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iPhone X camera for travel pics and video?
- Thread starter Luba
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Your "Lol" notwithstanding, plenty of people are very happy with the photo quality they get from iPhone, especially if you have dual camera model. The lens is anything but a "gimmick" -- it's one of the smartest lens setups possible on a cellphone, at least without fairly substantially altering the shape or size of the phone or adding a third lens with accompanying software changes.
You're not wrong about the donkey hair, etc., but the real question is whether this fits the OP's needs. In daylight shots where there isn't much movement (e.g., not sports photography), it could be that the iPhone camera gets the OP better shots more often than the RX-100 -- not from a pixel-peeper perspective, but from a real-world satisfying vacation snapshot perspective. People who want that aren't wrong, and they don't deserve LOLs; they simply have different goals.
It is worth pointing out that the iPhone camera struggles more with low-light situations (as you suggest) and movement photos. But even for those, it may fit the needs of a particular user.
To be clear, I've owned an RX-100 and it's an excellent -- sometimes astonishing -- camera. It's very, very good. But while it has a good auto mode, it's best for those willing and able to use its many manual features, and possibly someone willing to do photo editing at the end. That's not everyone.
Which was my original point. If the OP wants to learn photography the the RX100 is a good choice. If not, stick with iphone.
We will have to agree to disagree on the gimmick lens. I am allowed my opinion on that sorry. It cannot replace an actual portrait lens. No one is saying the iphone doesnt have a decent camera for a cellphone but it is exactly that, a camera on a cellphone and the sensor size means it cannot compete on flat out image quality with a large sensor camera if the intention isnto print reasonable size. If you want to take pictures without the learning curve of becoming a photographer, then cool. However if you want to learn to take pictures using more of the features you elude to above, then the iphone will not take you far on your learning journey.
Turns out OP wants to go to cities so as I said earlier, iphone will probably be good enough.
Lots of good replies.
Since it sounds like you have ~6 months before the trip, the most important advice I would offer again is to devote some time to learning about composition. I haven't seen your work, so perhaps you are already good at this
Composition is one of the biggest differences between "ouch", "meh", "okay", "good", and "fantastic" pics. The wonderful thing is that it has nothing to do with gear and is true for any pic. And it's free to learn--you just have to spend some time practicing it.
Our brains are really good at filtering out distracting details when we look at something in person. Cameras aren't and capture everything they see. When viewing a pic, our brains aren't good at filtering out the distracting elements and instead tend to focus on them. Annoying I know.
Things you may not have even noticed when taking a pic can be painfully obvious to those viewing the pic. To the extent that it can ultimately ruin the pic.
It is really easy to only see the subject when about to click the shutter (or press the button on an iPhone). Teach yourself to *not* just look at the center of the frame but instead look everywhere else from corner to corner. And then potentially move your feet a little to the left, a little to the right, a little forward, a little back, rotate a bit to one side or the other, or point the camera a little up or a little down all in an effort to exclude anything that isn't important and will ultimately be distracting. The difference can be night and day in the impact of the resulting image.
There are more advanced "rules" of composition that are easy enough to read about in books or on the internet (i.e. the rule of thirds, "filling the frame" with the subject, leading lines, optimal subject placement in the frame). Spending time learning about these and practicing them will have a more dramatic impact on the quality of your images than any debate over iPhone X vs RX100.
The other advice I would offer, as it's something I frequently see when traveling, is to learn when to use the built in flash on your phone/camera and when not to use it. It often works well outdoors in daylight when taking pics of people to add fill light to remove any harsh shadows on faces.
It doesn't work well outdoors at night in most situations (people are harshly exposed and the background becomes black, scenic pics suffer similarly as the foreground (often not interesting) is exposed and the interesting background isn't exposed and turns black--I was in NYC once at night on a boat trip and people were taking pics of the skyline using their on-camera pop-up flash). Indoors it often lights people in an unflattering manner and either makes the background black or produces nasty shadows on nearby walls. Shooting through glass (like at a museum, zoo/aquarium, or window display at a business) you end up with a bright reflection of the flash off the glass while losing the important stuff on the other side of the glass.
These may be things you already know and if so then apologies. But a little bit of work/experimenting between now and your trip may dramatically increase your keeper rate regardless of what gear you ultimately take with you
Since it sounds like you have ~6 months before the trip, the most important advice I would offer again is to devote some time to learning about composition. I haven't seen your work, so perhaps you are already good at this
Composition is one of the biggest differences between "ouch", "meh", "okay", "good", and "fantastic" pics. The wonderful thing is that it has nothing to do with gear and is true for any pic. And it's free to learn--you just have to spend some time practicing it.
Our brains are really good at filtering out distracting details when we look at something in person. Cameras aren't and capture everything they see. When viewing a pic, our brains aren't good at filtering out the distracting elements and instead tend to focus on them. Annoying I know.
