Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Optical image stabilisation is in high demand on new smartphones today. It beats the heck out of electronic image stabilisation. Google’s new Pixel 2 smartphone, however, features both.
As well as receiving DxOMark’s highest score ever for a smartphone, it appears the Pixel 2’s image quality won’t be wasted by jerky footage. When working in tandem, they produce ridiculously smooth footage, if this sample posted by Google is anything to go by.
Ryan Connolly of Film Riot recently gave us an example of a neat-looking video shot on a smartphone. Of course, if you’re limited only to the smartphone, it’s possible to shoot a movie, but there are certain challenges you’ll need to face.
In this video, Ryan gives you a few suggestions for improving your smartphone moviemaking with some additional accessories. They won’t only make the footage quality better, but they’ll make the shooting easier and less frustrating.
RED has recently announced Hydrogen One, their very first smartphone. There was only one mysterious render photo with the announcement, but now there’s finally something more to see. Marques Brownlee had an exclusive chance to get his hands on a couple of prototypes. In his latest video, he shares the first hands-on with RED’s smartphone of modular design and with a holographic display.
“Gear doesn’t matter.” You may agree with this statement or not, but it’s definitely the case if you have a good idea and an engaging story to tell with your photos or films. Sure, expensive gear can make the job easier, but what if you don’t have a high budget? Well, in that case – just shoot with what you have in your pockets – a smartphone.
Ryan Connolly of Film Riot gives you some guidelines how to shoot a high-quality video using nothing but your smartphone camera. He gives his own example of a very file-looking sketch he filmed with an iPhone, along with the advantages and challenges you’ll have with this approach.
We often argue if gear matters or not, and we probably always will. But photographer Alessandro Barteletti shows us why being a problem solver and having an idea is more important than having fancy gear.
He was photographing a 60-years-old European astronaut Paolo Nespoli for National Geographic Italia. Equipped with only a ten-years-old Nikon D3, a wide angle lens a smartphone LED light, he managed to take the cover photo for the magazine. And he only had 60 seconds to do it, so he had to think fast. Really fast.
Remember we tried to guess whether RED is working on their first smartphone? Well, we guessed correctly. After the vague announcement from last week, RED has now officially released Hydrogen One, their very first smartphone.
Hydrogen One is an Android smartphone, a full holographic device that features 2D and 3D virtual and augmented reality. What’s more, it works work with RED Scarlet, EPIC, and Weapon cameras as a high-quality monitor and remote control.
Famous digital camera company RED seems to be preparing something new in their line – a smartphone with a 6K camera. According to a patent filed by RED’s James Jannard and other inventors, they are developing a new and improved “multi-layer handheld electronic device.” Apparently, it will be a smartphone of unique design for more stable grip. But what’s more interesting – it could have an integrated 6K 3D camera and an ability to mount external lenses.
Today, OnePlus has officially announced One Plus 5. It’s their latest smartphone, and according to the camera specs, it’s aimed at photographers (or “phoneographers”). It’s a smartphone with the highest resolution dual-camera system currently on the market. Other than this, it allows a few other features that make it competitive to high-end smartphones like iPhone 7 Plus.
After Google Pixel’s score of 89 and taking the first place on DxO Mark Mobile, there’s now a new king. HTC’s newly announced U11 takes over the throne and scores 90, thus becoming the highest-rated phone on DxOMark Mobile so far. This phone has a range of well-performing features, but at DxO, they particularly emphasize its low noise and fast autofocus. As they point out, these two features were the key to achieving the highest score and taking over the first place. But for the fans of phone photography, there are other features HTC U11 offers and that you may find handy.
German engineers are developing a new concept that might change the design of smartphones and the concept of smartphone photography. In an attempt to avoid camera bump, they have created a prototype of the phone which has the camera that slides from the side of a device.
You can find out more about John on his website or follow him on Facebook and YouTube.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
