Mobile Phone Takeover?

I see all these lovely mobile phone shots, so I wondered if the ipad pro (2018) would have something similar..

No it looks like I used a potato, even has lines across the image..

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Do iPhones have a full manual mode? I know on most midrange and flagship Android phones from the past few years you've been able to put the camera in manual mode (or Pro mode as some call it) and have full control over shutter speed, focus point, white balance, ISO etc, and shoot in raw for processing later. I always find it quite fiddly to use on a phone but it's occasionally handy to be able to have full control over the image. My Note 9 even defaults to shooting Raw+Jpeg in Pro mode
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You can through Lightroom.

Not sure how you'd go about doing it with the normal camera.
 
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For me, its not so much a competition, as just more choice. Phones have certainly killed the low end compact camera market but there'll always be a market for compacts that do something phones don't. The 1" sensor and longer telephoto reach drew me to a TZ, and I'm after a waterproof tough camera with a zoom to accompany me on the kayak come the Spring. Same with the GoPro toughness and attachments. I don't think the premium or USP compacts are going anywhere, and I'm really grateful for my iPhone's camera as it's always in my pocket.

Also, I like the filters, the apps, the portrait fake-bokeh stuff. Computational photographs are fun, like where the tech is going, getting better. I used Snapseed on the phone to PP my Sony A7 files... I'm all for quick results and easy experimentation.
 
danbroad said:
For me, its not so much a competition, as just more choice. Phones have certainly killed the low end compact camera market but there'll always be a market for compacts that do something phones don't. The 1" sensor and longer telephoto reach drew me to a TZ, and I'm after a waterproof tough camera with a zoom to accompany me on the kayak come the Spring. Same with the GoPro toughness and attachments. I don't think the premium or USP compacts are going anywhere, and I'm really grateful for my iPhone's camera as it's always in my pocket.

Also, I like the filters, the apps, the portrait fake-bokeh stuff. Computational photographs are fun, like where the tech is going, getting better. I used Snapseed on the phone to PP my Sony A7 files... I'm all for quick results and easy experimentation.
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You can get the same results with weed and acid!
 
I have just got a phone with a camera in it... now I need someone to show me how it works. It took me 2 days of not being able to answer the phone before a neighbour came round for a drink and showed me that you have to swipe, not press the green telephone..... yes, it is a steep learning curve, and getting steeper. I think I am a long way off doing all that clever stuff. Putting in names and numbers is next weeks lesson, but that will mean I can leave my little black book at home!
 
Lensflare said:
I have just got a phone with a camera in it... now I need someone to show me how it works. It took me 2 days of not being able to answer the phone before a neighbour came round for a drink and showed me that you have to swipe, not press the green telephone..... yes, it is a steep learning curve, and getting steeper. I think I am a long way off doing all that clever stuff. Putting in names and numbers is next weeks lesson, but that will mean I can leave my little black book at home!
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Until you forget to recharge it every day!
 
Thatis one of my fears. Everywhere you go you see people charging the damn things and they all have o charge them every night. Slaves to the wretched things.
 
I once had a Nokia mobile phone, one of the old fashioned kind which only did phone calls and texts, and I replaced the very thin battery back with a much thicker 3rd party one, about the size of a pack of ten cigarettes. That allowed the phone to go for at least a month between recharges, often six weeks. I never had to take a charger with me when I went on holiday or to a conference. I'd very happily have my smartphone twice as thick and twice as heavy if it let me go for a week between charges. But the modern fashionably thin phone aesthetic doesn't permit that.

Of course what the smart set do is carry a portable power brick around with them, so you can recharge your phone anywhere.
 
Lensflare said:
Thatis one of my fears. Everywhere you go you see people charging the damn things and they all have o charge them every night. Slaves to the wretched things.
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Careful selection of the 'right' phone will give 3-5 days between charges for a smartphone if it's just used as a phone and for occasional pictures etc. and may also incorporate fast charging, with a better than 1% per minute charging speed. Just got back from a week away using my phone as the sole 'computer' and sat nav and it generally did 3 days between charges.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Careful selection of the 'right' phone will give 3-5 days between charges for a smartphone if it's just used as a phone and for occasional pictures etc. and may also incorporate fast charging, with a better than 1% per minute charging speed. Just got back from a week away using my phone as the sole 'computer' and sat nav and it generally did 3 days between charges.
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Any chance of narrowing the 'selection process'? At the moment from your comment, which is hopeful, nobody is any the wiser as to what to get. Mine is a Samsung S6, but I think it is 3 years or so old. Beggars can't be choosers - it died in 4 hours just on standby. Heap of junk.
 
IIRC the S6 can be charged by placing it on a charging mat - no plugging in required. That does mean a little extra expenditure but reduces the faff factor a bit (although you do need to make sure the phone's over the sweet spot to ensure it's charging properly!)

