Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR III

2.0 mega pixel	5.0 mega pixel	14.6 mega pixel
Nokia 6120 classic	HTC Wildfire	Pentax 20d DLSR

My research into what differences between cameraphones continue in this series, and now there is a new smartphone (an HTC wildfire) with a 5 mega pixel camera in the middle. I was looking for a suspected colour bias and saturation, and the tendency to overexpose. All three issues are present to some extent in the cameraphone images and at the same time those photos are adequate as records. In other words having a cameraphone is way better than no photo at all. If you want a really good photo use a Digital SLR. If you just want a record a cameraphone is fine, and they are improving a lot.

Geotagging on the Go

I must admit I still like geotagging with picasa and google earth, it is probably now a  very clunky and old fashioned way to do it. Perhaps its the nostalgia of revisiting places I’ve already been! Anyway a new smartphone, a HTC wildfire, which is a special model for telstra and most importantly available for purchase (reasonably priced) without a contract (prepaid) meant I was now carrying a GPS everywhere I go at less than the cost of an average GPS unit.

So I figured it was time to try out some of the applications that automatically geotag your photos from a GPS wayfile. All roads quickly lead to Geotag Photos, who offer a number of programs and apps, including on-line, desktops apps (for Windows,Apple Mac and Unix) and smartphone apps (for Iphone & Android). They even have Lite (Free) versions which have reduced features on the phone apps. Specifically the Autolog Feature which will automatically log your position at regular intervals. The essence of the application is a merging of a wayfile (that traces your movements) and matches your photos by time and updates the location in your photo’s EXIF metadata..Sounds a bit complex but there are just 4 simple steps

1	2	3	4
Synchronize the time and date on your camera & phone	Start recoding location on phone* and taking photos with your camera	Upload your trip** (the .gpx wayfile)	Geotag all the photos later with the desktop application and your wayfile and photo directory

* I’m using the Lite version so I have to manually record the way points, by pressing the green map pin on the phone at the places I photograph.

** How you upload the file will depend on how you connect your phone to the computer. I found it was easiest to connect the android phone as if it was a USB drive and just copy the file into my photo directory on the PC.

All nice and easy so much so I’m giving the Lite version a really good try out, but already I’m thinking the pro version is a real photographer’s “must have”" tool for geotagging.

Visiting the Archibald

The Archibald price is Australia’s premiere portrait prize, most notable for controveries. This year the collection have travelled south to the Tawa Wara Museum of Art, near Healesville, within Victoria’s Yarra valley. So it was an easy decision to make a day of it and have a look at the original art work. The exhibition only has a week to go and if you haven’t been its well worth the trip. The Tara Warra Gallery itself is worthy of the visit,The gallery design was selected by a competition, with Allan Powell's elegant design the winner and it is set beautifully atop a hill surrounded by vineyards.

I should have realised when I took the Dandenong Creek panorama, which I was very disappointed with at the time and inspired the series of comparative posts, that poor resolution of that image was really a function of the camera’s own in-phone panoramic feature. I would have been much better off to take multiple overlapping cameraphone images and use autostitch (as I have done above)

Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR II

.VS.

Clearly at the macro level (Close Up) there is a massive difference in what a simple lensed camerephone and a DSLR with a specialist marco lens captures. Its probably not a fair comparison. Beginning with the exposure, the depth of field, and colour fidelity everything is better in the top row, yet you can still recognize what has been photographed by the phone.

Taking Photos at Night

Taking photos when its dark is not something many people try without the flash,but there is a magic world of low level light out there. You just need a tripod and the means to take a long exposure.

Well I didn’t have either my tripod or my magic little remote control trigger. I did have my camera and It does have that useful B (B for bulb) settings. which holds the shutter open all the time the shutter is held down (much easier with the remote control. There was a flat balcony rail at my vantage point, and I could use it to hold my camera firmly to it. So with a little bit of experimentation. At ISO 800 I just started by hold the shutter open for 10 seconds, too dark, 20 seconds. still dark and finally 30 seconds, just right! Then I tried to capture a night time panorama (see collage above). That didn’t really work so well, but the two end photos worked out well enough.

 

PS: Most point & shoot digital cameras will have a night scene mode, it may not let you control the length of the exposure but it will give you an extended exposure without setting off the flash.

Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR I

vs
Which is which?

PhotoProject :: Silhouettes of Trees

The low sun of winter gives you a bit more opportunity to get down and get those stronger compositions from the silhouettes of trees. To create a little drama from the often routine bland and ordinary

Persistent Rumors around Picasa

There are persistent rumors that Google is about to rebrand Blogger & Picasa, and bring them into their new social networking offering Google+

Will this make a difference to those already using Picasa, or Blogger I hope not. We will just have to wait and see. The possibility of instant upload of photos and videos from phones & cameras has been mentioned in a few reviews. Sounds far fetched?

Maybe not, you take your photo or video and then there it is on the net automatically, ready to share.

OR

Has it already been snared and ridiculed, before you realize what has happened?

Google are rolling out the New Google+ slowly to select user. presumably to avoid another Buzz style anti-climax. Here is the official site where you can apply for an invite.

