iPads in the Parks as cameras

[chartle]

We will be bringing the Ipad, for the disney experience app (doesn't have it on my android), but I made my husband promise to NOT take pictures with it.

Why not? It would be much more convenient.

 

[boBQuincy]

After reading about how great a camera the iPhone has I needed to try it for myself. Not with a snapshot but with a real photograph and compared to a decent (but not really expensive) camera. The photos below were taken within a minute of each other, one with an iPhone5, the other with a Panasonic G3 (less than $500).

The iPhone does ok, actually very good for what it is but it is not even close to a real camera. I will continue to carry my G3 (or whatever) at WDW.

 

[DreamBigLiveGrand]

Even if they do take good pictures (which I have heard they do), I don't think I would want to carry something that expensive. I would worry about it breaking or being stolen. That's why I don't really bring an expensive smartphone with me to the parks. I just bring a simple phone for emergencies.

 

[GeneralTso]

I see this so many places now and I just shake my head. I don't get it, truly. It's so big, so bulky, the pictures aren't that great.

I have an iPad--LOVE the thing. I wouldn't take it while on vacation, touring.

We had some doofus in front of us on a tour boat in Paris. Holding that damn thing up. Finally I held my camera up and took a picture of them and their iPad. They looked surprised but they left. Did not stand in front of us the rest of the tour. They were part of a large touring group, pretty much annoying on many levels but the iPad photographers just got ridiculous. I can only handle so much rude and selfish. I hit tilt.

 

[SueM in MN]

Used to be true.
Not so much anymore, especially with the newer Apple products.

Check HERE.

Yes, iPads can take good pictures. The iPad 3 can take some good ones, but is kind of awkward to use. I have an iPad 3; have not seen the iPad 4 yet, but have read it has a better camera than the previous versions.
Here's another website with iPad 3 pictures.

Can you take a good picture with an iPad? Yes.
Is the Ipad a good camera? No.
I think even the latest iPad is still using a 1/4" 5MP sensor. Most point and shoot cameras have a sensor around 3 times bigger. There is no comparison in quality.
Also the iPad has a fixed lens, so no zooming. Really no point in comparing it to a camera…
It would surprise me to see people lugging an iPad around for taking pictures. I would think it might be more they just happened to be using it and there was a picture they wanted to take.
Frankly I can't imagine lugging one of those things into a park regardless of an app or not. Way too big. However the new minis would be much better suited, so probably see those around a lot more. I think they have the same small camera sensor though so they still wouldn't be a very good camera.

You can zoom. You use two fingers on the screen to zoom in or out.

We just got back and I saw people using iPads and other tablets to take pictures.
I saw people taking pictures with an iPhone and apparently sending them directly to the iPad to view. You could do that with wifi or with a cellular connection. I also saw several people who were apparently visually impaired using the iPad as their camera. Because of the large size, they could take and see their photos.

My youngest DD uses an iPad as her communication device because she can't speak. We had the iPad in a very protective silicone case with a hand strap and a shoulder strap. So, her iPad was pretty well protected.
What really surprised me was the nu bet of people I saw carrying an iPad or other tablet around with a very light duty case, and even a few carrying it around with no case on at all.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

After reading about how great a camera the iPhone has I needed to try it for myself. Not with a snapshot but with a real photograph and compared to a decent (but not really expensive) camera. The photos below were taken within a minute of each other, one with an iPhone5, the other with a Panasonic G3 (less than $500).

The iPhone does ok, actually very good for what it is but it is not even close to a real camera. I will continue to carry my G3 (or whatever) at WDW.

Was the photo on the right the one taken with the real camera? It just seems sharper and the color saturations are better.

 

[SkaGoat]

I think the photo on the left is the Panasonic G3, it's sharpers, better colour, and overall has a better exposure level.

 

[mamajo]

When we were at Animal Kingdom last week, Birds of Flight, the family in front of us kept holding their Ipad up to take pictures and blocking our view of the. Show--I finally had to ask them to quit. I thought it was overkill to drag the thing around to take pics.

 

[boBQuincy]

I think the photo on the left is the Panasonic G3, it's sharpers, better colour, and overall has a better exposure level.

You win!

The iPhone really blows out the highlights yet blocks up the shadows too. The tiny sensor just can't handle a scene with this kind of dynamic range. The iPhone was even set to HDR mode, which helps with highlights but can only do so much.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

Yes, iPads can take good pictures. The iPad 3 can take some good ones, but is kind of awkward to use. I have an iPad 3; have not seen the iPad 4 yet, but have read it has a better camera than the previous versions.
Here's another website with iPad 3 pictures.

You can zoom. You use two fingers on the screen to zoom in or out.

We just got back and I saw people using iPads and other tablets to take pictures.
I saw people taking pictures with an iPhone and apparently sending them directly to the iPad to view. You could do that with wifi or with a cellular connection. I also saw several people who were apparently visually impaired using the iPad as their camera. Because of the large size, they could take and see their photos.

My youngest DD uses an iPad as her communication device because she can't speak. We had the iPad in a very protective silicone case with a hand strap and a shoulder strap. So, her iPad was pretty well protected.
What really surprised me was the nu bet of people I saw carrying an iPad or other tablet around with a very light duty case, and even a few carrying it around with no case on at all.

The zoom you are describing is DIGITAL zoom. "Real" cameras have OPTICAL zoom, which moves the lens in for a closer high quality shot. Digital zoom cannot move the lens, therefore, you get a closer shot, but the quality falls off.

