Manual exposure control with iPhone?

Derrel · Jan 9, 2013

I was thinking of this article and some famous quotes from Bill Gates....from the article 36 Greatest Bill Gates Quotes, just For Apple Fanboys...posted at 36 greatest Bill Gates quotes, just for Apple fanboys | Econsultancy

I think there's plenty of insight in these GEMS...gives an idea of how big companies with egomaniacal leaders can screw the pooch...

33. "Microsoft is not about greed. It's about innovation and fairness."

34. "To create a new standard, it takes something that's not just a little bit different; it takes something that's really new and really captures people's imagination and the Macintosh, of all the machines I've ever seen, is the only one that meets that standard."

35. "The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. In my case, I went to the garbage cans at the Computer Science Center and fished out listings of their operating system."

36."We will never make a 32-bit operating system, but I'll always love IBM."

Veeeewy int-uh-westing.....as Elmer Fudd said...Speaking of F.U.D....that was a Microsoft tactic for 15 years...

nycphotography · Jan 9, 2013

Rotanimod said:
Amolitor, as long as this imaginary app defaulted in Auto mode, with the options available for the power user to manually control exposure, wouldn't that prevent most of the confusion?

When's the last time a 2 bit app developer had reasonable defaults for how it should work?

Even microsoft can't get it right... first thing when I set up a workstation I have to spend an hour changing all the default settings to something that makes sense on planet earth.

Light Guru · Jan 9, 2013

I don't know why this did not hit me earlier but the camera on the iPhone has a fixed aperture of 2.4 so its not a software thing that prevents you from having complete manual control over exposure it is a hardware limitation.

Manual exposure control over things like ISO is kinda pointless when you you can only have a set aperture.

If you can make a camera the size of the one in the iPhone that has adjustable aperture blades then I'm sure Apple would be glad to let to have complete control over the cameras exposure.

Majeed Badizadegan · Jan 10, 2013

Light Guru said:
I don't know why this did not hit me earlier but the camera on the iPhone has a fixed aperture of 2.4 so its not a software thing that prevents you from having complete manual control over exposure it is a hardware limitation.

Manual exposure control over things like ISO is kinda pointless when you you can only have a set aperture.

If you can make a camera the size of the one in the iPhone that has adjustable aperture blades then I'm sure Apple would be glad to let to have complete control over the cameras exposure.

ISo and shutter speed can still be controlled. The oft poor "auto" exposure decisions the camera makes are the problem. A software problem, not a hardware problem.

As has been stated in this thread but worth repeating, the camera favors low ISo values over shutter speed. For example, the iso will go all the way down to iso 50 before the base shutter speed of 1/15 sec is increased. Have you ever tried to photograph a moving kid at 1/15 second? Doesn't work.

If we could manually control ISo and shutter speed, or even just one of those aspects, it would be desirable, so it doesnt matter if the aperture is fixed.

manaheim · Jan 10, 2013

Manually controlling settings on a crappy camera is like being able to choose what color your dog poops in.

amolitor · Jan 10, 2013

manaheim said:
Manually controlling settings on a crappy camera is like being able to choose what color your dog poops in.

And that wouldn't be awesome how, exactly?

manaheim · Jan 10, 2013

amolitor said:
And that wouldn't be awesome how, exactly?

I suppose it might, but that doesn't change how pointless it is.

table1349 · Jan 10, 2013

If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.
Anthony J. D'Angelo

nycphotography · Jan 10, 2013

It takes but a moment to state a complaint, but if you think you're going change the course of Apple, perhaps quote from Miguel de Cervantes would be more apropos.

Majeed Badizadegan · Jan 10, 2013

manaheim said:
Manually controlling settings on a crappy camera is like being able to choose what color your dog poops in.

The hardware is actually very nice on these cameras. Calling it crappy is an exaggeration. They are highly capable shooters.

They are just crippled by their poor programming.

manaheim · Jan 10, 2013

Rotanimod said:
The hardware is actually very nice on these cameras. Calling it crappy is an exaggeration. They are highly capable shooters.

They are just crippled by their poor programming.

Ummmm based on what evidence?

I mean for CAMERA PHONES sure... They've come a long way, but 8+mp on a tiny sensor with that joke of a lens? No. They're crap.

We ARE on a photography forum here, right? Populated by a lot of people who spend thousands of dollars on big bulky cameras and lenses because supposedly there's a reason for that beyond bragging rights? I didn't blink while this site turned into a phone site, did I?

Let's be clear... Phones make ****TY cameras. They're insanely useful, flexible and powerful devices... But if you need good photography, you grab a real camera.

jake337 · Jan 15, 2013

So I did a little test this morning with my HTC Windows Phone 8x to see if this "ProShot" app was actually letting me choose the shutterspeed. Well it looks like it does but when it comes to the faster shutterspeeds it is showing faster shutterspeeds than actually used.

All shot at ISO100

1/30

1/40

1/50

1/60

1/80 but shows 1/81 in exif

1/100 but shows 1/101 in exif

1/125 but shows 1/127 in exif

1/250 but shows 1/256 in exif

1/160 but shows 1/161 in exif

1/320 but shows 1/323 in exif

1/500 but shows 1/526 in exif

1/1000 but shows 1/1111 in exif

1/2000 shows 1/2500 in exif

1/4000 shows 1/5000 in exif

1/8000 shows 1/10000 in exif

Majeed Badizadegan · Jan 15, 2013

^ That is weird, but at least you have some manual control!

Majeed Badizadegan · Jan 15, 2013

manaheim said:
Ummmm based on what evidence?

I mean for CAMERA PHONES sure... They've come a long way, but 8+mp on a tiny sensor with that joke of a lens? No. They're crap.

We ARE on a photography forum here, right? Populated by a lot of people who spend thousands of dollars on big bulky cameras and lenses because supposedly there's a reason for that beyond bragging rights? I didn't blink while this site turned into a phone site, did I?

Let's be clear... Phones make ****TY cameras. They're insanely useful, flexible and powerful devices... But if you need good photography, you grab a real camera.

Compare the camera in the iPhone now to flagship DSLR's 10 years ago:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/nikon/313684-10-years-ago-2003-a.html

Camera phones now have the resolution and the imaging capabilities that were not even available on the highest end flagship camera models! It's all relative. Comparing the tiny camera that comes on these phones to a huge DSLR isn't a fair comparison. Just because the camera phone is inferior to the DSLR, doesn't automatically make the camera in the phone "crappy".

I personally have my phone with me EVERYWHERE. But my DSLR isn't with me everywhere. "Grabbing a real camera" isn't always an option.

The iPhone is a very capable shooter and can produce crisp, high-quality 8MP images.

Here's a well-known video where the iPhone is used as the primary camera for a professional shoot.

rexbobcat · Jan 15, 2013

Rotanimod said:
Compare the camera in the iPhone now to flagship DSLR's 10 years ago:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/nikon/313684-10-years-ago-2003-a.html

Camera phones now have the resolution and the imaging capabilities that were not even available on the highest end flagship camera models! It's all relative. Comparing the tiny camera that comes on these phones to a huge DSLR isn't a fair comparison. Just because the camera phone is inferior to the DSLR, doesn't automatically make the camera in the phone "crappy".

I personally have my phone with me EVERYWHERE. But my DSLR isn't with me everywhere. "Grabbing a real camera" isn't always an option.

The iPhone is a very capable shooter and can produce crisp, high-quality 8MP images.

Here's a well-known video where the iPhone is used as the primary camera for a professional shoot.

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoGjtSy7xY