Having just made the plunge into the iPhone, I’ve finally come to appreciate what all the hype and fanfare was about. It may not be the messiah device that Steve Jobs and his loyal fans would have you believe, but it’s pretty close. Apple has engineered a fantastic phone mobile computer which is now extensible with third party applications. For photographers like you and me, there are a few apps that could come in handy, so I thought we could take a moment to talk about those.
If you don’t have an iPhone, these apps will also work on an iPod Touch updated to 2.x firmware (though some will require you to be located within a WiFi hotspot). If you don’t have an iPhone or an iPod Touch… you’re dead to me already. I’m kidding. But no, seriously, what are you waiting for?
Photography and the iPhone are, in many ways, a match made in heaven. Apple recognized this, and that’s why there’s a whole category in the iTunes App Store called “Photography”. Many of these apps are silly, novelty items – like Talk Bubbles, which adds cartoon-like chat bubbles over peoples heads. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find some real treasures here.
PhotoCalc is one of them. It’s essentially a calculator and guide for photographers. You can calculate exposure reciprocity, depth-of-field and hyperfocal distance, and it has a flash exposure calculator. These are nice to have, but the real gem is that you can check what time the sun rises or sets. This app would be particularly handy if you tend to shoot with a lot of flash, and even moreso if you tend to shoot that way outdoors.
Speaking of outdoors, the iPhone comes packaged with a nice little Weather app from Apple that’s pretty handy to get a rough sense of the weather in the days ahead, but if you want a little more detail, well – it kind of lacks.
WeatherBug, which has been annoying me for years on the desktop PC, is a free and fantastic way to get that kind of detail on an iPhone, and includes a satellite map. It will also bring up weather cams if any exist for that area, so you can get an idea of the conditions outside on the fly, in case, you know… you don’t feel like going outside to check yourself. All kidding aside, it’s nice to be able to get cam views on areas that may not be local to you, and having the extra detail provided by WeatherBug can be invaluable when you’re trying to decipher which way a storm is headed.
Finally, if you’re concerned about the condition of the skies you’ll be shooting under, a great application is iCSC Clear Sky Chart, which shows you in an easy to read chart form whether you’ll have clear or dark skies overhead.
PhotoCalc, WeatherBug, and iCSC are all available in the iTunes App Store. PhotoCalc costs $2.99, but the other two are completely free.
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August 27th, 2008 at 11:48 am
The iphone does everything and it is truly the swiss army knife of phones. I’m glad I got mine but now I look at myself as being in the hype machine that was created by Apple. Regardless iphone for life!!!!!!!!!!!
August 27th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
The iPhone is certainly overhyped, but let’s face it – it’s proven to be worth a lot of that hype. Speaking of the iPhone, here’s a macro mode hack for the phone. It’s a little dangerous, as it involves softening the glue around the iPhone lens and manipulating it, but here it is:
http://www.eastrain.com/?p=73
August 28th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Although I have the slower iPhone, I love it. I’m going to have to try out PhotoCalc. Thanks for all the great info!
September 10th, 2008 at 9:51 am
The iPhone is an amazing little device. I was actually shocked when i saw the photo quality of the pictures. I have a Nikon D80 and in low light the quality of the iPhone pics compared to my DSLR are pretty close.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Embassy Pro Books – HAHAHA! You seem to be a real fucking idiot, “pretty close”. There are clearly to many people having dslr´s right now.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
The pictures from the iPhone are tolerable, at best. For a 2mp camera, it’s not bad, but it could really use a flash and some basic shooting features like a “burst” mode.
…you can’t compare the iPhone camera to any DSLR. You can, however, use the iPhone as a really handy reference guide and organizational device. That’s where it excels.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I wonder if it’s possible to turn the iPhone’s camera into a light meter? If it were reasonably accurate, I’d own one in a (ahem) flash! When I’m shooting digital professionally, it’s a non-issue. But when I’m shooting film for my own amusement, carrying around a separate light meter can be a little annoying. Imagine being able to pop a dome over the camera lens and use it as an incident light meter. Now THAT would be cool.
Did I just say a bad word on this blog? “film.” :) There, I said it again.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Please take an online survey for a graduate school project on photography. Link below. The more the better…Please help!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=jZfCXyCZgt44e_2foSHIaK_2bQ_3d_3d
November 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am
…now if we could only afford the $20 a mounth additional charge. Not worth it for me just yet.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:06 am
i thought i wanted an iphone before….now i NEED one!
this sounds awesome, i may have to invest :)
November 26th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
The iPhone is a really cool device. It’s not the perfect phone – there are still a few issues that I would like to see resolved (lack of MMS, Copy & Paste, and a few email features that are missing) but it makes up for those shortcomings in a variety of other ways (ie. REAL internet). Generally it’s a well rounded device, and to be quite frank, it’s the only smart phone I’d consider buying at the present time.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:15 am
If you are looking for an iPhoneography blog, then check out http://www.iphoneography.com
June 26th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I’ve been using Photocalc for a long time and also reviewed it on our site: http://iphonephotovideo.com/2009/06/photocalc-a-very-handy-companion-for-dslr-shooters/ It’s probably the best with regards to breadth of what it is covering and it’s on my iPhone all the time. There are more companion apps (as we call them) for photographers. iBird is probably the most stunning, if you are into birding, but it’s expensive. Handi manuals, Helios Sun Position calculator, EVcalc for HDR shooters, just to name a view. They are a fixture of what is on my iPhone. Complete list: http://iphonephotovideo.com/category/companion-app/
July 13th, 2009 at 9:44 am
The new LightMeter App (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=320768222&mt=8) finally turns your iPhone (3G-S only) into a working LightMeter (using the built in camera).
The App is based around the “Exposure Picker” from PhotoBuddy (another feature ritch iPhone Photo Calculator).
February 18th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
The apps available in their thousand for the iPhone is what makes it to be what it is. Once you get a hang of it you dont go back.