Iphoneography, whats the big deal?

AzPete

Veteran
I have been swept away with my iphone. Didnt plan on being this attached to something so small (well my wife is only 5'2"). But here I am hooked line and sinker, with an Iphone 4s no doubt. And with all the apps that come with it, this makes for a fast and easy way to get the photos out there in the public eye. So my question is.....

Will you (die hardcore, serious compact users) let yourself put down that Fuji x100 or Nex 5, or Panny LX3, for an iphone (all cell phone cameras in this group), to use as your main go to camera? Or to at least try?

I have decided to not use another camera except the iphone (for now anyways) camera. I am a rather artsy guy anyways and this medium seems to be working for me (I think). I really don't care if someone thinks Im nuts.... cause I am. I just want to here from my fellow peeps what you are honestly thinking about this genres. Be honest and true to yourself, tell me why or why not you think iphoneography has a place in photography.

Below are a few samples of my recent work, not to show off but to show the different looks you can get with the 100 million apps that are on my cell phone now. Thanks for taking the time to read and respone.... Cheers, Pete

anthurium.JPG


buildings_resized.jpg


jessey_resized.jpg


white_tanks.jpg


ruby_ruby.jpg
 
Pete, I'm going to be bold and suggest that cellphone cameras will suit the beginner/casual or the experienced confident photographer. My kids are cellphone camera users and they rapid fire without thought to composition. I'm guessing that when they want to learn more they'll migrate to a system camera. For the confident skilled photographer like yourself, the iphone camera is a mighty powerful tool as you have your digital darkroom with you.

For me, I'm waiting for Olympus to put a phone into the e-p4 and then I'll be happy!
 
I packed my GF1 on my latest trip, but I injured my shoulder about six weeks ago, and thus was trying not to carry around anything I didn't need to take with me each day. My GF1 stayed in the suitcase. I didn't even bring my Leica (for different reasons, though, it's waiting for an appointment at Solms).
 
No. I have a bog standard Nokia something which makes phone calls and sends text messages - all I require from a mobile phone. That said, I am toying with the idea of one of the new Samsung Galaxy Players for Christmas (basically a Galaxy smartphone without all the phone junk). But I don't plan to take pictures with it.
 
Thanks guys, in all honesty I have been a gadget guy of sorts most of my life and maybe this falls into that category. I enjoy everything photography has to offer. From concept and thought process about what I want in a photo tothat action of taking it and than the post work involved. It's a cycle. It's therapy. It soothes the wrinkles life puts on us. I still have fresh thoughts about the chemical days. Being exact. Doing things by the second. Maybe
this new freedom of punching out photos as fast as one can seems like a quick fix of sorts. But maybe deep down inside, I still yearn for the old days of film and developer....
 
I have 3 cameras of varying degree but I still love taking photos on my iPhone 4 on the go, it's the camera I always have with me! Hipstamatic is my Fave app and if that was the only camera I had then I would be happy. I'm just lucky I have the others when the mood takes me to go out shooting. In saying that, Even when I have my good cameras with me I get the iPhone out if I want something instant for Facebook or something artsy from the apps :)
 
No. I have a bog standard Nokia something which makes phone calls and sends text messages - all I require from a mobile phone. That said, I am toying with the idea of one of the new Samsung Galaxy Players for Christmas (basically a Galaxy smartphone without all the phone junk). But I don't plan to take pictures with it.

i am getting one of those for my husband! The 5.0 in fact. The camera is quite decent should you care to try it.
 
I really like the camera in the 4s enough to appreciate it and use it as "the camera I ALWAYS have with me". I rarely used the cam in the 3G that way, but the cam in the 4s is a serious step up from that. But I enjoy shooting with the X100 and EPL3 and GRD3 too much not to keep using them when I'm of a mind to "go out shooting". I like the different lenses and different strengths and weaknesses and capabilities of the different cameras, not to mention the greater control of the variables at play.

So, as my only camera, or even PRIMARY camera - no way. But as a newly available option that I'm VERY happy to have in my pocket - definitely!

-Ray
 
You can't argue with the pics you have uploaded, it's working for you. It's unleashed your creative passion and we are enjoying the show. I have the cheapest of the cheap Nokia phones, it's main purpose is to annoy my husband which it does so well because I never have it turned on. It doesn't have a camera. I take it with me when I go to work in case of an emergency en route but I work in a hospital so it would make me uneasy to have a camera of any type in that kind of environment. Keep posting the pics though, I'll be looking and enjoying your photos.
 
I have the cheapest of the cheap Nokia phones, it's main purpose is to annoy my husband which it does so well because I never have it turned on.
Is this a universal thing with ALL wives or did you and my wife just talk about this and decide to do this?? :D

With her, its not a matter of not turning it on, but it usually buried so far in her purse that she can't hear it or feel it vibrate when she's in any environment where I might actually need to reach her. Like if we're out together and I'm killing time in an electronics store while she's looking at clothes and its past the time we agreed to meet and I'm REALLY ready to go but she can't hear her phone so I can call her all I want and its just not gonna matter. She basically has a cell phone so she can call ME - its a one way valve! Now I realize its a global plot involving all married women?!?!?! I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.... :tongue::tongue::tongue:

-Ray
 
Full disclosure - I detest the iPhone. I have one (4) as official issue and have gone back to using a 3 year old Nokia E71 as my main tool. I use it to make and receive calls, text and email, personal and work. It has all my contacts on it as well as my calendar. It synchs seamlessly with Google and with Exchange. I use an app for twitter and the browser to access anything else. It outperforms the iPhone in any way that matters to me, from having a proper keyboard to signal strength, from in-call handling of messages to simply announcing caller name. Don't get me started on the haptics - a ceramic tile is more user friendly than the iPhone.

