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.

Ditching My DSLR On Vacation

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A week ago my wife and I went on vacation to Disney World in Flordia. The main purpose of the trip was for Steffanie to run in Disney's Princess ½ Marathon. While packing for the trip, I dutifully packed up my Canon 40D and my two lenses, a Tamron 28-300mm that I now regret buying, and my beloved Canon 50mm f/1.4. After arriving in Florida, however, it never left my bag. I thought about whether I should take it with me each morning as we were preparing to leave our hotel rooms, and each day I decided to just take my iPhone 4. I was quite happy with how a lot of the photos below turned out. When taking photos I primarily used the very excellent Pro HDR app which I picked up years ago at the recommendation of Merlin Mann. Below are some of the best photos I took using my iPhone 4 with this app. We stayed here: We saw this: And this: And even though this one didn't come out as well as I would have liked, I feel compelled to include this one: Check out the collection on Flickr of the various sets from this trip.

One Third Of iPhone Owners Think They Have 4G Service

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Retrevo conducted a survey they titled "Confusion and Skepticism May Impede 4G Adoption". Shawn Blanc linked to this and commented:

Perhaps it is the “4″ in the iPhone 4 name (since the iPhone 3G was a 3G device) that leads to the false assumption that it’s a 4G iPhone. But I also wonder if it’s not an assumption about the device rather than an assumption about the network provider. As networks tout their newer, faster networks, perhaps those 34% of iPhone owners (as well as 29% Android owners and 24% BlackBerry owners) assume their phones are automatically a part of the 4G network. Call me a cynical bastard, but I think that if you look at most surveys conducted, anywhere from 10 - 30% of those surveyed will generally be ignorant enough about the subject being questioned to give surprising answers. See the 28% of the populace that still thought George Bush was doing a good job at the end of his failed presidency. The results of this survey don't surprise me, but then again, I'm pessimistic when it comes to the technical knowledge of the general populace. It comes with working in IT for over 10 years.

Lightning Video

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I shot these clips in about 30 minutes time standing in our apartment window facing south towards Huntington. We live just off Eisenhower Avenue, across the street from the USPTO. This was just at the beginning of the storm. If my arm had not gotten tired from holding my iPhone 4, I probably could have gotten a few other really good shots. About an hour and a half after shooting this (while editing this together, in fact) a huge strike happened just a few hundreds yards from here, just outside our window.