Can the iPhone be used for pro digital photography?

[jlanuez]

Guys, I'm dead serious.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0305/cameracorner.html
http://digital-lifestyles.info/2005...-trip-sponsored-by-sony-ericcson-pr-own-goal/
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000977263
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1753/photojournalism-leaps-into-the-cellphone-age

plus countless Abu Gharib photos too!
Any tips on image tweaking from the iPhone?

I think you raise an excellent topic. Although, it depends on what type of photography you do (we do weddings, so only need/use Pro equip.) and what output you require.

It's important to always have a camera with us, so our iPhone is certainly better than not having one but we also always have a tiny Canon SD700IS in our pocket (takes video too).

Here is a decent iPhone shot:

 

[seenew]

I'd use it for facebook, that's it.

 

[failsafe1]

Guys, I'm dead serious.
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0305/cameracorner.html
http://digital-lifestyles.info/2005...-trip-sponsored-by-sony-ericcson-pr-own-goal/
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000977263
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1753/photojournalism-leaps-into-the-cellphone-age

plus countless Abu Gharib photos too!

So before you go mock the iPhone, remember that this could be the most powerful tool for photojournalism.

Please back to the topics folks.

Any tips on image tweaking from the iPhone?

OK so your are serious. I take back the thought of you simply making a joke. This is not without precedent. A pulitzer prize winning photo of a man falling from the wheel well of an airplane. It was taken by a fellow testing out his camera in the back yard. Would he choose to have had pro gear of the day for that photo? Maybe but he used what he had. Now as a pro I will use whatever I have on hand be it a cell phone camera or a point and shoot camera. BUT I will not choose those over my pro gear. So I would not use an iPhone on purpose in place of good gear. I have shot all around the world using pro digital gear, a cell phone, and laptop to transmit photos. I don't use the same digital gear I did a few years ago I keep upgrading when the gear justifies it. Why would I go backward using a phone rig that is terrible? Now if that is all I have in my hands at the moment I will use it like a champ but only if that is my last resort. I hope we never reach a point where cell photos are replacing nicer photography on purpose. Some people shoot with plastic diana cameras on purpose but that does not mean we all should.

 

[walangij]

I hope we never reach a point where cell photos are replacing nicer photography on purpose.

+1

failsafe1, your post is a beautiful analysis. To OP, if iPhone is all you have at the time of a great event, use it. But if you are a photojournalist, you'll find more respect when you show up at an event with a proper camera rather than just your phone.

 

[JeffTL]

2.2MP is the same as my old Kodak DX3600, but if it's like other cell phones with cameras the iPhone's lens isn't going to be as good.

Not really enough resolution for large prints -- you can squeeze out a good 8x10 if you're lucky and haven't cropped, but it's not a sure thing.

Sensor size is of course an issue as well, particularly for low light. When looking at standalone cameras, $500-600 is getting into SLR territory.

 

[Mike Teezie]

The iPhone is absolutely not adequate for pro photography, as a million people in this ridiculous thread have suggested.

Megapixels mean very little in the grand scheme. It's about optics. And the lens on an iPhone is the cheapest little piece of glass imaginable.

 

[dextertangocci]

I'm confused

 

[DoFoT9]

I'm confused

its an iphone