Photography Bay

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…]

 

Apple Unveils iPhone XR, XS and XS Max with Improved Cameras

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iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR (left to right)

Apple announced its annual upgrade of the iPhone line yesterday. The entire new line takes on the edge-to-edge screen first introduced last year with the iPhone X. The new iPhone XS (5.8″ screen) and XS Max (6.5″ screen) are the top-of-the-line models and the iPhone XR (6.1″ screen) is the new “affordable” option. [Read more…]

iPhone 8 vs. $30k RED Epic-W at 240fps

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Now that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are out, we are starting to see some real world footage and comparisons. In this interesting test, Jonathan Morrison pits the iPhone 8 against the $30,000 RED EPIC-W for a slow motion comparison at 1080p and 240fps. Apple continues to impress with the photo and video features and 240fps genuinely looks great on the iPhone 8.

Of course, if you’ve got a $30k camera at your disposal, you aren’t interested in shooting alternatively with the iPhone 8. However, the iPhone 8 makes a great slow motion camera for the rest of us.

Apple Unveils a Trio of iPhones with Impressive Photography Upgrades

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Apple announced three new iPhones earlier today – the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X.

Apple’s iPhone has been the standard for smartphone photography since the first version was released 10 years ago. The latest update continues this tradition with some incremental and some ambitious upgrades.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are the direct successors to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, respectively. The iPhone X (pronounced “iPhone Ten”) features a number of cutting edge upgrades that sets it apart from the current crop of smartphones in the market and positions it as the new standard-bearer. [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.

Improving Your Mobile Photography with Apps

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ID 38766502 © Constantin Opris | Dreamstime.com

ID 38766502 © Constantin Opris | Dreamstime.com

The following post is from Constantin Opris, Dreamstime Professional Photographer, who shares some great tips and apps for improving your mobile photography.

As smartphone cameras become better and faster, there’s a growing interest in mobile photography. The considerable advantage for mobile photographers comes in the form of integrated applications that allow them to setup, take and alter shots in completely new ways. [Read more…]

Lexar Launches New microSD Reader w/iOS Capabilities

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lexar-microsd-reader-image

Lexar has announced a new microSD card reader for use with iOS devices. The tiny card reader features a Lightning connector for direct connection to iPhones and iPads and allows you to import files directly to your Camera Roll.

The new reader retails for $41.99 but it looks like B&H already has them in stock for $29.95. Check it out here at B&H Photo.

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…]