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Going to France(Pictures)

macher

macher

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 13, 2012
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We will be going to France next week for 3 weeks and will be taking a lot of pictures.

I would prefer to use my iPhone 6 as a primary camera.

Would like to improve my photo skills with the iPhone camera and possibly buy camera accessories.

How can I improve my photo skills and do I need accessories such as lenses?

And could I get away with using my iPhone as a decent primary camera?
 
The iPhone makes a pretty great camera because it's so easy to carry and it of course has everything required to save, edit, and share the pictures that you take. No need for lenses, filters, tripods, sd cards, etc. The main issue is zooming, Apple's camera is only 8mp so digital zoom will suck 100% of the time. so just don't use it. I haven't seen any "zoom lenses" for iPhone that are worth it, maybe someone else has and will share it. One issue you may run into is running out of storage. Make sure each night you upload those pictures to iCloud Photo/Flickr/OneDrive/Dropbox so that you can delete them off your phone to make room for more pics.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/iphone-photography/
 
c55 said:
The iPhone makes a pretty great camera because it's so easy to carry and it of course has everything required to save, edit, and share the pictures that you take. No need for lenses, filters, tripods, sd cards, etc. The main issue is zooming, Apple's camera is only 8mp so digital zoom will suck 100% of the time. so just don't use it. I haven't seen any "zoom lenses" for iPhone that are worth it, maybe someone else has and will share it. One issue you may run into is running out of storage. Make sure each night you upload those pictures to iCloud Photo/Flickr/OneDrive/Dropbox so that you can delete them off your phone to make room for more pics.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/iphone-photography/
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Thanks! can you elaborate about what you said about not using the zoom.
 
macher said:
Thanks! can you elaborate about what you said about not using the zoom.
Click to expand...

most smartphones have "Digital zoom" which is basically just cropping and enlarging the picture. There isn't any kind of real magnification of the photo, it is all software. So when you enlarge and crop the picture, you are zooming into it which lowers the quality of the photo substantially. Your photos will be much clearer if you never zoom in on the Camera app. It is better to take the photo then crop the picture how ever you'd like.
 
Personally as great as the iPhone camera may be, you may be better suited with regular camera. They typically do better in low situations, their flash is more powerful, optical zoom, larger apertures, faster shutter speeds, they have features not found yet in phones.

To me going to France would represent a huge deal since I'm flying across the ocean, so I'd want to set myself up the best way I can.

Just my $.02
 
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macher said:
We will be going to France next week for 3 weeks and will be taking a lot of pictures.

I would prefer to use my iPhone 6 as a primary camera.

Would like to improve my photo skills with the iPhone camera and possibly buy camera accessories.

How can I improve my photo skills and do I need accessories such as lenses?

And could I get away with using my iPhone as a decent primary camera?
Click to expand...

If you are dead set on just using your iPhone as your primary camera then make sure the lighting is good/sufficient when you take pictures. With improper lighting, the pictures may look good on the phone but they will look horrible on big screens.

Do not use digital zoom, as others have suggested. Digital zoom just crops the picture.

Use Force-flash if you are going to shoot against a somewhat brighter background (even though the phone's flash may not be good enough).

Honestly, even though phones can take decent pictures these days, I take my DSLR with me during vacations. Vacation pictures are for memories later on and I want these memories to look good. Plus, few years later, you may decide to print a few pictures for your house. Phone pictures do not make good prints.
 
macher said:
We will be going to France next week for 3 weeks and will be taking a lot of pictures.

I would prefer to use my iPhone 6 as a primary camera.

Would like to improve my photo skills with the iPhone camera and possibly buy camera accessories.

How can I improve my photo skills and do I need accessories such as lenses?

And could I get away with using my iPhone as a decent primary camera?
Click to expand...

Frame photos well and check your lighting, learn your angles. There are a bunch of camera apps that let you manually adjust the camera settings. Be sure to have a steady hand, don't rush. Let it focus. Having a good eye is a lot more important than having accessories. If there is a mobile photography course in your city, you should look into it. That's how to become a better photographer.

c55 is right, try not to use zoom if you can help it. It's awful if you're trying to take a "good" photo.

I take my Olympus OMD-EM5 (micro 4/3 format) when I travel as it's much lighter than the DSLR. But I used my iPhone 6 quite a bit as well. It's a great camera but the quality of photos and flexibility you have will not compare to a real camera. Take the $ you were going to use for accessories and buy a good point & shoot at the very least instead.
 
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Get some decent photo apps. I use Pro HDR a lot for buildings, sunsets and stuff like that (anything that doesn't move really). Also get snapseed to fine tune your pics afterwards. And mostly, don't forget to have a great holiday. France is gorgeous
 
I think you will be fine with the iPhone.

I take a lot of photos on my iPhone and upload to instagram. I checked them in the apple store on iMacs, 5k iMacs, retina macbook, iPads, iPhone 6+ and they looked great on all of them.

I don't use flash, I use the stock camera app from lock screen and I edit in VSCOcam and snapseed. Most recently more in VSCOcam.

Oh and dont zoom when taking the picture, zoom and crop later in edit or move closer to the subject.
 