 

[mvazul]

Good, yes.
Convenient, no.
Economical, no.

And, they can be very distracting to other guests due to their
large bright image screen in darker attractions.

And, their large frame can often block the view of other guests.

This happened the other night. I was taking pictures at the holiday location in Magic Kingdom - where the pumpkins were near the flag pole in Town Square - now where there are Christmas trees. I had a couple standing next to me watching the fireworks. About half way through, another couple came and stood directly in front of us, with iPad in the air to video the fireworks. The couple next to me were sooooo angry. They asked the other couple to please move and the other couple just ignored them. It was beyond rude.

 

[StarMoon]

I don't know about good pictures but i did see them also when i went there last month and also wondered 'why?'
I have also noticed a decline in the care that people take with possesions that cost quite a lot. Careless handling of them results in dropping them into water, snow, on rocks causing dents, cracked screens and things don't work as well as they should. Then you find a long line at an electronics store/department full of people wanting free replacements :eyeroll: it doesn't really surprise me that people would bring them into the parks to use as cameras.

 

[SueM in MN]

The zoom you are describing is DIGITAL zoom. "Real" cameras have OPTICAL zoom, which moves the lens in for a closer high quality shot. Digital zoom cannot move the lens, therefore, you get a closer shot, but the quality falls off.

I DO know the difference.
I realize that is digital zoom (which does not give as good of quality), but a previous post said that an iPad could not zoom (not specifying optical or digital).

I had several SLRs cameras with multiple lenses (including some big zoom lenses). These were in the days of film cameras, so no digital zoom.
We stopped using them when it got too expensive to use film and the digital cameras started to give pretty good picture quality (plus, not having to limit the number of pictures, like you do with film).
I'm on my 4th (I think) digital camera - a Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS6 that I bought a couple of years ago. It has a 12x optical zoom and a 4x digital zoom and takes very nice pictures in most conditions.

An iPad or iPhone can take good (even very good) pictures in the right conditions - a lot of light, but not direct sun. They are good for sharing on Facebook, message or email and for viewing on the computer (or iPad). They are no way as good quality pictures as a 'real' camera, but good enough for those uses.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

I DO know the difference.
I realize that is digital zoom (which does not give as good of quality), but a previous post said that an iPad could not zoom (not specifying optical or digital).

I had several SLRs cameras with multiple lenses (including some big zoom lenses). These were in the days of film cameras, so no digital zoom.
We stopped using them when it got too expensive to use film and the digital cameras started to give pretty good picture quality (plus, not having to limit the number of pictures, like you do with film).
I'm on my 4th (I think) digital camera - a Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS6 that I bought a couple of years ago. It has a 12x optical zoom and a 4x digital zoom and takes very nice pictures in most conditions.

An iPad or iPhone can take good (even very good) pictures in the right conditions - a lot of light, but not direct sun. They are good for sharing on Facebook, message or email and for viewing on the computer (or iPad). They are no way as good quality pictures as a 'real' camera, but good enough for those uses.

Oh, okay, I was just saying that because I believed they were referring to optical zoom.

 

[Robbi]

I bring my iPad into the parks because I read while the kids are on thrill rides. I forgot I could even use it as a camera- that's why I bring my iPhone.

 

[Bonnie151]

I don't think iPads are big at all. My iPad pops into my handbag nicely. My camera, on the other hand, needs to go into a camera case and so if I brought that to the park, I'd end up carrying a handbag plus a camera bag.

It was great having my iPad at the parks in September. We could facetime the kids back home without having to be back at our hotel by 3/4PM, we could pull up our adrs without having to make a separate note of the confirmation numbers, we could check menus online and yes, we could take photos.

I have a fancy camera for work but for holiday snaps that I'm just going to post on fb or keep on the iPad, the iPad quality is fine.

I do agree that people shouldn't block other people's views of parades and such (we don't bother with parades these days) - that reminds me of back when people used to haul out their massive camcorders to block everyone's view- incredibly annoying!

 

[mom2rtk]

I do agree that people shouldn't block other people's views of parades and such (we don't bother with parades these days) - that reminds me of back when people used to haul out their massive camcorders to block everyone's view- incredibly annoying!

At least back in the day when those camcorders were so massive, people had to put them on their shoulders. The problem with the ipad in particular is that they are so large AND people hold them way up over their heads. The first time I saw someone do this at the school talent show, I just sat there in shock. Thankfully they weren't in front of me, but nobody said a word to them. AND they left it hoisted up there for most of the show. I'm thinking they only put it down for short times to get blood flowing in their arms again.

 

[torsie24]

I saw this a lot this summer at both DLRP and the Olympics.

Really odd choice of camera to me. But I guess if it's the best camera you have then I can understand it.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

One of the blogs had pictures of the zebras that just arrived at Animal Kingdom. They mentioned not being able to get some good shots because another person on the ride was using an iPad to take photos.

 

[Lilliputian]

We're at WDW right now, and I've been astounded by the people walking around with their iPads. I see a lot of people apparently making videos with them, because they're walking around and holding them up like they're filming. The crazy part is that they're in completely uninteresting parts of the parks. The first guy I saw doing it was on the second floor of the Land pavillion, near the entrance. I started looking and realized people were doing it all over.

Most of the people I've seen doing it seem to speaking other languages. It makes a little more sense for people from other countries, since people in other parts of the world tend to (generally speaking) have less square footage in their houses than those in the USA. It makes more sense to me to want your equipment to do double duty if you don't have a lot of extra space in your house.