is developing nicely.
The problem is that it could well end up like the Nokia 8210 in Britain. That was the absolute smallest phone known to man for a couple of years and everybody wanted one. Nobody mentioned that it had serious operational flaws such as switching itself off at random (I had that with an Erickson and it turned me off Erickson).
What we're hearing is the good stuff about the iPhone. I see plenty of them so I guess they're popular. Given the choice between paying a bill and having an iPhone, I'd rather pay the bill :p
John_Reed
08-02-2009, 11:29 PM
With the iPhone, you get to pay the bill AND have the iPhone. In fact, you have to pay the bill! :cool:
With the iPhone, you get to pay the bill AND have the iPhone. In fact, you have to pay the bill! :cool:
Oddly enough - I've never had a phone that I didn't own outright. I buy my phones unlocked and then use sim cards for whichever service provider I like. I have had a couple of phones that were locked to networks. They didn't stay locked for very long :D
cdifoto
08-03-2009, 10:46 AM
Oddly enough - I've never had a phone that I didn't own outright. I buy my phones unlocked and then use sim cards for whichever service provider I like. I have had a couple of phones that were locked to networks. They didn't stay locked for very long :D
I own my Blackberry outright too but I don't get a signal if I don't give my service provider any money.
I own my Blackberry outright too but I don't get a signal if I don't give my service provider any money.
Generally, I prefer the pre-pay services. That way I'm pretty free about changing numbers, service providers etc.
It seems a little more expensive per call but on the other hand, if you keep calls brief and to the point (ie businesslike) then it does work out cheaper than contracts. For example, I use Virgin and if I don't make any calls, my $20 will last me several months and still be available to make calls with. There's no monthly fee.
cdifoto
08-03-2009, 11:53 AM
Generally, I prefer the pre-pay services. That way I'm pretty free about changing numbers, service providers etc.
It seems a little more expensive per call but on the other hand, if you keep calls brief and to the point (ie businesslike) then it does work out cheaper than contracts. For example, I use Virgin and if I don't make any calls, my $20 will last me several months and still be available to make calls with. There's no monthly fee.
Prepaid or post paid doesn't matter. Either way it's money and you're giving it to the service provider to make and receive calls, Rhys. No payment to service provider = no signal = no calls. :rolleyes:
As far as changing your number freely...I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. It's generally a good idea to keep the same number so past, present, and future clients can get in touch with you.
John_Reed
08-03-2009, 12:04 PM
Actually Rhys, I've come to regard my iPhone as something more than a mere "telephone." I'll give you an example:
The other day I was reading a book on my Kindle reader (a downloaded app for the iPhone) as I was riding a train up the San Francisco peninsula. Suddenly, my book showed a photo of my chiropractor's secretary, who was calling to give me an appointment. So I picked up the picture, and it transformed into a phone. We discussed, and as we were talking, I was looking at possible free times on my appointment calendar (also on the iPhone). We agreed on a time, I entered the appointment into my calendar, and then touched the Kindle icon to return to the page I was reading in my book. For me, the "telephone" function may be only 10% of the value I get from the thing?
Prepaid or post paid doesn't matter. Either way it's money and you're giving it to the service provider to make and receive calls, Rhys. No payment to service provider = no signal = no calls.
Yes, certainly. It's more controllable with pre-pay though.
As far as changing your number freely...I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. It's generally a good idea to keep the same number so past, present, and future clients can get in touch with you.
Certainly but if you run two businesses, you can either swop sims around or carry two phones like I do. That way I know how to answer. I know if the white phone rings, it's SagePCWorld and if the black phone rings, it's SagePhotoWorld. If it's family, all bets are off :P
One of the things I really like about my Virgin phone is that it tells me where the call is coming from. I know that if it is an out-of-state number, it's somebody trying to sell something and don't bother answering. It's one reason I had the voicemail switched off. After all, with pre-pay, every call has a cost and I refuse to pay to listen to somebody advertising their wares. Actually, I'd really like that kind of call to be classed as theft.
cdifoto
08-03-2009, 12:16 PM
I know you believe that prepaid marketing spin, but you can keep track of and control costs no matter what kind of plan you have. All you need is discipline and a brain.
I bought a Blackberry to reduce the number of gadgets. Another phone would be another gadget. I use the same number and same phone for both of my businesses as well as my personal calls.
As for caller ID - that isn't unique to your Virgin phone. It's pretty much standard on mobile phones these days. If you're so paranoid about who you take calls from due to the cost of prepay, don't you think the logical conclusion is that prepay isn't right for you? Perhaps one of those unlimited calling plans would be best. Then you can actually answer your phone instead of playing hide and seek. Also, if I ignored every call just because the number was out of state (or even an area code I recognize), I'd get less than half of the business I get now.
Having said all that, I don't seem to be getting all these wasteful telemarketing calls on my cell phone that you claim to receive on yours.
Maybe I'm way off the mark but it seems to me that to want to run a business yet you refuse to incur any of the costs of doing said business. Cutting out unnecessary expenses is one thing and a very good thing at that, but being accessible is necessary.
fionndruinne
08-03-2009, 12:33 PM
Had a prepaid phone for a while (my credit wasn't developed enough for a carrier to accept me without a massive added fee). I spent about $60 a month for minutes and text messaging; now I spend $45 a month and have plenty of rollover minutes. Prepaid is much less affordable for most of us.
