the ipad

thebaz

in general , i love most of apple's products - I won't rant against itunes now - anyway the new ipad was launched today, one of the highlights is a new 5mp camera - I know Steve Jobs is gone , and they are a lot smarter than me -

but do people really use the ipad to take photographs ?

i would reckon anybody buying an ipad has a mobile, which would have an equally good camera - or am i missing something - like the obvious ?

I did a fashion show recently, in dire lighting, in a shopping a centre.

The layout of the centre meant that about 30ft from the front of the stage, there was a "winding" staircase up to the 1st floor. As the height was advantageous, myself and the videographer camped ourselves up there for the duration of the show.

A girl, about 12-15, I'd say, was running around taking photos on an iPad. Despite my lack of interest, I did try to unsuccessfully sneak a peek at the results of her endeavors.


Saying that, I can't imagine the results being any good. It's shape and size alone would make it extremely difficult to handhold at any kind of reasonably slow shutter speed (unless you held it pressed tightly against your chest, but that'd make pressing the screen to take the photo a bit more difficult).


I'd imagine the iPad is amazing for photography, if you use it in bright light, and only ever display the photographs on the iPad. It's a great gimmick, no doubt, and I' sure that the camera is handy for playing with or if you have it in your hand and need to take a photo on the fly (though I don't imagine anyone would pull out their iPad instead of their phone in the event of an "oh quick, better photograph this!" moment).


If I ever hired a photographer, or if anyone ever told me they were a serious photographer, and I seen them pulling out an iPad to take their photos on, no matter how good they swore it was, or how cool they thought they were; I'd beat them to death with it.

Gregor Samsa

I've an iPad 2. I only ever used the main camera as a curiosity the first day I got it, and it confirmed my suspicions. As KKV said, the form factor alone of a tablet like this makes it inherently unsuitable for photography of most sorts. And that's before you talk about the spec of the camera itself (as you say, the iPad 3 has improved this, but I really don't know why). The front facing camera is a different kettle of fish, as at least that's useful for video conferencing. If you absolutely had no other camera to hand, and the Hindenburg was blowing up in front of you, then I'm sure you'd be glad of the camera on the iPad, but other than that, I wouldn't even think about it.

grindle

It could end up being useful for augmented reality apps that figure out where you are using Google Street View, or for any AR games. Better image = more reliable results.

stcstc

the iphone is the widest used camera on flikr!!!

i know its different with ipad. but the iphone has more images uploaded to flickr than anything else by far

stcstc

stcstc wrote: »

the iphone is the widest used camera on flikr!!!

i know its different with ipad. but the iphone has more images uploaded to flickr than anything else by far

But is that VS different camera brands? Or camera types? (just out of curiousity?).

Obviously there'd be more photos from an iPhone than, say, specifically the Canon 5DII. But are there more iPhone images than DSLRsin general?

Gregor Samsa

Deleted User wrote: »

But is that VS different camera brands? Or camera types? (just out of curiousity?).

Obviously there'd be more photos from an iPhone than, say, specifically the Canon 5DII. But are there more iPhone images than DSLRsin general?

Actually, the 5DII isn't far behind the iPhone 4. See the first graph here:

http://www.flickr.com/cameras

Also it should be noted that Flickr say that about for about 2/3s of photos uploaded, they can't identify the camera type. And that a lot of these would be phones. So maybe the stats aren't so accurate, given they're not even measuring the majority of photos.

Looking at the individual camera statistics, all iPhone types together (3G to 4S) have just over 83 million photos on Flickr. The Canon 5D mk II alone has just over 62 million. And there's tens of millions from other Canon DSLR models, not to mention the other brands. So the number of DSLR images in total far outnumber iPhone images.

alfalad

I would have thought they would put more effort in the front facing camera for Skype/Face Time etc. As said don't think anyone would want to take many photos with it unless there using them in an app and that is probably Apple's idea, that it is more for apps than taking proper photos.

dirtyghettokid

i have an ipad 1 which i bought in july 2010. first thing i said was "why doesn't it have a camera?"
a camera on the ipad would be handy for apps and stuff, but i would never dream of using it for photography. ipad is just like a giant iphone really..

thebaz

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

ipad is just like a giant iphone really..

for me the iphone , is the first phone you can take good pics with - but taking photos with the ipad , is like taking photos with a mid sized tv

darragh o meara

Never really use the camera on my iPad but I have been places where Ive seen loads of people using their iPads to take pics. A friend of mine was in Paris recently and she told me everywhere she went there were people using tablets to take pics ( not necessarily all iPads but the majority of them were )

NakedDex

They upgraded the camera for the same reason they've always done so; because they can. The tech got smaller, so they have more room for better sensors. Given how much the sensors cost, in the quantities they buy, they just threw in the better sensor to keep with the times, and so they can say "omgwtfbbq 5MP camera!".

I have a Xoom, which has a 5MP camera on the back already. The front one is probably about 1.2MP. Honestly, I'd be happier if they switched the positions of those cameras, because I only use the camera for Skype anyway. The 5MP camera is about as clear and sharp as a muddy puddle, and handling it to do so is the most awkward and cumbersome process. You also look ridiculous doing it.
Eventually, when they run out of other gadgets to add to it, Apple will call Zeiss or Leica and have them make fixed lenses for the newest model, or even a lens mount on the case to use a slew of accessory lenses.