BE WARNED there are already scammers offering fake Google+ invites (and phishing your details in the process) or charging for fictitious invites that aren’t real anyway and the invites are free (see link above), You just have to get on the list and be patient

PhotoFriday :: Flaming Sharp Focus

This set of amazing ripple patterns in the shallows behind a sand bar reminds me of flames, frozen in time in their best and most intricate detail.

Normally photographing a very monochrome and evenly lit subjects, like a pattern in beach sand is very difficult to focus, even manually, and would normally send my camera’s autofocus tracking back and forth in a rather futile effort to find a sharp image. Being winter the sun was low enough to throw a shadow and it was just a case moving around  to get the direction that had the shadows maximised and darkest. Thus giving some good contrast in the area on which I was focusing.

For PhotoFriday‘s Topic Sharp Focus

Rich Colours at Sunset

I have been watching and photographing the sunsets lately looking for any marked change, that might be related to the Chilean Volcanic Ash Cloud. Tonight’s display was the best for weeks, but alas it is probably way to delayed to be actually due to any remnant ash cloud.

Heads in the clouds

Web Based Photo Editors and Organizers are coming of age. Over the past year it has become truly possibly to upload, fix up and share your photos without first transferring them to a computer.

On-line Photo Editors

The review of these 4 Web apps at Appstorm.net suggest that you might not always need the power of Photoshop, just to crop an image or do some simple adjustments and I whole heartedly agree. All these web based system give you a lot of power to enhance and manipulate photographic images. Either by an upload direct from mobile phones, webcam, photo directly off cameras, even your computer or possibly the URL of you cloud based album. Picnik is very well integrated into Flickr, Box.net and Picasa Web Album and I have used it from time to time. All four Web Apps have free offerings are all impressive, some have phone Apps you can download to your phone.

Web/Clouds based Albums & Storage

     

These three services have free starter versions and give you a lot for nothing. Further they have the things needed for Photo organization built in. Picasa web is probably the best choice is you also use Picasa on your computer, SkyDrive might be better for those using the Windows Live Photo Gallery, both offer a whopping 20 to 25GB of space free. Box.net a little different it only offers 5GB of free storage (and that’s for the personal account, that’s still a lot of space if you keep you images smallish), it is first and foremost an easy way to share conventional files, documents etc but photos are fine, between you personal devices, but it has nice collaborative sharing of folders, tagging files and preview of images and integrated picture editing via picnik and files can be linked to an embedded in other sites such as blogs facebook etc..

Instagr.am is a major hit on iPhones, It rates its self as fast, beautiful and fun. You just upload you photo, add some cuteness (aka filters) and publish on Facebook, Twitter or Flickr. My opinion is there is a lot of hype, little substance, it is as shallow as it sounds, but certainly enjoy it if that is what you want to do with your phone photos.

I have actually left out a lot of web album services, especially the commercial ones associated with printing your photo. It doesn’t mean these service are not worth using. For example I am warming to snapfish, it is fast and efficient and well integrated into the things I use like Flickr, Picasa and Live Photo Gallery ideal for everyday style prints. I still like the custom labs for blow ups and exhibition quality Prints.

Of course you do still need a computer, netbook, smart phone of iPad to access these services but that can be anywhere, a cyber cafe, library, WiFi hotspot you no longer have to be home and at your desk based computer

Sorry the Wilderness is closed

For PhotoFriday’s Topic Wilderness

The exhibition is over

After admitting on Radio, to Lindy Burns, that I take lots of pictures each day, saying “I take anything my camera is pointed at at the time” which “disturbed” even Tony Moclair. Well it isn’t really that bad you should be able to see, looking back through this blog, that I still find time to investigate interesting things and exhibit my work. Normal photographer type behaviour.

Speaking of which. The Fractured Thread Exhibition is over. Despite all the photographers and friends at the opening (thanks for coming folks) there are only a few images mainly captured by accident, Enough to make a suitably fractured collage.

I also wanted to finally get around to testing out the Windows Live Photo Gallery share tools. It was really fast and easy, just had to do the Authorization thing for flickr first, and I took the opportunity to change the image size from original to max 1600pixel wide. Not only does this save bandwidth, it makes it less likely that you will find your image used in an ad campaign, without your permission.

The real GEM in these Window’s Live share tools is the SkyDrive upload. It is not as good as having your sky drive as a network drive letter, but it is simple easy to use and fast. Much easier and faster than the previous default methods, using old fashioned web pages with logins and “empty”upload dialogue pop up screens. Now it is select the photo (or photos) follow by two key clicks, on the Create & then Publish/Skydrive icons. Ok there is still one pop dialogue screen but you usually just have to click on the Publish key. For me at least this means that SkyDrive is now worthwhile using the 25 Giga Bytes that sky drive offers, for cloud based backup (not archiving) and sharing

the storm

 

Was walking home, without my camera (shock horror) and a massive storm was moving across the Dandenong  Creek Valley below me. I did have my trusty old Nokia classic phone and thought I'd give the pano feature a try. Not as good as a big multi-image panorama with my DSLR camera might have captured but its just OK I guess. If you know the area you might expect Mt. Dandenong to be where the dark clouds billow.

Moral : Always carry my camera when walking & investigate a new phone with better camera.

Lunar Eclipse Collage

Lunar Eclipse, originally uploaded by imageo.