Which brings me to the point of this thread. The iPhone is a good pocket computer but a poor portable telephone. As for it's use as a camera, I am reminded of Samuel Johnson's words on hearing of a woman preaching at a Quaker meeting: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." I have tried to use the iPhone as a camera; it lacks in the fundamentals, but most importantly it lacks soul. It can capture an image - and believe me I am truly impressed by your shots, Pete - but I cannot help but feel you have produced such images in spite of the iPhone not because of it. Briar puts it well - it has unleashed your creativity - but I suspect that is because of the novelty of the tool not the capability.
 
Pete, I really like your iPhone photos a lot! They remind me of the work of Dan Burkholder, a professional photographer/iPhone image artist whose work was on display at the John Cleary Gallery in Houston a year or two ago. I wanted to buy one (or more) of his photos, but there were too many zeros to the left of the decimal point...! He actually puts on courses for budding iPhone photo artists where he presumably shares some of his secrets - also not cheap but I bet it would be a blast. Here's a link to some of his work:

iPhone Artistry
 
I don't care what medium anyone chooses to express themselves with - if it works for them, that's what is important. Pete, your photographs are expressive, artistic, journalistic and more and you're iPhone is serving you extremely well. Creativity along with having a great eye are what make the grade and you clearly have both.:drinks:

Post processing is part of the aesthetic that each photographer has to find their own way with...some will always remain "realistic", while others will decide to push in another direction. Is one way better than another? It might be for that particular photographer at that time, for that picture.

I've had the pleasure of seeing some fantastic images created with the iPhone and various apps, and I've seen some crummy ones - just as I have with the X100, the GF1, the Leica M9, the Nokia 8, the X10, the GXR, the GRDIII, the EP series, the LX5 and so on.

My vote is to go for whatever suits each of us and enjoy the fruits of our labors! I know that I am. Since I happen to have an iPhone, I have found myself enjoying the Hipstamatic app very much...and adding in the Nik Snapseed plus Lightroom tweakings has been very enjoyable for me. The actions involved have reminded me of my artistic past...not that it had anything to do with computers...they didn't exist for most of us back in the neolithic 1970s.;)

Back to your initial question:
So my question is.....

Will you (die hardcore, serious compact users) let yourself put down that Fuji x100 or Nex 5, or Panny LX3, for an iphone (all cell phone cameras in this group), to use as your main go to camera? Or to at least try?
I won't throw over my other camera, but I'll certainly employ my iPhone's camera when the spirit moves me.:flowers_2:
 
thanks

Full disclosure - I detest the iPhone. I have one (4) as official issue and have gone back to using a 3 year old Nokia E71 as my main tool. I use it to make and receive calls, text and email, personal and work. It has all my contacts on it as well as my calendar. It synchs seamlessly with Google and with Exchange. I use an app for twitter and the browser to access anything else. It outperforms the iPhone in any way that matters to me, from having a proper keyboard to signal strength, from in-call handling of messages to simply announcing caller name. Don't get me started on the haptics - a ceramic tile is more user friendly than the iPhone.

Which brings me to the point of this thread. The iPhone is a good pocket computer but a poor portable telephone. As for it's use as a camera, I am reminded of Samuel Johnson's words on hearing of a woman preaching at a Quaker meeting: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." I have tried to use the iPhone as a camera; it lacks in the fundamentals, but most importantly it lacks soul. It can capture an image - and believe me I am truly impressed by your shots, Pete - but I cannot help but feel you have produced such images in spite of the iPhone not because of it. Briar puts it well - it has unleashed your creativity - but I suspect that is because of the novelty of the tool not the capability.

Hey Bill, thanks so much for your honesty. I appreciate it and it is welcomed here. I suppose after all said and done the iphone sickness I have will subside and I will go to my normal routine with what ever other camera I have at my side. But I do feel I have a spot in my life for the little gadget and will try to make the most of it for now.

And that's not to say I won't always have an eye looking for another gal (camera) that I can cheat with, be it phone or camera..... Thanks
 
Which brings me to the point of this thread. The iPhone is a good pocket computer but a poor portable telephone.
I tend to look at is as the best of the current Swiss-Army knives of the digital era. It does everything pretty well (I don't have any problems with it as a phone) but its real strength is the integration between all of its functions, which is sublime. Its obviously not a great camera or a great computer but its very good at pretty much everything it does, it does damn near everything, and it all ties together REALLY well. AND, it fits in my pocket very comfortably!!!! Those of us old enough to remember the novelty of the first electronic calculators will never take stuff like this for granted! To me, its the one untouchable piece of equipment I own. I'm like the NRA of iphone owners - you'd have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.... The guns you can have...

-Ray
 
These are great! I have an iPhone4 I got in the summer, and I was fully expecting to keep it at least a year, or maybe 2. But with the buttons for camera now, and the faster processor, I'm sorely tempted!

It's freeing too, in a way, to be limited to one FL, one aperture.

My only complaint -- I'd really like an EV function for backlit situations, but I guess that's what the HDR is for.

Thanks for sharing!
 
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