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Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

A Disappointing iPhone XR Review

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The iPhone XR is the latest in the 2018 trio of new iPhones. It’s also the most “affordable” with its base price at $749 for the 64GB model, while it takes $999 to get the base iPhone XS and $1099 for the base XS Max.

For a guy that operates a camera tech blog, you might think that I’m one who has to have the latest and greatest gadget. However, I like tech that lasts a long time and I try to milk every mile out of great tech. I still use my Canon 5D Mark II as my main camera (although I’ve been eyeing an upgrade the past couple years) and my 2011 MacBook Pro is still in service as a video editing system. In fact, I think that old MacBook Pro is a superior product in terms of design (and performance in its day) than the newer, thinner MacBook Pros, which have “clicky” keyboards with keys that stick, limited ports, no disc drive and internals that can’t be upgraded. I prefer my 2010 Mac Pro over the modern Mac Pro trash can too.

In a lot of ways, I feel the same about the iPhone XR. I’ve had the iPhone XR for a week or so and its a good phone but it doesn’t do anything special that other phones don’t do better. My best praise for it is that it is faster than the iPhone 6 from which I traded up. [Read more…]

 

Speculation Over iPhone XS Forced Skin-Smoothing Front Camera

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Since the release of the new iPhone XS and XS Max, users have discovered overly-smoothed skin in selfies shot with the front-facing camera. Essentially, photos taken with the front camera appear to have a beauty filter applied. There is no documentation or setting for such a feature on the new iPhone models. [Read more…]

RAW Photos Coming to iPhone in iOS 10

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iPhone 6

It looks like Apple will finally give us the opportunity to shoot and edit RAW images in the native camera app in the next iteration of iOS, due out later this year. Many Android users have had this benefit for quite some time, so it’s nice to see Apple finally getting around to giving photographers more freedom with their iPhones.

Developers will also be able to make more use of image data as Apple opens up access to the RAW file data and live photos for use in third-party apps. Be careful with the RAW photo setting though because it will chew through your storage with the larger file sizes much quicker than shooting the JPEG images we capture now.

iOS 10 will be available in public beta later this summer with a final release coming later this year.

Zeiss Announces iPhone Lenses for ExoLens

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Exo_Zeiss

When I reviewed the ExoLens for iPhone 6 last year, my chief complaint was the poor image quality when using the lenses kitted with the ExoLens frame. That problem may be solved now that Zeiss has jumped into the lens game with ExoLens with a lens kit that includes the Mutar 0.6x wide angle, Mutar 2x telephoto, and Vario-Proxar macro lenses. [Read more…]

Apple iPhone 6s Features 4K Video and 12MP Sensor with “Live” Photos

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iPhone 6s

Yesterday, Apple announced the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, among a number of other new products. Notably, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will see an upgrade in the resolution of the rear camera. This marks the first resolution upgrade to the camera since the iPhone 4S launched in 2011.

12MP is hardly a shocking resolution upgrade in today’s world of 50MP DSLRs and 120MP DSLRs around the corner; however, it is important because Apple is also adding 4K video capture. [Read more…]

Manfrotto KLYP+ Accessories Now Available for iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus

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Manfrotto-Klyp-for-iPhone-6

Manfrotto has announced that is line of KLYP+ photo and video accessories for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Along with new bumper cases for the iPhone 6 models, the KLYP+ line expanded with new interchangeable lenses, an LED light and a Pixi mini tripod.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cases come equipped with a lens thread connection that allows for quick connection of one of its interchangeable lenses crafted of solid aluminum and outfitted with thick, high?clarity glass. Lenses available include a fisheye, telephoto 1.5X, telephoto 3X, wide-angle and macro, super wide-angle and polarizer.

The KLYP+ 6 cases run $24.99 and other accessories range from $29.99 to $124.99 for the complete KLYP+ 6 kit. Check out all the new KLYP+ 6 accessories here at B&H Photo.