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Kyffin

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 5, 2010
419
0
G'day! wondering how well the iPod Touch camera works as a recording device, that is, the macro performance in being able to take pictures of text in a book (rather than as a 'proper' photo taking camera)?

I ask as my main use for this feature would be as a 'mini scanner' to capture excerpts from books (paragraphs, publishing info page, &c.) rather than writing notes to transfer to computer later.

Am thinking of replacing my 2g soon and if the 4g's camera is capable in this regard I'll happily save myself a bunch of money buying used. So; does anybody have the beta on this? Would it work?, be legible? How about under library lighting conditions? Opinions gratefully received- particulary so if accompanied by illustrations! Thank you!:)
 
Thank you for the reply! But not possible for why please? No macro? Insufficient resolution? Thanks!
 
I doubt it would be very legible. The iPT's camera is pretty insufficient. You could try, but I doubt it would work. I would say find a better way to take notes or use a better camera (phone?).
 
I doubt it would be very legible. The iPT's camera is pretty insufficient. You could try, but I doubt it would work. I would say find a better way to take notes or use a better camera (phone?).

Thank you very much for the explanation. Intention was to record referenced books in a Bento database so as to better organise notes &c. with little distraction and fuss. Paper also works though! Thanks again
 
The ipod touch 4g has a horrible horrible horrible horrible camera. It's near useless. Video recording is better than some phones but I would say that 98% of smartphones take better pictures than the ipod. If it wern't for the fact that my ipod touch 1g was lacking in space I would have waited for the 5g
 
G'day! wondering how well the iPod Touch camera works as a recording device, that is, the macro performance in being able to take pictures of text in a book (rather than as a 'proper' photo taking camera)?

I ask as my main use for this feature would be as a 'mini scanner' to capture excerpts from books (paragraphs, publishing info page, &c.) rather than writing notes to transfer to computer later.

Am thinking of replacing my 2g soon and if the 4g's camera is capable in this regard I'll happily save myself a bunch of money buying used. So; does anybody have the beta on this? Would it work?, be legible? How about under library lighting conditions? Opinions gratefully received- particulary so if accompanied by illustrations! Thank you!:)
Yes, it will work. It is legible under library lighting conditions. Keep in mind that the resolution of the camera is too low to do anything with the images other than view them on the device, or when posted on a social network site.

You certainly will NOT be able to use these images for OCR (if that was an intention).

I think that the criticism of the iPod Touch's camera is a little extreme. It does a "decent" job for what it is. Having said that, I do NOT recommend getting an iPod Touch primarily for its camera functionality. It is primarily a media player and PDA. If you already have a cellphone with a camera, you'd probably be better off buying a larger capacity microSD card for it (if the phone supports cards) to store photos on.
 
You'll be able to make a scan of your texts, but it won't be good quality. There's an app that can actually do the scans for you, I can't remember what it's called so you'll have to search in the app store.
 
I did something similar when I had homework, I took a picture of the questions I had to do from the book so that I didn't have to take the book with me. It worked well and I was able to read the questions, even though the actual camera quality isn't very good.
 
Thanks, doesn't look like its there yet to take a decent copy on the device though. Might as well wait and see if that changes at some stage. If the camera on the next ipod touch were to get as good as the current iphone would it work or still fall far short? Guessing I can live without the convenience for the time being
 
Thanks, doesn't look like its there yet to take a decent copy on the device though. Might as well wait and see if that changes at some stage. If the camera on the next ipod touch were to get as good as the current iphone would it work or still fall far short? Guessing I can live without the convenience for the time being

It would be quite an update for the 5G touch to get iPhone 4's camera, never the less I still hope for it.
 
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AppleFanatic10 said:
You'll be able to make a scan of your texts, but it won't be good quality. There's an app that can actually do the scans for you, I can't remember what it's called so you'll have to search in the app store.

The app is genuis scan

OP:
I use mine for the same thing. It works and looks fine on the ipod screen
 
I use mine for the same thing. It works and looks fine on the ipod screen

Thanks for your post, be great to be able to do this (can live without scanner quality for not carrying a scanner all the time) even if basically.
 
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The app is genuis scan

OP:
I use mine for the same thing. It works and looks fine on the ipod screen

Yep, that's the one I was talking about. Thanks.
 
Actually there's an app for that. It's called CamScanner+. It costs $5. Does what says.
 
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