Poll: who actually uses the rear camera on the iPad

miamialley said:

Sounds like you need a smart phone.

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Well, not necessarily. Many people use the iPad with a dumb phone, even if some of these tasks could be accomplished easier with an iPhone.

I always thought taking pictures with an iPad would be silly, but my opinion changed on that recently when I was traveling with a relative who was doing that. It's really not that awkward.

miamialley said:

Sounds like you need a smart phone.

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I can't justify the expense given my iPad and dumb phone meet my needs.

I use the rear camera on a daily basis. I type all my notes on my ipad and when I want to reference a graph i take a picture of it and paste it to my pages document. The quality of the rear facing camera is disappointing.

Blorzoga said:

Certainly there are a handful of people who use the RF camera on their iPad regularly, but I think they're the exception rather than the norm. That's why I can't understand all the hype about a rumored improved camera. It could be 28 Mpix and I doubt I'd use it much more. It's just too unwieldy, not to mention dorky to use out in public to take pix with.

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And how much more do you think Apple will charge users for this unwieldy and unecessary upgrade?

iPad 1: $499. No Camera
iPad 2: $499. 2 low quality cameras
iPad 3: $499. 2 HD cameras

If Apple was like "We improved the camera so we're charging $50 more for every customer" then I could understand the debate. But if all they're doing is improving the product while retaining the same (or cheaper) price points then what exactly are people complaining about again?

Blorzoga said:

Certainly there are a handful of people who use the RF camera on their iPad regularly, but I think they're the exception rather than the norm. That's why I can't understand all the hype about a rumored improved camera. It could be 28 Mpix and I doubt I'd use it much more. It's just too unwieldy, not to mention dorky to use out in public to take pix with.

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Well yes it is unwieldily however, my mom uses it a LOT. And I mean a LOT, she has a PS that she carries around and a Blackberry bold. She prefers the iPad because she then has it ready to use in her apps and stuff like that.
She could use the camera transfer dongle, but that would be more inconvenient that producing the iPad however cumbersome you might think it is.
Photos are pretty crappy and so I bet if the iPad 3 has better cameras she will be upgrading very shortly.

I guess there are people whose usage of the iPad varies wildly, and if you ask me thats the cool thing about it, it adapts to a lot of usage patterns.

I've WANTED to use the camera... For taking pictures of papers. Handouts. Documents.

Then I want to annotate them and such. Or just keep them to look at or remember things.

My iPhone can do this and the picture quality is good enough to have readable text. But the iPad is weak...

motoleo said:

I accidentally voted only for FaceTime when I meant to put never.

The camera is just low quality. I wish there was more augmented reality apps.

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That's okay, I meant to vote for only Facetime (actually Skype) but voted for never.

So it's all cool!

Zombiebooth and Skype are the only two reasons I've used it. A HD camera will be better but it's the last thing I care about...

I'm sure there are others who use it plenty more than I do and probably for some pretty interesting reasons.

miamialley said:

Sounds like you need a smart phone.

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Why should he (or I, I don't have one either) pay thousands of dollars for a smart phone + data plan when we already own an iPad that does what we want? Just because not everyone uses the rear camera doesn't make it less useful to those of us who do use it. If this were a thread wishing for a rear camera, I could understand this response, but you're telling us to buy a very pricey item to do a job we've already got covered, apparently just because some people don't want to admit that not everyone shares their disdain for the rear camera.

When I saw what the iPad 2 cameras were like (especially with the strange limitations apple put on them!) I was pretty disappointed. Then I was happy, because I realised that they can actually work a *lot* better than people realise because the camera app is so poor. I happen to specialise in writing camera control + image processing software, so I built an app to fix those cameras up a bit

This is the main things I think is 'wrong' with the cameras:

• Low resolution. Ok, it's a hardware thing that we're mostly stuck with, but why are still photos 960x720 when the camera is 1280x720? Apple actually cut the resolution for stills, for no reason! Full sized photos are 33% higher res.
• No 'night mode' for photos. It's grainy as hell in low light, but even slightly longer exposure times improve it massively. Apple chose speed instead of quality here - if they added a night mode button they could have both.
• No noise reduction. If you're going to give us grainy photos and videos, at least put some noise reduction in to keep it looking reasonable!
• No control over lighting (exposure/contrast), colour balance, sharpness etc.
• That shutter button. Who ever thought the centre of the screen was a sane place to put it? You'd need 8" fingers to use it one-handed, and even two-handed you thumbs are normally near the corners.

