Submitted by David Cardinal on Sat, 01/19/2019 - 14:22
I’ve always wanted to visit the Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas. But somehow I never got around to it until this week, when it zoomed to the top of our daughter’s must-see destination list. So after a hectic week of CES, we headed out there for a morning, and I’m really glad we did. After tweaking my back carrying too much gear in a messenger bag at the show, I decided to travel light and simply use my two favorite smartphone cameras – a Google Pixel 3 and a Huawei Mate 20 Pro – to capture the scenery.
Submitted by David Cardinal on Wed, 08/29/2018 - 10:42
I’ve been using an Osmo Mobile 2 off and on for a couple months now, and have . The TL;DR version is that it works quite well, but certainly ruins the convenience of simply pulling a smartphone out of your pocket, so it’s definitely a niche product. One reason to consider it is if you’re thinking of taking the plunge on a Ronin for your big camera you can get a relatively-inexpensive taste of using a gimbal, as the .
Submitted by David Cardinal on Tue, 05/29/2018 - 08:15
We’re just back from a very productive photo safari to Botswana and South Africa. We had a great group of participants, and had day after day of amazing wildlife experiences at two really excellent camps. Our personalized tour through the sights and sounds of Soweto was also a unique experience. While I brought and mostly shot with my traditional and DSLRs, I also brought along two flagship smartphones and put them to the test. You can read about what I found they were great for, what they couldn’t do, and get some tips on how to use one on your next safari in . Quick note: We’re starting to organize another high-end photo safari to Botswana and South Africa, possibly invitation only and probably Spring, 2020. If you’d like to be kept in the loop email us at .
Submitted by David Cardinal on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 09:59
Industry camera benchmarking site DxOMark has published an interesting white paper chronicling the progress it has seen in 6 years of testing smartphone image quality. The progress in both hardware and software behind the improvement in results is fascinating and impressive. I’ve , along with charts from the paper and a link to the original.
Submitted by David Cardinal on Thu, 04/06/2017 - 10:47
Among serious photographers there is an oft-repeated mantra that “It’s the photographer, not the camera” that makes a great photo. While that is certainly true, tech companies are working hard to level the playing field. In a recent pair of research teases, Adobe is showing off how it expects to make it possible to fix many of the most common issues with typical smartphone portrait snapshots after the fact, turning them into some pretty impressive final versions. I wrote up , or you can read on to see the full Adobe teaser video…
Submitted by David Cardinal on Wed, 02/08/2017 - 13:07
Sony is threatening to again up the ante for smartphone cameras.
Submitted by David Cardinal on Mon, 02/22/2016 - 11:33
In some exciting news for any image enthusiast owning a recent-vintage Android phone, Adobe has released a major upgrade to Lightroom Mobile for Android. It includes a slick in-app Camera, support for processing Raw images (assuming your phone supports Raw), some new filters, targeted adjustments, and a few other slick new features. I’ve written about . You can snag the free update from the Google Play Store.
Submitted by David Cardinal on Thu, 10/08/2015 - 10:30
Using a unique combination of computational imaging to combine images from 16 small sensors, and lenses that use mirrors to achieve long focal lengths in a thin package, startup Light has announced and demonstrated a 52MP camera about the size of a smartphone that features a 35mm-150mm optical zoom. You can read more details about it in , and I’m eagerly awaiting the point in the process where there are real units for review. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts about whether you’re likely to buy one of these, either at the pre-order price of $1300 or the retail price of $1700 when it ships in late summer 2016. Will you miss the zoom and focus rings on your DSLR, or the optical viewfinder, or be so glad to get rid of the weight and bulk that you’ll gladly trade them for a touchscreen?
Submitted by David Cardinal on Tue, 09/15/2015 - 10:42
As regular readers know, I’ve been having a lot of fun shooting with a alongside my more-traditional DSLR and compact cameras over the last few months. Until now, the software and firmware have been pre-release versions, so I haven’t been able to take you through them in as much detail as I would have liked, or post sample RAW and SuperRAW images. Now that the ONE is starting to ship that’s all changed, so here’s a more thorough look at the camera and its companion software. More importantly, here are some of the first real RAW and SuperRAW images that are available for you to evaluate on your own. #dxoone
