Tag: cameras

Cameras I’ve Owned

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2012-02-16

Cameras

My daughter interviewed me for a school project, and we talked a lot about cameras… specifically, the cameras I’ve used and owned. So here’s a quick visual guide to the cameras I’ve owned.

Kodak Disc Camera, Olympus D150, Nokia 7610, Nikon Coolpix L4, Nokia N75, Nikon D40, Apple iPhone 3G, Apple iPhone 4S.

I’m sure there were a few others along the way, but this is what I could remember, or dig up through EXIF data. And yeah, the fact that 4 of them are phones does seem weird, or maybe not weird enough nowadays. When I had the two different Nokias, those were actually my primary cameras at the time. The camera in the iPhone 4S is pretty darn good, but yeah, I’m still rockin’ the D40 after 3 years, and it’s still working well, though I’m eyeing up some other Nikons as I’m contemplating the DSLR video stuff. And hey, how about that Kodak Disc Camera? Crazy stuff, with those silly discs instead of rolls of film. (And I mean discs of film, not discs of data.)

I think I’d like to create another image with all the cameras I’ve used at work added in, because that should be a pretty extensive list of gear…

Tags cameras, iphone, phones

Uncategorized

The iPhone 4S Camera

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2011-12-06

I’ve been meaning to do some iPhone 4S camera tests for a while now, and rather than wait and wait while I come up with a scientific method, I thought I’d just do a few shots and post them here. Early and Often, right?

Each photos links to the Flickr version you can view it at various sizes. None of the photos have been retouched at all.

Normal iPhone 4S photo with direct light.

HDR iPhone 4S photo with direct light.

Normal iPhone 4S photo with soft light.

HDR iPhone 4S photo with soft light.

For each shot the iPhone was on a tripod, and an overheard light consisting of a single bulb was used. (It’s a large high wattage bulb from an old photostat machine.) For the soft light shots, I put an umbrella in front of the light. I used Apple’s default Camera app that comes on the iPhone. All were shot on the white sweep I use for all my tabletop stuff. (If you’ve seen my Flickr stream, you’ve seen plenty of shots on that sweep.)

Experimental iPhone Tripod Mount

This photo of my “Experimental iPhone Tripod Mount” was taken (handheld) with my Nikon D40. If you wanted to compare the two, the iPhone 4S is supposedly an 8 Megapixel camera, while the Nikon is a 6 Megapixel camera. Size isn’t everything of course. Well, the Nikon does have a bigger lens, so that helps quite a bit. The Nikon also shoots in RAW, and yes, this shot has been edited quite a bit, but hey, that’s what I do with RAW photos. (And I mainly took this shot to show the set-up I used.)

When I get ambitious again, I’ll set up two tripods, one with the iPhone, and one with the Nikon, and do duplicate shots of various objects. Until then, enjoy these… I’m off to work on my Experimental iPhone Tripod Mount Version 2.0

Tags cameras, iphone, nikon, photos

Uncategorized

A DSLR you can bank on!

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2011-07-06

DSLR Bank

From our pals at Photojojo comes this awesome DSLR Bank. And why is it awesome? Well, first of all, it looks like a real DSLR camera. In fact, it looks so real, you could use it as a prop, and that’s cool. Heck, maybe someone will get one of these and mount a real camera inside of it! (Personally, I’m waiting for the Nikon version.) Oh, and it’s also amusing that you’d hide your money in something that (if it were real) would probably cost 500 times the amount of money you have hidden in the thing. I mean, if I were a thief, I’d grab a DSLR because they’re expensive, and then HA! the joke is on them because they’re only getting $8 in change instead of a nice camera they can sell for some quick cash.

By the way, for comparison, here’s a photo of a real camera… or is it!?!?

P.S. Photojojo is hiring! If you love photography, it looks like an awesome place to make awesome things happen.

Tags bank, cameras, money, photojojo

Uncategorized

iSight vs. Logitech C910

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2011-06-08

In my Photo Booth post I talked about using a Logitech C910 instead of the built-in iSight camera on a 2007 iMac. I wasn’t happy with the quality and ended up using a Logitech HD Pro USB Webcam C910. The Logitech camera worked much better on the iMac, so I figured I’d compare it to the built-in iSight on my 2009 13″ MacBook Pro.

iSight - Color
MacBook iSight – Color

Logitech - Color
Logitech C910 – Color

Comparing the two images you can definitely see the difference in color temperature. The iSight leans more towards red/yellow while the Logitech leans the other way. (Note that the Logitech has a slightly wider field of view as well, so you may have to move in closer.) The only light in this room was a CFL bulb with a lampshade over it, and the glow of 3 monitors. Besides the color, the sharpness of the image is what really stands out. The Logitech is way sharper.

iSight - Black and White
MacBook iSight – Black & White

Logitech - Black and White
Logitech C910 – Black & White

Taking color out of the comparison, and just looking at a greyscale images, the sharpness of the Logitech over the iSight seems even more noticeable. As I’ve said before, the iSight is a tiny little camera, with a tiny little lens, and a tiny little sensor. It’s great that every MacBook contains a camera, and for general video chat, etc. it’ll do just fine, but if you need better image quality, it’s nice to know you can get it for a reasonable price.

The Logitech also has the advantage of being able to view things on the other side of the Mac, and be placed a short distance from the Mac itself. The images on the 2XL Networks Photo Booth site were taken with the Logitech, and we’ll be testing it out with Make: Live as well…

Tags apple, cameras, isight, logitech, macbook