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Using an iPad instead of a camera - why?

takeshi74 said:
That argument doesn't hold up very well. Why is an SLR better if it has a tiny viewfinder or screen? Sensor and optics do matter. That said, people may prefer the retina display or carrying only one device (the tablet).
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You don't use the screen while shooting on an SLR camera - you look through the 'tiny' viewfinder. The difference is, you're not looking at a 1cm wide display, you're looking through it and seeing exactly what the camera sees. It's effectively "infinite resolution" and actually quite "large" to look at compared to an actual screen.

The point is simply that no matter how good the optics and sensor are, if your shot is out of focus it doesn't help, and if your composition is bad it doesn't help. A larger screen helps both, and an SLR viewfinder is even better.
 
The question is - why would you purchase a separate camera when your iPad/phone already does what you need it to do? I for one will never buy a camera again. Unless you're really into photography, or need a more professional camera, there's no need. So, if my iPad is my only camera, I'm going to bring it to something I want to take pictures of.
 
I was at my kids talent show this year and some annoying woman recorded the entire show with her iPad 2. What pissed me off is that she was oblivious (or inconsiderate) about all of the people sitting behind her. I was probably 5 rows back and that big iPad blocked a good portion of the performances. I found myself having to watch her stupid iPad at times o see what was going on. I know I wasn't the only person who was pissed off an surprised no one took her iPad and smashed it on the ground.
 
I was in a dark jazz club and someone was using the iPad to record or take photos. I don't think it is bad at shooting video for home use. The huge screen helps you see what your shooting, it shoots 1080p, and the video stabilization is pretty good. I have tried it out recording my dogs in the backyard and the video was better than I expected. I don't want to carry it with me everywhere, so I just use an iPhone or camera to record video.

I don't think it is as good at shooting photos, but if I had it in my hand and saw something I needed to shoot quickly, I would use it.
 
Odd? Yes. Perhaps they're trying to make best use of their shiny new iPad after forking over $500+ for it. Last year when I went to the beach, I saw numerous people toting their iPads on the beach taking pics and videos and what not. I'd be a little leery using a $500+ tablet to take pics of your kids on the beach with all the water/sand everywhere. I'm totally fine using my $80 P&S which gets better quality images and is significantly smaller in size to accomplish the same thing. People are strange, technology makes them do stranger things.

I rarely use the back camera on my iPad. I've only used it to try it out and snap a few random pics around the house but that's about it. Wherever there is a need to take pics, I'll bring a real camera every time. Plus, you look pretty stupid while taking pics with an iPad.
 
musty345 said:
What annoys me the most is people taking pictures of themselves in the mirror with iPads for their profile/display pictures. In my eyes, the only purpose of this is to say 'Hey I have an iPad'.
Maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy ;)
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haha ive never seen this, thats too funny.
 
I havE never used the camera on my iPad, and at this point my iPhone has a better camera (iPhone 4, iPad 2). The iPad IMO is to big and really weird to use as a point and shoot and if I really cared about quality at this point for the price I would just buy a point and shoot camera maybe something like the Canon eleph 100 HS like I said if I wanted to go cheap just my thoughts. But for. Is my phone does just find and when 95% of my pics end up on Facebook quality isn't really my first thought.

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Italianblend said:
The question is - why would you purchase a separate camera when your iPad/phone already does what you need it to do? I for one will never buy a camera again. Unless you're really into photography, or need a more professional camera, there's no need. So, if my iPad is my only camera, I'm going to bring it to something I want to take pictures of.
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Most point and shoots at this point still take better quality pics and for some people it's important. And also some people don't like to use up the battery life on their phones if they know they will be shooting all day. Like I went to Disneyland the other day and my friend was snaping pics with his phone all day and by the end of the day his phone was dead. It was good that my phone wasn't dead in case of an emergency. Now that's not saying everyone cares or thinks about that
 
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Lol... Angry grumpy old people\people too technologically educated to ever be caught dead using an iPad to take pics.

I use an iPad to take pics and also own a nice small camera. Friend does as well and owns a d60. It's not to show off it's cuz it's just there and it can do it. 5 megapixels is good enough. Not every social pic I take or random picture of a flyer to stick into my notes app needs to be d60 quality. If you're judging people because the iPad has a camera and they're not cool enough to ignore it... Camonnnn guys really?

Plus we are on the macrumors forum to discuss iPad love. You lost whatever coolness factor you think you may have had when you entered the website :)

As for adults at the water park... With their kids and browsing the internets and the twitter while waiting for kids? Can share screen better than a tiny iphone... But wait! They can take a pic of said kids and upload easily because that's what apple products are good for! Simplicity and social stuff at your fingertips!
 
