Apple iPhone 5s camera shines for National Geographic photographer
Longtime National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson left his DSLR behind on a hiking trip through Scotland in favor of an iPhone 5s, and concluded that Apple's latest flagship handset includes "a very capable camera."
Photos shot for National Geographic by Jim Richardson with the iPhone 5s | Source: National Geographic
Richardson took more than 4,000 photos with an iPhone 5s during his trip through Scotland's highlands and islands and showcased some of the images on National Geographic's Proof photography blog. The account was discovered and shared on Twitter by Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, who termed it "iPhoneography."
Richardson says that while he initially struggled to make the most of the iPhone's 8-megapixel shooter, he has become more comfortable working with the phone and identifying the types of shots the device is best at capturing.
"Cameras all have personalities. Or perhaps they have visual signatures. To some extent they always lead us around by the nose. Little by little we come around to taking the pictures the camera can do well," he wrote.
"What surprised me most was that the pictures did not look like compromises. They didn?t look like I was having to settle for second best because it was a mobile phone. They just looked good."
Richardson called the iPhone 5s's color and exposure "amazingly good" and said the HDR exposure feature did "a stunningly good job," while singling out iOS 7's new square photo ability as a time-saver when shooting for Instagram.
The photographer saved his most effusive praise for iOS's ability to quickly capture panoramic images ??Richardson wrote that the feature is "nothing short of amazing ? seeing a panorama sweeping across the screen in real time is just intoxicating."
Richardson's work has been connected with Cupertino before ??he can currently be seen discussing Aperture's geo-tagging functionality in an episode of Apple's "Aperture in action" video series.
This is not the first time the iPhone 5s camera, with its new f/2.2 aperture and larger image sensor, has received praise from photography professionals. Burberry used the device to shoot its London Fashion Week spring/summer 2014 show in September. Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer for the British fashion house, praised the iPhone 5s after the show, telling Pocket Lint that the handset's ability and quality as a camera was "remarkable."
Photos shot for National Geographic by Jim Richardson with the iPhone 5s | Source: National Geographic
Richardson took more than 4,000 photos with an iPhone 5s during his trip through Scotland's highlands and islands and showcased some of the images on National Geographic's Proof photography blog. The account was discovered and shared on Twitter by Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, who termed it "iPhoneography."
Richardson says that while he initially struggled to make the most of the iPhone's 8-megapixel shooter, he has become more comfortable working with the phone and identifying the types of shots the device is best at capturing.
"Cameras all have personalities. Or perhaps they have visual signatures. To some extent they always lead us around by the nose. Little by little we come around to taking the pictures the camera can do well," he wrote.
"What surprised me most was that the pictures did not look like compromises. They didn?t look like I was having to settle for second best because it was a mobile phone. They just looked good."
Richardson called the iPhone 5s's color and exposure "amazingly good" and said the HDR exposure feature did "a stunningly good job," while singling out iOS 7's new square photo ability as a time-saver when shooting for Instagram.
The photographer saved his most effusive praise for iOS's ability to quickly capture panoramic images ??Richardson wrote that the feature is "nothing short of amazing ? seeing a panorama sweeping across the screen in real time is just intoxicating."
Richardson's work has been connected with Cupertino before ??he can currently be seen discussing Aperture's geo-tagging functionality in an episode of Apple's "Aperture in action" video series.
This is not the first time the iPhone 5s camera, with its new f/2.2 aperture and larger image sensor, has received praise from photography professionals. Burberry used the device to shoot its London Fashion Week spring/summer 2014 show in September. Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer for the British fashion house, praised the iPhone 5s after the show, telling Pocket Lint that the handset's ability and quality as a camera was "remarkable."
Comments
I have put off getting a DSLR for years. And this article may just have sealed it.
One I didn't think I would carry it on hikes, traveling, etc. And two, I didn't want to have to learn a clunky interface.
I'm quite happy with my 4s (soon upgrading to 5s) and I'm happy with the photo quality.
I take a lot of shots (keep the few good ones) and I try to only take outdoor shots as opposed to indoor shots.
I always take landscape b/c they look so much better on AppleTV. Portrait leaves black bars on either side of the photo.