I think apple should have fixed at least half of those issues. It would have made the cameras a lot more useful for people - especially photos, they should be higher resolution and they shouldn't be grainy as soon as the sun goes behind a cloud. Then again it gave me a good opportunity to fix them and sell a few apps

The app I built was Camera Boost. I won't go into a load of marketing crap, but it fixes all those issues. I don't really like spamming so people will by it either, so here's a bunch of free codes for it:

PTWLAKHMFWPP
33WNHTAK36M4
KAHW6L7JNXK7
T6FH4P4W3T7R
JR47T974RW7L
MFJ44K74NLYW
WNWHNA4KPJLY
7AF9TW3YYP4A
F3EW3HJ7N94K
H34FY9W3FMW6

If the codes run out and you've posted on the thread just PM me and I'll send you one. Don't post just asking for a code though, it clogs the thread up and I won't give you one if you do that

I use the camera ALL the time. But it definitly needs higher res and more pixels. If the 3 doesnt have a better camera i'd question upgrading altho i have sold my 2 in anticipation.

I have seen people running weirdly around with the iPad trying to get some photos - I think it look so funny I will not

porcupine8 said:

Why should he (or I, I don't have one either) pay thousands of dollars for a smart phone + data plan when we already own an iPad that does what we want? Just because not everyone uses the rear camera doesn't make it less useful to those of us who do use it. If this were a thread wishing for a rear camera, I could understand this response, but you're telling us to buy a very pricey item to do a job we've already got covered, apparently just because some people don't want to admit that not everyone shares their disdain for the rear camera.

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Wow, you on your period? It just sounds like he might be surprised at how he/she would use a device that fits in his/her pocket. Geez.

miamialley said:

Wow, you on your period? It just sounds like he might be surprised at how he/she would use a device that fits in his/her pocket. Geez.

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Someone disagrees with you online and the best you can do is a gender-based insult? Kinda sad.

psonice said:

When I saw what the iPad 2 cameras were like (especially with the strange limitations apple put on them!) I was pretty disappointed. Then I was happy, because I realised that they can actually work a *lot* better than people realise because the camera app is so poor. I happen to specialise in writing camera control + image processing software, so I built an app to fix those cameras up a bit

The app I built was Camera Boost. I won't go into a load of marketing crap, but it fixes all those issues. I don't really like spamming so people will by it either, so here's a bunch of free codes for it:

F3EW3HJ7N94K

If the codes run out and you've posted on the thread just PM me and I'll send you one. Don't post just asking for a code though, it clogs the thread up and I won't give you one if you do that

Click to expand...

Thank you got the code, that is a nice app, it does make quite a difference!

Default camera app:


Camera boost app:


Both pictures taken in the same room on a cloudy day about a minute apart or less. So quite low light. The difference is night and day! *replaces default app on the home screen with camera boost*

porcupine8 said:

Someone disagrees with you online and the best you can do is a gender-based insult? Kinda sad.

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You didn't disagree with me, you jumped down by throat and went on a rant over nothing. And you didn't answer my question.

This is getting so annoying! Why the heck is everybody complaining over something tht makes the iPad better?? So what if u dnt use ur camera? Many ppl do! Not everybody has a 5 or 8 MP camera on their phone but for someone (like me) who will take their iPad almost everywhere, a very good camera on it will be great! A bunch of photographers will love having a bigger screen with an 8 MP and dozens of apps that allow them to edit them. So I'm tired of ppl who dnt even use their camera complaining about it getting upgraded. If u dnt use it then dnt worry about it! Simple as that! Smh

miamialley said:

Wow, you on your period? It just sounds like he might be surprised at how he/she would use a device that fits in his/her pocket. Geez.

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If I'm the "he" you're referring to, I'm a she.

And I know all about devices that fit into my pocket. I've spent a good amount of time at the Apple stores in New York and Chicago admiring the products.

BTW, my no-contract cell phone fits nicely in my pocket or purse. While it can connect to the Internet and take photos, I've never used it for that. Why bother when I have an iPad?

Perhaps someday, when I need to have spoken reminders of things to do, I'll opt for the iPhone and Siri.

Till then, I'm perfectly happy with my informed choices.

Aspasia said:

If I'm the "he" you're referring to, I'm a she.

And I know all about devices that fit into my pocket. I've spent a good amount of time at the Apple stores in New York and Chicago admiring the products.

BTW, my no-contract cell phone fits nicely in my pocket or purse. While it can connect to the Internet and take photos, I've never used it for that. Why bother when I have an iPad?

Perhaps someday, when I need to have spoken reminders of things to do, I'll opt for the iPhone and Siri.

Till then, I'm perfectly happy with my informed choices.

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I clearly said, "he/she" in the quote you reference. You guys are hostile! I love my iPad and my iPhone. I just was sharing that one is more portable for these purposes. Why carry two if you can carry one? Whatever you want to do is okay ladies, don't have a conniption.

Daily, I list all my EBay items using garage sale and the iPad camera.
Iwould love a better camera on the iPad 3

Very very rarely, and only for showing things while FaceTiming; never for taking photos/videos.

My mom uses the camera all the time. She's got bad eyes do she loves the big screen. Unfortunately the pics suck.

I don't have a camera on my ipad

so no vote
but I saw a kid at the Zoo, taking shots with his ipad and it look pretty cool because he was using it very well i.e. composing his shots