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Instagram wants you to turn on data tracking to keep it “free of charge”

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Well, this is kind of a surprise, but also not. It’s not surprising that Instagram (and Facebook) would be capable of trying something like this, but it’s a bit of a surprise that they actually went through with it. According to a new iOS 14.5 notice in the Instagram and Apps users are promoted to ask permission to track user data on the device to improve ads.

The initial statement seems all well and good, but when we get to how Instagram and Facebook say they use this data, one of the arguments given for both apps is to help keep it “free of charge”. Oh yes, that’s right. The “It’s free and always will be” philosophy of Facebook (and apparently other companies it owns) has apparently morphed into “It’s free as long as we get our way”.

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New Apple service lets you transfer your iCloud Photos Library to Google Photos

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Apple has launched a new service that lets you automatically transfer your photos, videos and albums from your iCloud Photos library over to Google Photos. Transferring them does not remove them from your iCloud account, but instead sends a copy of them over, allowing you to use your Google Photos storage as a backup for your iCloud.

There are some caveats, though. While the usual .jpg, .png, .webp and .gif files will transfer just fine, along with some raw formats, there are other raw formats that cannot be transferred, along with shared albums, smart albums, photo stream content, live photos and certain metadata.

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Everything you need to know about Apple’s new ProRAW feature

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ProRAW

Apple ProRAW is Apple’s latest technological addition to the smartphone photography industry and sets a new starting point for iPhone photography with its introduction to the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max in iOS 14.3.

It is no mystery that smartphone photography is increasingly replacing cameras in many situations: myself, who have been promoting it for at least 10 years, I’ve seen a crazy evolution in this sector.

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Sony’s new “Visual Story” app for iOS creates AI-curated galleries for wedding and event photographers

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Sony has launched a new Visual Story app for iOS aimed squarely at wedding and event photographers. Or at least, ones that shoot Sony cameras. It allows for easy editing, gallery creation, cloud storage and web delivery solutions to get your images to your clients as quickly as possible.

Visual Story is a free app for Sony & iOS users. It utilises automated image transfer from compatible Sony mirrorless cameras to the cloud, after which users can instantly edit and deliver digital albums to their clients. And to help you with camera metadata and image selection, it uses AI to help pick your best images.

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This smartphone tripod mount lets you use your Apple Watch as a selfie screen

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Smartphone vlogging has gotten quite popular over the last couple of years, but it has one big flaw. Not with all phones, but most of them. And that’s that you can’t use your high-quality rear camera if you want to see your composition. You’re stuck using the selfie camera which isn’t always that great.

Well, now, thanks to the new Ulanzi ST-09, if you use an iPhone and have an Apple Watch, you can mount the two back-to-back so that you can use the better quality rear camera on your phone and see a live view preview at the same time.

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The iPhone 12 Pro boasts more dynamic range than the Canon EOS R5 in iOS beta

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Apple recently announced the developer beta for iOS 14.3 which brings with it Apple’s new ProRAW photo feature. iPhones have actually had DNG RAW capabilities since iOS 10, but it’s never offered this capability in the built-in camera app before. You’ve always had to go for third party solutions, like Camera+ or Lightroom.

But now, Apple is implementing it in their own camera app and they’re calling it “ProRAW”. And according to PetaPixel, the cameras within the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will allow it to capture 12-bit DNG files with up to 14-stops of dynamic range. Other than the capabilities of the actual camera module itself, though, I’m not sure what it offers that iPhone users couldn’t do already.

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New Apple ad shows all the crazy ways to use iPhone 12 in Hollywood movies

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Even though I’m not an Apple fangirl, I have to admit that the iPhone has come a long way when it comes to camera capabilities. It’s the only smartphone that supports Dolby Vision, so Apple wanted to demonstrate what it can do. In this one-minute ad, you can see a preview of all the crazy, creative, and unexpected ways an iPhone 12 Pro can be used in a Hollywood movie.

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The Rode VideoMic NTG is now fully compatible with your iPhone or iPad’s lightning port

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The most hotly debated topic I see about iPhones isn’t how good (or bad) the cameras are, but it’s still the fact that they removed the headphone jack, like 5 generations ago. Some have come to terms with it, although it can make things a little difficult for those iPhone filmmakers who want to use external microphones. Well, it’s getting a little easier as of today.

Rode has announced that the Rode VideoMic NTG is now fully compatible with all lightning-equipped iOS devices. The VideoMic NTG is now officially MFi-certified and you just need the new Rode SC15 Type-C USB to Apple Lightning cable (and a firmware update) to make it all work.

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iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro camera modules revealed in this iFixit teardown

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No matter what brand of phone you choose to use yourself, the biggest spectacle in the smartphone world each year is undoubtedly the new iPhone releases. This year, that meant the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro (well, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but that’s not available yet). And, following on from that announcement is the obligatory teardown from iFixit.

In an hour and a half live stream, Taylor Dixon, iFixit’s Teardown Engineer, took apart both the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro to see how easy it is to dismantle and to take a look at the components inside – including the camera modules (the camera talk is around the 44-minute mark).

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This stunning flight over San Francisco was captured entirely with the iPhone 12 Pro

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I’m not an Apple fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. Before the iPhone 3GS was released, I hadn’t owned an Apple product since the Apple IIe, and I haven’t owned iPhones in a few years now, either. But I have to say, this footage from aerial photographer and filmmaker Toby Harriman shot on the new iPhone 12 Pro is just gorgeous.

Toby was given the chance to test out the newly announced iPhone 12 Pro to see how the hardware handled the challenges of his typical shoots – which means shooting from a helicopter. So, that’s what he did, filming from the air over the beautiful San Francisco bay.

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