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Wirelessly posted (iPod Touch)

h1r0ll3r said:
Odd? Yes. Perhaps they're trying to make best use of their shiny new iPad after forking over $500+ for it. Last year when I went to the beach, I saw numerous people toting their iPads on the beach taking pics and videos and what not. I'd be a little leery using a $500+ tablet to take pics of your kids on the beach with all the water/sand everywhere. I'm totally fine using my $80 P&S which gets better quality images and is significantly smaller in size to accomplish the same thing. People are strange, technology makes them do stranger things.

I rarely use the back camera on my iPad. I've only used it to try it out and snap a few random pics around the house but that's about it. Wherever there is a need to take pics, I'll bring a real camera every time. Plus, you look pretty stupid while taking pics with an iPad.
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Would you rather your iPad not have a rear camera at all?
 
Have to say - the iPad tends to yield better pictures for some applications. Doing macro for work instructions / equipment guides - you can't beat it. I found that I got better pictures, in a fraction of the time compared to the SLR. When you're looking for a specific detail - the insanely large viewing surface allows you to observe detail - and more importantly - exposure, required for that type of work.

Many times the viewfinder on my SLR showed an excellent picture, as did the LCD when reviewing the picture - but once on the PC, different story entirely. Whereas everything that looks good on the iPad LCD - retains that detail on the PC too.

I'm not saying it's better than an SLR in image quality - but sure is more consistent in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get quality. Plus, love that touching an area of interest on the display sets the focus and exposure for that area.
 
My iPad isn't anything to write home about in the photo area. Unless it's in pristine light conditions, the picture usually comes out grainy. However, I haven't carried a P&S in years. The iPhone camera has come leaps and bounds from the first one, and that IS my camera, anymore.
 
For any of those, and I know there are many, into photography - They all know that the camera will simply be insufficient in what they want. This will not be a norm, and I would not do it because bringing it to places like you had listed sounds ridiculous.

I'll use the Canon for that :) Or, just my Iphone. I would not take my Canon to a theme park :cool:
 
There are a couple of interesting apps that make use of iPad photos.

One is called Cortex Cam. It takes photos with your iPad's camera but it averages together a large number (100?) of pictures to remove the grain. Pretty cool.

Another is Moku HD. It false colors pictures to make them like Japanes woodblock prints. It does an amazingly good job.

There are probably others.
 
If you have an iPad with a cellular radio (3G/LTE) the photos will be geotagged. Even if I take great photos with my DSLR I'll usually snap a pic with my iPhone too so I can view my photos on a map.
 
I"ve taken a few photos with the iPad because the "viewer" is so large.

Ansel Adams took all his photos with a view camera that he had to lug around, but the large viewing screen on it helps to see that everything is correct before you push the shutter.

I'm not comparing the photo quality of the iPad with that of a view or field camera, but I would compare the screen - especially an iPad with a retina screen.
 
Wish there was a way for my ipad 3 to accept incoming video feed from my SLR. That would open up some serious potential.
 
I used my iPad to take pictures at a parade because of the screen size. I don't have a digital camera.
 
Yeah, whenever I see people taking pictures with iPads they are always old(er). Not sure why.

Piggie said:
No, you are looking at this in totally the wrong way.

Perhaps they want to have their tablet with them, as they wish to use it for social media, web etc etc when they are out and about.

they then think, shall I carry a camera AS WELL, then they think, heck no, why bother, I'll be carrying my iPad anyway, so I'll just use that, save me taking two things round with me all the time.
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Don't you have a phone with a camera?

Dominic49 said:
for the 99.99% of the end use of photos people take these days (facebook twitter etc.) the ipad camera is fine.

And for people like myself who carry around the ipad everywhere (including a 26 mile mountain bike ride through the desert (Moab, UT) It actually keeps me from having to carry an additional camera. Either way it is a nice swiss army knife and I wont be using it on any paid shoots...

To each their own. :)
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That's a cool bike ride. Have any pics? (never been out there)

engelke2010 said:
I used my iPad to take pictures at a parade because of the screen size. I don't have a digital camera.
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Don't you have a phone? (that has a camera)
 
I've used my iPad for a camera before. It gets the picture right on the iPad rather than transferring from the iPhone. It's also nice to see photo and video on a large screen.

I don't user often but it's better than the camera in the iPad 2.
 
miamialley said:
Yeah, whenever I see people taking pictures with iPads they are always old(er). Not sure why.



Don't you have a phone with a camera?



That's a cool bike ride. Have any pics? (never been out there)



Don't you have a phone? (that has a camera)
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I do have an iPhone, but with my bad eyes, I liked the bigger screen.
 
miamialley said:
It's interesting that you're techy enough to be on MR, but you don't have a phone with a camera? I'm curious as to why not.
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Cos I like a phone that lasts a week on a charge.
A phone that has a loud ring tone and as far as I know, no smartphones do.
And a phone that I don't keep having to press the screen on to see if I have missed a text or call.

If I could get a smartphone that could do all this things, then I'd get one, but till then, for me, an old phone is actually better at being a phone that a modern gadget one.
 
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