Battery should last a lot longer than 4 hours. Maybe you've got a load of things running that you don't want/need, all of which will chew up charge.
 
Lensflare said:
Any chance of narrowing the 'selection process'? At the moment from your comment, which is hopeful, nobody is any the wiser as to what to get. Mine is a Samsung S6, but I think it is 3 years or so old. Beggars can't be choosers - it died in 4 hours just on standby. Heap of junk.
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OK, as Nod says, a battery replacement (£20-£45) should give a full day, and wireless charging is VERY nice.

Wife has one of these at £150 (mine is 4/64GB version): https://www.ebuyer.com/868423-xiaom...2gb-dual-sim-dual-camera-smartphone-mzb6111en

This will also do several days, £180: https://www.ebuyer.com/868832-xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-5-84-4gb-64gb-4g-dual-sim-smartphone-mzb6405en

For a bit more (£280) you can have something really good: https://www.ebuyer.com/868417-xiaom...-dual-sim-smartphone-graphite-black-mzb6715en

Be aware, these are BIG phones, up to 1/2" longer than your S6.
 
ancient_mariner said:
OK, as Nod says, a battery replacement (£20-£45) should give a full day, and wireless charging is VERY nice.

Wife has one of these at £150 (mine is 4/64GB version): https://www.ebuyer.com/868423-xiaom...2gb-dual-sim-dual-camera-smartphone-mzb6111en

This will also do several days, £180: https://www.ebuyer.com/868832-xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-5-84-4gb-64gb-4g-dual-sim-smartphone-mzb6405en

For a bit more (£280) you can have something really good: https://www.ebuyer.com/868417-xiaom...-dual-sim-smartphone-graphite-black-mzb6715en

Be aware, these are BIG phones, up to 1/2" longer than your S6.
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Thank you, food for thought.
 
Nod said:
IIRC the S6 can be charged by placing it on a charging mat - no plugging in required. That does mean a little extra expenditure but reduces the faff factor a bit (although you do need to make sure the phone's over the sweet spot to ensure it's charging properly!)

Battery should last a lot longer than 4 hours. Maybe you've got a load of things running that you don't want/need, all of which will chew up charge.[/QUOTE]

What do you mean by 'a load of things running'? I've only pressed the 'on' button.
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It it polling for email? Is weather updating in the background? Are location services on? Automatic app updates? Apps refreshing in the background?
 
Ricardodaforce said:
It it polling for email? Is weather updating in the background? Are location services on? Automatic app updates? Apps refreshing in the background?
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How onearth would I know. I am still trying to work out how you put phone numbers in....
 
Lensflare said:
How onearth would I know. I am still trying to work out how you put phone numbers in....
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Go to your Contacts app and there will be a massive Add Contact button or something similar in a very prominent part of the screen....
 
Not being sarky, Simon (I have similar problems with new tech!) but do you have any 12 year old nephews/nieces or similar who could get you up and running or at least get your numbers into the bloody thing?

FWIW, I'm currently on an old Windows phone but will have to change soon since MS are dumping all support for them soon. Mrs Nod has an S6 but I dislike Samsung's bloating of Android... Might have to just live with it though!
 
Nod said:
Not being sarky, Simon (I have similar problems with new tech!) but do you have any 12 year old nephews/nieces or similar who could get you up and running or at least get your numbers into the bloody thing?

FWIW, I'm currently on an old Windows phone but will have to change soon since MS are dumping all support for them soon. Mrs Nod has an S6 but I dislike Samsung's bloating of Android... Might have to just live with it though!
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That's good advice, re-12 YO relly.

My one before last phone was a Lumia 640 - really good, easy to use, great call quality, decent battery. I moved on because applocations like Kindle reader had stopped working, and it had become really frustrating. Also if you're a whatsapp user then be prepared for a lot of hassle transferring messages and data across to another platform.

One of the things I liked about the Xiaomis is that they offer a huge amount of control over data access IF you are prepared to dig deep and set up permissions, but I can see most smart phones being a bit of a nightmare for those who simply want a phone.

Simon @Lensflare - if you don't *need* a super camera and lots of apps then consider a Nokia 8110 'banana phone'. https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/nokia/8110 It can send and receive Whatsapp messages and runs a cut-down and simple OS, plus has long battery life and the cudos that goes with being the Matrix phone. Prices vary, from £50 down to £29 depending on the offers available.
 
woof woof said:
Apologies if this has been posted before. It's an issue with phone generated shallow depth of field which I saw on The Online Photographer.

I'm sure there'll be a fix for this but I think it goes to show that things are rather tricky when it comes to effects.
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It's not perfect, but that's a pretty tough masking challenge for any computer, let alone a phone. It'd take me a long time with a mouse or pad to mask the plant. For simpler headshots, the phones nail it more often than not. For phone viewing, plenty of good shots are plenty good enough.

