iPhone 4 Question - I know this crowd will know!

[PrncesKMW]

I have an el-crappo digital camera. It does ok at family gatherings and whatnot, but I'd like something better (and less bulky) for more impromptu situations.

Can an iPhone 4 replace your run-of-the-mill camera? I'm looking for something that won't blur with the slightest movement (I'd like to say I'm photographing exciting action, but let's be honest, it's mostly my cats at this point) I'm also prepping for a solo trip to DLR later on this year and would like to capture things as I go and post to Facebook/Twitter. I love my iPhone 3G for posting right to Facebook but the photos do blur with the slightest movement.

Thanks for any input you can provide!

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

I'll let you be the judge of whether or not it's good enough for your purposes. Check out my trip report from last summer (link below.) All of the photos on it were taken with my iPhone 4:

Trip Report with iPhone 4 photos

Be sure to look at some of the pics on the later pages, as some of the early ones are blurrier since I was taking them on a moving bus!

 

[k5jm]

If you are taking pictures in low light, no phone is going to miraculously take fabulous pictures. The key to great phone or p&s pictures is light and trying to be absolutely still.

Taken with my Blackberry

 

[k5jm]

You can also get a tripod mount for your Iphone

Then you can attach it to any lamp that has a lamp shade!!!

 

[BriarRosie]

Here's a few taken my my iPhone 4 in December 2010.

And my favorite one from October 2010.

 

[mainegal]

I am very impressed with the iPhone 4 photos posted on this thread and on mylittlebuttercup's trip report. Very tempting not to carry a basic point and shoot digital camera.

I just had a weekend trip to Boston and used the camera in my new iPod Touch. I understand that camera is not as good as the one in the iPhone 4. I was really surprised how good the photos turned out. I even got some interesting city lights night photos. Maybe the photos are just "good enough" for Facebook, not for printing and enlarging?

There were quite a few times I missed the wide angle of my Panasonic Lumix with 10 X optical zoom.

 

[PrncesKMW]

Ooooh - thanks guys, these are great. Now do any of you have the $249 for the refurbed one they're offering through AT&T?

But seriously - thanks - you've made my decision for me!

 

[Revan]

Take a look at this thread from the photography board.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2615383&highlight=iphone


A couple of things, the iPhone 4 camera isn't nearly as good as a $150 or $200 digital camera; the sensor is very small and the lens is fixed - no zoom - other than digital zoom that comes at a cost of pixelating your image. The images posted above and in the links look great, but they are formatted for screen and will look nice but won't necessarily look good printed (though they might).

Depends on what you want to do with the images, if you primarily want to post them to Facebook and the internet, then they'll look very good.

One thing you should definitely do is get a camera app like Camera+ or Quickpix - they give you more control over the image. Also, the app Pro HDR takes two shots of the same image and merges them together for a fuller range and a great shot - but you have to hold the camera steady for longer. You could also get a stitching app that will allow you to stitch together photos for panoramas.