The white phone - the computer services number - hardly ever rings, which is partly because I don't advertise computer repairs. When it does, 90% of the time it's some telemarketer. I used to ask them to take me off their list but after a few hung up on me when I got as far as "please take me off" and then called again a few days later, I just stopped taking out-of-state calls. That cut incoming calls answered down to a couple a month - which is fine. I'm not going to drive to Hawaii to spend a couple of hours fixing somebody's computer for $50 per hour or even more than 5 miles from my base.
cdifoto
08-03-2009, 02:40 PM
You only travel 5 miles to repair computers through your computer repair business?
I bet that one's booming.
You only travel 5 miles to repair computers through your computer repair business?
I bet that one's booming.
There's hardly any point in going further. Just about every neighborhood has its own computer fixer guru. Every business has a contract with their computer supplier to fix them for 2 years, at the end of which they just buy new. There's not a whole lot of work out there for independent computer repairmen - especially since Best Buy and the Geek Squad undercuts everybody. People all go for the lowest price - which is usually not the best option. Anybody read this: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090722/tuk-exposed-repair-shops-hack-your-lapto-45dbed5.html
Just in case it vanishes, it's an article about the underhanded tactics of some of the UK computer repair people. Don't think that's just UK, when I used to work for one computer repair guy here in the US, he was equally underhanded, selling pirated software and carrying out un-necessary repairs for which he charged a lot. He also underpaid his staff.
With the iPhone, you get to pay the bill AND have the iPhone. In fact, you have to pay the bill! :cool:
I don't. :D
Mine is supplied free, totally unlimited calls worldwide and 1Gb of data per month. I couldn't hit the limits even if I tried (or gave it to my daughter to use).
Edit: There is one practical thing that the iPhone has the AFAIK no DSLR can match without options.
All iPhone 3G photos are geotagged with the inbuilt GPS so you can upload the photos to Flickr or any other suitable site and have then appear very accurately on a map.
Hang on, Mark, that's telephone company reliant GPS. It's not real GPS. Real GPS is more accurate - whether you use the US GPS, Russian Globalnass or the European Galileo network.
Hang on, Mark, that's telephone company reliant GPS. It's not real GPS. Real GPS is more accurate - whether you use the US GPS, Russian Globalnass or the European Galileo network.
If you are replying to my message my name is not Mark. :)
The GPS on a 3G or 3Gs iPhone is a real GPS it is not a triangulation of telephone towers. It is very accurate, more accurate in fact than my hand held Garmin GPS.
The maps on iPhones are downloaded via the data stream until TomTom release their GPS for iPhone app which will have the maps located on the actual device.
Hmm... There's a post now missing from Mark48.
The Chinese are now heading into the GPS fray with Compass. Personally, I don't see the need for 4 competing systems that don't cost the end user a penny.
The Chinese are now heading into the GPS fray with Compass. Personally, I don't see the need for 4 competing systems that don't cost the end user a penny.
Slightly OT but as I understand it the GPS system that we currently use is close to falling out of the sky due to age and lack of investment by the CIA or whoever actually fund it these days. I can't believe that the US military would let control of their GPS system slip to anybody, especially the Chinese but I guess the other countries feel the same way about being reliant on a US military based system and each want something they can control. The civilian use of these things is really just a by product of their military applications.
Yes. The GPS system was placed in orbit in the 1980s - 1990s. The last launch was in 2008. There are currently two older satellites being kept as orbital spares. They say some satellites will begin to fail as early as next year but they can always launch more.
cdifoto
08-03-2009, 09:09 PM
Satellites are a dime a dozen. I'm strapping a couple to my fireworks next year.
Given that we now have mobile phone masts in every corner of every country, the need for satellites is beginning to be very debatable. The only places where satallite navigation is useful is away from the mobile phone masts. Surely though it's not beyond the realm of possibility to erect beacons in various places around the world that would have the same effect albeit for a lot less money.
cdifoto
08-03-2009, 09:35 PM
Given that we now have mobile phone masts in every corner of every country, the need for satellites is beginning to be very debatable. The only places where satallite navigation is useful is away from the mobile phone masts. Surely though it's not beyond the realm of possibility to erect beacons in various places around the world that would have the same effect albeit for a lot less money.
Triangulation is still hopelessly inaccurate. To the tune of (in my area) 2900 meters with the towers vs 5 meters with the GPS. That's a little over 1.8 miles compared to just over 16 feet. Triangulation can have me on the wrong friggin' side of town. GPS gets me in the right part of my house.
You really ought to actually experience some of this technology before you preach its uselessness.
I use GPS. It's good but not great. Many times I've seen the map telling me to turn ahead when I've just passed the turning. Some of the problem is mapping. There's a road in Orlando that curves around to the right but the map has it going to the left and there are a few other local oddities. Just down the street I live on, it has a T junction and a named road where there never ever has been a road.
wirehunt
08-04-2009, 02:09 AM
Given that we now have mobile phone masts in every corner of every country, the need for satellites is beginning to be very debatable. The only places where satallite navigation is useful is away from the mobile phone masts. Surely though it's not beyond the realm of possibility to erect beacons in various places around the world that would have the same effect albeit for a lot less money.
Funny thing is that GPS gets used in other places apart from the US, places where if you want to use a phone it's got to be a satalite phone, not to many towers around to use Rhys style there.
You don't need two phones. Redirect the second to the first and put a different ringer on it. To easy. Or buy the phone that takes two cards from different provider's, there's a few getting around now that do this.
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