I like a nice 24/1.4 on FF as much as the next man, but I think embracing the newer tech is essential; the world takes phone photos for phone viewing and web sharing. If we don't like it, tough for us, either we accept change or we look like Canute, stood on the beach, shouting at the sea to get back.

Doesn't mean we can't push for improvements, but that article criticising a phone for not perfectly masking a complex irregular shape in low contrast lighting with complex shading.. hmmm. I suppose the trick of good photography is to recognise when the tech isn't as smart as we are.
 
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danbroad said:
It's not perfect, but that's a pretty tough masking challenge for any computer, let alone a phone. It'd take me a long time with a mouse or pad to mask the plant. For simpler headshots, the phones nail it more often than not. For phone viewing, plenty of good shots are plenty good enough.

I like a nice 24/1.4 on FF as much as the next man, but I think embracing the newer tech is essential; the world takes phone photos for phone viewing and web sharing. If we don't like it, tough for us, either we accept change or we look like Canute, stood on the beach, shouting at the sea to get back.

Doesn't mean we can't push for improvements, but that article criticising a phone for not perfectly masking a complex irregular shape in low contrast lighting with complex shading.. hmmm. I suppose the trick of good photography is to recognise when the tech isn't as smart as we are.
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Well, to be fair the OLP does say that this will probably be solved and I agree and you're right that most of the time this effect will be good enough and that's the problem lower end cameras have. These powerful computers with cameras and phone built in have been good enough for many people to use as their only camera and video device for a while now.

I do like the idea of always having a camera with me but my phone camera is very poor by todays standards and I just can't be bothered buying a better one as TBH I don't like looking at screens and jabbing at them with my fingers, give me a real camera :D

To me that doesn't mean I'm a dinosaur it just means that I'm making a different choice. I'm not trying to be in any way superior or elitist and just as I respect the right of people to own the cheapest Indonesian (or other...) hatch back or a battery powered watch (if people still wear watches) because these things do exactly what the owners expect of them without fuss or too much expense I'd expect people to recognise my right to wear a mechanical watch, drive a RWD car and use a dedicated camera that can't log onto Friendface :D
 
I hear you. I'm much the same... I'd rather spend my money on granite kitchen tops than a car, on a camera rather than a phone. But I recently bought a TZ100 compact, and I've spent a couple of days doing some silly tests between my equipment. The results aren't surprising, no rocket science here... but it tells me more about me, and explains why I embrace phones.

Dan's 'Bears/Woods' study...

1. My Sony A7 takes far, far better pictures than the TZ100. The TZ100 takes better pictures than the iPhone except at 28mm equivalent, where it's a tie. My Sony A7 with the Samyang 35mm looks far worse cropped at 250mm equivalent than the TZ100 at an optical 250mm equivalent [91mm]. My iPhone at 28mm looks much, much better than the shot of the inside of my camera bag the Sony would be taking at that same moment.
2. I can bracket 7 TZ100 shots at 1EV using a mini clamp tripod that's always attached to it, and combine it in Aurora. I don't carry a tripod with any larger camera. My Sony A7 has much nicer bokeh... But a few simple tweaks to blur and vignette in Snapseed and most people don't notice, viewed on my phone or in the A4 photobook print annuals we do every year
3. The Sony RAW file pulls way more detail than a TZ raw file ...But I rarely take the Sony A7 outside because, no matter how much I convince myself I'll go out and take photos, when I really go out these days I take the dog/my briefcase/the kids/shopping bags/stuff to B&Q + Screwfix/horse rugs etc
4. The most used camera I have is my iPhone by a long, long, long way. My iPhone takes more shots of the kids.. but when I do it with the Sony, photos look way better ...But the kids are most often where the FF camera isn't

I wished I'd had my Sony for the Roger Waters gig last year, for my recent London trip, for almost every time I'm out with the dog or the kids... but all I have is my iPhone. So if it doesn't work at 28mm from the sort of viewpoint you can stand with a labrador, it's a missed shot. But at least I have a picture, even if it isn't what I'd call a photograph. Wanna see a hundred shots of a few pixels I promise you is Pink Floyd's showman? I have quite a few, and I was near the front!

So, the TZ has a role as a more competent iPhone with a zoom, rather than as a smaller DSLR/Mirrorless. I hate to pixel peep it, but I just have to remind myself what its role is, and even though I'm a photo snob for the FF effect, no way am I rattling off the Sony's klaxon shutter in a quieter gig/museum etc.

Learning photography taught me to love light, and I can do that with anything now I've learned it. I'd love a wafer thin 10-1000 f/1.4 full framer too, but I'll gladly take an iPhone if the alternative is nothing.
 
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