AppleTV is pretty much the only place we view our photos anymore.
ATV is worth the price of admission just for the photo streaming! I strongly recommend getting ATV for this reason.
I really don't like the square format, it's just me probably, but I don't. Other than that, beautiful pictures for sure ... and yes, it is one hell of a wee camera.
I like both. A long time ago I bought my first "professional" camera, a Hasselblad 500CM with an 80mm 2.8 lens. The negatives were 6cmx6cm. I remember Hasselblad literature back then describing how to compose pictures using a square format.
Do you have link to his iPhone photos? I know his works but am not sure which ones are shot by iPhone.
I really don't like the square format, it's just me probably, but I don't. Other than that, beautiful pictures for sure ... and yes, it is one hell of a wee camera.
Likely because you don't use Instagram. If you used Instagram previously, you would either have to capture a square pic through the App itself, or take a normal picture and crop it to square in Instagram- hoping you don't cut out certain elements. The square picture option is very useful if you use that app- which is the app for the 15-25 crowd. (Once the parents got on Facebook- the kids got off)
I could be wrong, correct me if I am, but on square setting in the iPhone, the software isn't adding image data to make square rather internally cropping, isn't it? If so, I'd rather retain the full image data. and crop later. If I am wrong, I see I could crop the square to create 2 x 3 or 3 x 4 etc. which you could do with your Hasselblad, but I am dubious this is the case.
Yep, see my comment to Eric. If the pictures are pre cropped I'd rather make that decision later Instagram or not. Especially if I trekked all over the highlands. Which I have done many times I should add
To me, it's like folks taking black and white. Why, when you can have both color and black and white if you shoot color? These days you can have so many black and white variations too with digital filters. Why ever limit data capture. With a DSLR I shoot auto bracketed RAW always.
Do you have link to his iPhone photos? I know his works but am not sure which ones are shot by iPhone.
National Geographic did a similar link up with Nokia on the Lumia 1020, they have a dedicated area on their site with some pictures showing what can be done with 'just a phone'.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/nokia/
However as far as indoor shots and at those a reasonable distance I am very pleased.
An iPhone is a computer, DSLR's are not. Unless you know how to operate an DSLR (most people that own them don't), many of your photos are likely to be inferior to the iPhone 5/5c/5s.
Where did you get that misconception? I believe there's some 20+ camera apps on the App store to do just that ^^^^, and (OMG!) Android has a nice one with Camera+ for those "other people".
BTW: if I recall, Engadget (OMG not another pariah!?) among other reviews lauded the 5s camera to be better than the highly acclaimed Nokia 1020... you know, that device with the iPhone Killer 41 megapixel camera? Once again proof that it's not the megapixel count that matters at all; it's the sensor and the lens... and of course, who's behind the shutter release.*
* It's been said (hersay) that monkeys and cats have a pretty good knack and eye towards taking good pictures when they're not the subject matter.
You cannot achieve a true HDR photo without shooting 2 or more photos at different exposures. The iPhone does not do this. The 20+ apps use artificial/simulated HDR with a phony contrast range.
As an avid android fan, the one thing apple has had that other phones do not is a great camera. The HTC and top line Samsung have good cameras with so fun features that apple do not have, and varying strenthts, when it comes to overal photo quality Apple wins out. The iPhone 4, 4s, 5 all out performed the samsumg or htc phone that was released 6 months later IMO
Have not had a chance to play with the 5S or 5C
No - that is incorrect. The iPhone combines three separate exposures to construct the HDR image.
No - that is incorrect. The iPhone combines three separate exposures to construct the HDR image.
Yes ... you're probably right. I have no control over those images though. I need those separate images to layer as I see fit, NOT IOS.
Thanks for the correction.
No - that is incorrect. The iPhone combines three separate exposures to construct the HDR image.
Yes ... you're probably right. I have no control over those images though. I need those separate images to layer as I see fit, NOT IOS.
Thanks for the correction.
It's true that you don't have access to the individual images, or to the intermediate 32-bit image but, automated or not, it's still HDR, and the result is likely to be better than most users could achieve by manual manipulation of the compression algorithms.