Things you may not have even noticed when taking a pic can be painfully obvious to those viewing the pic. To the extent that it can ultimately ruin the pic.
It is really easy to only see the subject when about to click the shutter (or press the button on an iPhone). Teach yourself to *not* just look at the center of the frame but instead look everywhere else from corner to corner. And then potentially move your feet a little to the left, a little to the right, a little forward, a little back, rotate a bit to one side or the other, or point the camera a little up or a little down all in an effort to exclude anything that isn't important and will ultimately be distracting. The difference can be night and day in the impact of the resulting image.
There are more advanced "rules" of composition that are easy enough to read about in books or on the internet (i.e. the rule of thirds, "filling the frame" with the subject, leading lines, optimal subject placement in the frame). Spending time learning about these and practicing them will have a more dramatic impact on the quality of your images than any debate over iPhone X vs RX100.
The other advice I would offer, as it's something I frequently see when traveling, is to learn when to use the built in flash on your phone/camera and when not to use it. It often works well outdoors in daylight when taking pics of people to add fill light to remove any harsh shadows on faces.
It doesn't work well outdoors at night in most situations (people are harshly exposed and the background becomes black, scenic pics suffer similarly as the foreground (often not interesting) is exposed and the interesting background isn't exposed and turns black--I was in NYC once at night on a boat trip and people were taking pics of the skyline using their on-camera pop-up flash). Indoors it often lights people in an unflattering manner and either makes the background black or produces nasty shadows on nearby walls. Shooting through glass (like at a museum, zoo/aquarium, or window display at a business) you end up with a bright reflection of the flash off the glass while losing the important stuff on the other side of the glass.
These may be things you already know and if so then apologies. But a little bit of work/experimenting between now and your trip may dramatically increase your keeper rate regardless of what gear you ultimately take with you
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LOL!! I was going to reply the same but figured everyone likes what they like. Though if it's a 1st trip to Scotland, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by going in the winter and not really being able to see all the beauty in the Highlands. The days are too short for a good day trip. Having been multiple times, I've come to like the cooler months and know that I am not heading to Glencoe for 5-6 hours of shooting but instead enjoying local pubs and making some new friends.
Anyway, @Luba, here's a photo of me taking a photo up at Buchaille Etive Mor on a cloudy day. A little post was done but not too much and I wasn't even really trying to do much of anything except post this on Instagram. This was on an iPhone 7. The iPhone X will be even better. You can decide if the quality is good enough. I travel w/ my Mirrorless but use my iPhone 8+ A LOT when traveling. It really depends on your purpose and goals.
And it's pretty hard to mess up photos of Scotland. Don't let us photo nerds scare you. An iPhone is more than enough for most people's needs especially if it's social media/small prints for memories, etc is what you'll be using them for.
BUT...if you think you might want to explore photography a little more, start understanding the principles of it from an art or tech standpoint, if you think you might want to learn how to use manual mode someday, then by all means, get a nicer camera. We'll be here for your questions, encouragement and eager to see what you've taken either way.
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LOL!! I was going to reply the same but figured everyone likes what they like. Though if it's a 1st trip to Scotland, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by going in the winter and not really being able to see all the beauty in the Highlands. The days are too short for a good day trip. Having been multiple times, I've come to like the cooler months and know that I am not heading to Glencoe for 5-6 hours of shooting but instead enjoying local pubs and making some new friends.
Anyway, @Luba, here's a photo of me taking a photo up at Buchaille Etive Mor on a cloudy day. A little post was done but not too much and I wasn't even really trying to much of anything except post this on Instagram. This was on an iPhone 7. The iPhone X will be even better. You can decide if the quality is good enough. I travel w/ my Mirrorless but use my iPhone 8+ A LOT when traveling. It really depends on your purpose and goals.
And it's pretty hard to mess up photos of Scotland. Don't let us photo nerds scare you. An iPhone is more than enough for most people's needs especially if it's social media/small prints for memories, etc is what you'll be using them for.
BUT...if you think you might want to explore photography a little more, start understanding the principles of it from an art or tech standpoint, if you think you might want to learn how to use manual mode someday, then by all means, get a nicer camera. We'll be here for your questions, encouragement and eager to see what you've taken either way.
I think Scotland in general is just beautiful all year around. Even in winter you get to see the awesomeness everywhere.
And I got extremely lucky to have some sunlight in winter as well. This was the Christmas weekend by the way.
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Interesting. I travel internationally 6 to 8 times a year and stopped buying SIM cards 4 or 5 years ago. The $10/day plan with Verizon or AT&T is a steal with calling and texting and complete functionality with the Applewatch. (When you figure the cost of wifi at some locations, it is actually cheaper.)
I also really enjoy the iPhone X as a backup camera and for specialty photos, but wouldn't want to use it solely. However, a year ago, my dslr quit working on the trip and I was quite amazed at the photos I brought home with the phone. For short videos, timelapses, and panos, it is great!