Like others have said, do not use the digital zoom. Instead zoom with your feet (by moving closer if possible.) This is no different to using a prime lens on a dslr (fixed focal length) iPhones lens is also a prime (fixed focal length).

Even cropping afterwards won't yield all that great results because there is very little cropping power in 8 megapixels. (This is the main benefit to larger megapixel cameras. Allows for heavy cropping and still maintainins a sharp image.) So getting it right (the framing you want) is key to any photo.

Accessories won't make you a better photographer. Knowledge of the basic "rules" of photography will give you best results.
 
The iPhone will get you very good pictures under most conditions, but if you want to have zoom and many other desirable features, you should invest in a good quality point and shoot. They are inexpensive, small and easy to carry and with an SD or other photo card, you can snap away without fear of running out of space. For a trip to France, I would want the best possible quality photos. Not everyone can achieve professional results with an iPhone.
 
I took my 6 plus on vacation to Egypt and I was really pleased with the results. It didn't even bother me that I didn't have a proper point and shoot camera.
 
I recommend ProCam. It has a special night mode, which really improves your photos. I just got back from a cruise to Alaska, and used only my iPhone (and a GoPro for video).
IMG_1775.JPG
 
maflynn said:
Personally as great as the iPhone camera may be, you may be better suited with regular camera. They typically do better in low situations, their flash is more powerful, optical zoom, larger apertures, faster shutter speeds, they have features not found yet in phones.

To me going to France would represent a huge deal since I'm flying across the ocean, so I'd want to set myself up the best way I can.

Just my $.02
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I would advise the opposite. My iPhone fits in my pocket. Most proper camera's don't. It's really annoying to spend your holiday holding a camera in your hand 24/7.
 
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maflynn said:
Personally as great as the iPhone camera may be, you may be better suited with regular camera. They typically do better in low situations, their flash is more powerful, optical zoom, larger apertures, faster shutter speeds, they have features not found yet in phones.

To me going to France would represent a huge deal since I'm flying across the ocean, so I'd want to set myself up the best way I can.

Just my $.02
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with this more.

Unless going to France is an not a real big deal (vs a once in a lifetime event) I would highly suggest a high quality point and shoot.

I have a 6-8 year old Canon point and shoot and it can easily take better pictures then any iPhone, a new one would be even better. If nothing else you'll want the higher megapixel with the optics to back it up. Plus you'll still have your iPhone on you for other things like panoramas and such.
 
Merkie said:
I would advise the opposite. My iPhone fits in my pocket. Most proper camera's don't. It's really annoying to spend your holiday holding a camera in your hand 24/7.
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I would just suggest planning for this. I use a small backpack that I also keep other things in as well. Water and snacks, paper maps, paper english to XXX dictionary, usb battery back up for devices, umbrella, change of clothes depending on the situation, camera etc etc.

If you are going somewhere local for vacation and won't need anything besides the shirt on your back then I agree just use the iPhone as a camera.
 
cynics said:
I would just suggest planning for this. I use a small backpack that I also keep other things in as well. Water and snacks, paper maps, paper english to XXX dictionary, usb battery back up for devices, umbrella, change of clothes depending on the situation, camera etc etc.

If you are going somewhere local for vacation and won't need anything besides the shirt on your back then I agree just use the iPhone as a camera.
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Your scenario is what my holidays usually look like. Even with a backpack, it's quite cumbersome to grab your camera every time. My iPhone 5 takes really nice pictures in broad daylight, no way that a simple 6-8 year old Canon point-and-shoot takes photos that are so much better that it's worth the hassle. At least my Sony point-and-shoot doesn't (same age).

I don't see the need for a dedicated digital camera unless you really have specific camera requirements.
 
Merkie said:
Your scenario is what my holidays usually look like. Even with a backpack, it's quite cumbersome to grab your camera every time. My iPhone 5 takes really nice pictures in broad daylight, no way that a simple 6-8 year old Canon point-and-shoot takes photos that are so much better that it's worth the hassle. At least my Sony point-and-shoot doesn't (same age).

I don't see the need for a dedicated digital camera unless you really have specific camera requirements.
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I find those specific camera requirements to be pretty basic stuff. There are shots the iPhone just can't get when it comes to zooming (I'd consider that basic) because of its lack of optical zoom. Low light is generally rather poor on an iPhone to comparatively speaking. IMO its just not worth the trade off for me considering I'll still have my iPhone on me anyway.
 
I agree with everything said already. I'd just like to suggest that if you have the storage space you not immediate delete those pictures that you aren't sure about. Some of my most memorable photos were almost deleted because they didn't look so great on the phone's display, but when I loaded them on to the computer and made some quick adjustments in iPhoto (now Photos) I realized that I had some real winners. You can't always trust the iPhone display, especially in bright light. Look at your pictures on a large screen before deciding their fate. Also, as has been suggested, stay away from the digital zoom. Do all that after the picture has been taken, preferably on a large screen computer with more robust photo software then the basic editing tools on the iPhone.
 
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OP, I'd also HIGHLY suggest you turn on some sort of backup service (over Wifi) for your pictures, such as DropBox or something. If you run out of space, it will upload everything to the cloud in your hotel room, so you can delete pictures off your main memory every day to save space.

Also, if you lose your iPhone or it gets taken, your pictures will be there always.
 
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