Sunday 19 May 2013

"But it's not a proper camera...is it?!"

You might remember I treated myself to an upgrade on my phone a few months ago - going from the iPhone 3GS to the 4S. I use the phone a fair amount, saved every penny of the cost before I bought, and shopped around carefully before buying, and I love the new one every bit as much as the old one!

Traditionally one thing I've never used much on my mobile is the camera - I've used it for quick "grab shots" but nothing much more, as in comparison with the other gear I've got, the quality has always disappointed me. The old 3GS camera wasn't bad - it always did a great job of exposure  and never suffered from camera-shake (something which seems to let down a lot of on-board cameras in mobiles) but once I got the pictures onto the computer and started playing, there was always something lacking slightly, which frustrated me.  I've been pleasantly surprised with the 4S though - the results so far have been brilliantly sharp and crisp, and it deals with colours superbly - something else which I always found slightly "off" with the old one. As a result I thought I'd sing its praises with a blog post - the pictures here are ALL taken with the 4S camera.

I've been walking after work again - it makes sense as I have time to kill while waiting to collect MrEH, and when the weather is good it's hard to beat a head-clearing walk after a long day. The gorse is out everywhere at the lake I walk round some days - looking absolutely stunning...


...and this is a wider view of the lake and surroundings - not bad for London eh?


Closer to home - remember those ridiculously cheap plants we bought this time last year? They made our balconies (front and back) look absolutely stunning right through the spring, summer, and most of autumn, but they've not finished yet as these gorgeous violas reappeared a while ago and are flowering beautifully!


...and just to prove that the iPhone's camera can handle contrast as well as colour - this bush with its beautiful delicate flowers is just along the road from us - gorgeous aren't they!


Finding myself at St Pancras with some time to kill last week, naturally I popped upstairs to say hello to Mr B....


...now if it can handle the amount of detail in that scene it can handle anything!  It's no slouch at close up stuff either - one of the pots on the balcony has gained itself a fine collection of mosses and I thought I'd see if I could get a decent photo of some of it...


Not bad, eh? (To give you some idea of perspective, the pot is about 7" inches across).

I have certainly been using the compact camera less since getting the new phone - for anything that requires zoom I'll still continue to use it for sure - that's one thing that the iPhone camera really can't cope with (unsurprisingly considering it's digital, rather than optical, zoom) but for standard shots like those above, the phone will be seeing a lot of activity, I suspect!

Robyn


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the review of the 4S camera! I use my 3GS camera for my 'real' pics, but lots of Google images for ease. I have a beautiful Canon SLR for 'proper' photos, but always have my phone on me, so tend to use it for quick snaps. I've never printed any off on one of those machines though - have you? Fmx

Marksgran said...

I know what you mean. I recently got a new phone too and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the photos but I never remember it is a camera! I've often seen me wish I had my camera to hand while forgetting I do have one to hand! I'm currently researching a new camera for my birthday. I think I wrote on my blog about the sad tale of getting the wrong camera for my birthday a couple of years ago and regretting it, so this time I am going to research it to death before making a decision but like you, I'll make more use of my phone too cos my new camera is not likely to be quite so compact! Your photos are lovely, its nice to see life getting more green and colourful isn't it. x

Robyn said...

Hi FM - nice to see you! I tend to use Photobox for prints - in fact, I print pics more as photobooks these days than as straightforward prints - we usually do a book of our favourite holiday shots when we get back, it's the modern day photo-=alum I guess! I love my canon DSLR - but it must be said it's not practical to just pop in a pocket!
Marksgran - I spent severalmonths looking before I bought my little compact camera - I got the Panasonic Lumix S3 and love that, although it does seem to have a problem with sucking dirt in so that's something to be aware of. I was getting so frustrated at not having a camera one with me I extended my usual "Purse, Phone, Keys" mantra before walking out of the door to be "Purse, phone, keys, camera!" and that seemed to work. Loving the green-ness appearing everywhere - about to write a blog post on just that subject!

Anonymous said...

My phone camera is surprisingly good - but takes far too long to focus so unless it's a scenery shot I miss it sadly!

I'm currently on the lookout for a new compact camera though - mine works perfectly well but after 2 years I STILL don't like it or find it straightforward to use, so I've decided enough is enough!