I do hope you understand how outrageous a bill you're running up at $10/day. I'm in Europe at the moment. Be here for 90 days. Less than $75 bucks will get me as much voice and heavy texting as I need, as well as around 4.5 gb of data for the entire period. That $75 compares to your $900 bill. "The cost of wifi"? Where? I've been here 4 weeks so far and have yet to pay for wifi. It's on unsecured networks at hotels, gas stations, cafe's etc. I'm most always connected via a VPN back to the States.
I can understand the convenience factor of your approach. But it's not the "steal" you refer to unless you where getting totally hosed before. I'm using SwissCom as we have an apartment in Switzerland. Not exactly a low-cost provider.
Well, since I've been traveling internationally for business for more than 30 years and cover many countries each year (mostly Europe and Middle East), I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm spending and how it has changed over the years. I'm happy that you haven't had to pay for wifi. It is not like that everywhere. Trust me.
And for me, yes, the convenience and the connection is "a steal." I guess I shouldn't imply it is the same for everyone. (I messed with changing SIM cards for years, and, for me, it was a hassle. I'm glad it works for you.)
If I have access to free internet, I turn roaming off on the phone and the $10/day plan is only charged the days that I use it.
Sheesh, and some wonder why people are hesitant to share an opinion on these boards!
And for me, yes, the convenience and the connection is "a steal." I guess I shouldn't imply it is the same for everyone. (I messed with changing SIM cards for years, and, for me, it was a hassle. I'm glad it works for you.)
If I have access to free internet, I turn roaming off on the phone and the $10/day plan is only charged the days that I use it.
Sheesh, and some wonder why people are hesitant to share an opinion on these boards!
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Indeed.
I used to switch SIM cards out all the time too but it became an annoyance since the ppl back home had to pay extra to reach me. I switched to TMobile once their service was good enough in my area though probably not sufficient yet in the midwest for you to consider their Simple plan w/ free roaming, texts and $.20/min if I really need to make a phone call. In London I usually have to pay for the extra speed ($20/1gb/10 days) but otherwise, I'm fine on the 3g/2g in the area. YMMV.
Anyway, we should get this thread back on topic talking about cameras in the photography forum.
Interesting discussion that I'm a little late to. Just curious on those that like to use iPhone only, do you use the default camera app or a third-party camera app with more controls? I have ProCam, but I don't really use it much.
One of my favorite camera apps was the default one on the LG G4. I took some pretty great shots with it, even 30s night-sky exposures.
One of my favorite camera apps was the default one on the LG G4. I took some pretty great shots with it, even 30s night-sky exposures.
Depends on the situation. If I have the time then I use other apps including ProCam. If I don’t then it’s generally the default camera app and then post processing.
To partially answer an earlier question about low light performance, here is:
iPhone X Photo: 3024 x 4032, 2.31 MB, 12.2 MP, 1/4 sec @ f 1.8 iso 160, brightness value -2.48
RX100IV Program raw: 3648 x 5472, 19.69 MB, 1/20 sec @ f 1.8, ISO 6400, brightness value -2.8. This a jpeg exported from lightroom at 50% quality. 100% quality was 15 MB but would not upload as the website gave me a security (?!) error:
RX100IV Scene Handheld low light: 3648 x 5472, 2.84 MB, 20 MP, 1/20 sec @ f 1.8 ISO 800, brightness value -2.41, 24 mm focal length equivalent
Can't remember whether Scene Handheld low light takes 3 or 5 pictures before it merges them. Big change in ISO and you usually get a lot of noise on the RX100 with high ISO numbers.
The pictures are taken using default settings of the camera as this would be the case when you are traveling and in a hurry. Without flash. I'm a bit surprised at this result as normally the iPhoneX does a better job at exposure setting. The ISO is low at 160 which is less than (I think) the max of 2000.
iPhone X Photo: 3024 x 4032, 2.31 MB, 12.2 MP, 1/4 sec @ f 1.8 iso 160, brightness value -2.48
RX100IV Program raw: 3648 x 5472, 19.69 MB, 1/20 sec @ f 1.8, ISO 6400, brightness value -2.8. This a jpeg exported from lightroom at 50% quality. 100% quality was 15 MB but would not upload as the website gave me a security (?!) error:
RX100IV Scene Handheld low light: 3648 x 5472, 2.84 MB, 20 MP, 1/20 sec @ f 1.8 ISO 800, brightness value -2.41, 24 mm focal length equivalent
Can't remember whether Scene Handheld low light takes 3 or 5 pictures before it merges them. Big change in ISO and you usually get a lot of noise on the RX100 with high ISO numbers.
The pictures are taken using default settings of the camera as this would be the case when you are traveling and in a hurry. Without flash. I'm a bit surprised at this result as normally the iPhoneX does a better job at exposure setting. The ISO is low at 160 which is less than (I think) the max of 2000.
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