The Camera You Have With You

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Marco Arment wrote an excellent post tonight:

As part of my 2012 computer-setup shuffle, I also replaced my laptop with a Retina MacBook Pro, and the first thing it screams for is a high-resolution desktop wallpaper. Great, I thought, I’ll just use one of my photos. (On my desktop, I use a solid gray background, but on my laptop, I like to have a bit of fun. And it would be a crime to put a solid gray background on that screen.) Almost nothing I’ve shot since 2010 is usable. Marco came to this realization because he has been using his iPhone 4 and now, 4S due to it being the first iPhone camera that was a "good enough" replacement for an actual point & shoot camera. And because you always have your iPhone with you, it is way easier to use what you have in your pocket than go hunt for your DSLR or carry it around with your when you're out of your house. I do the exact same thing, and have done so ever since I got my iPhone 4 in the summer of 2010 (which I've now replaced with a 4S as well). Marco makes an excellent point though, we're all going to regret this in 5-10 years when all of our screens are Retina-class and the photos we took from 2010-20?? look like shit. Marco's solution is to go back to using his 5D MK II. I only own a Canon 40D myself which is really showing it's age. Because of this, and because I do not have a spare $3000 I can afford to spend on a 5D Mk III, his point has me browsing Amazon.com and looking at Canon's recent small point & shoot options. The S100 looks like a solid candidate. Off to DPReview I go... Update: John Yuda makes an excellent point.

Millions of pixels: Visualizing the Retina MacBook Pro

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David Smith, at his blog, writes:

The new MacBook Pro introduced at WWDC features a new ‘Retina’ grade display with a resolution of 2880x1800. This is the highest resolution display Apple has ever shipped, besting the now discontinued 30” Cinema (2560x1600) by a million pixels. I wanted to link to his post so that folks would go and check out the two graphics he's created which show you just how many pixels the new Retina MacBook Pro screens use.

Visualizing the iPad 3 Screen

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David Smith has posted an excellent comparison of the iPad 3 screen when stacked up against the various resolutions of existing iOS devices, Apple notebook machines and desktops. He makes an good point when talking about the insanely high resolution of a retina display on a 9.7" screen:

This will present problems for developers and designers of iPad apps unless Apple also releases a new display with either a higher resolution or a HiDPI mode. Otherwise we will no longer be able to view 1:1 mockups or run the simulator at full size without clipping part of the view. Check out the comparison chart he made on his site.