Yearly Archives: 2019

At the library

Architecture, iPhone, Photographs

Not a right angle in sight.




The ultrawide optics does its thing.

My local library is one of those wildly abstract and severe designs which denies the existence of the ninety degree angle. This sort of architecture is fodder for the camera, as the above image discloses.

One of the complaints I have seen aimed at the ultrawide optic in the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro is that it is fixed focus. Such opinions are expressed by those with no training in the physics of photography. A 1.54mm focal length lens (13mm FFE) will render everything sharp all the time, as I illustrate here. There is no need for focusing. And if you want to change depth of field, Focos awaits. The other complaint is that saving the image in RAW format is not possible. Only compressed JPG is available. What this opinion denies is the extent to which computational photography and Apple’s always-on SmartHDR technology obviates the need for RAW. (RAW is available in some camera apps like Halide, not in the stock Camera app). Finally the third complaint – excessive lens distortion and vignetting – is justified, but easily resolved with one click in LR or PS or ACR using my lens correction profile. Apple’s claim that they left distortions uncorrected for the UWA lens to emphasize its ‘wideness’ is so much rot. They clearly rushed the product to market along with a disastrous series of iOS 13.x releases, each replete with bugs.

It is the small file sizes of JPGs for the UWA – and indeed JPG is standard for all three lenses – that is one of the unsung secrets of the camera’s design. As the data for the above image disclose, the RAW image is some 12mp (3024 x 4032 = 12.19 mp), whereas the JPG is a mere 2.88 mp. Now a file from your enormous Nikon D850 with its 50mp sensor and no less gargantuan optics will come in at some 150mp when converted to TIFF or PSD, which is what LR or PS has to do before you apply any processing corrections.




EXIF data for the above image.

And by contrast, so sophisticated is SmartHDR in the iPhone that those corrections are rarely called for. So suddenly LR performs once more like the spring chicken it once was, loading those 3mp files in a trice and creating full size previews in like time, whereas your D850 image dictates ever larger capital outlays on more storage, faster storage and improved GPUs. Why, process just seven of those images and there goes a gigabyte of storage …. And while you are processing all of those bytes, I have crafted a blog entry, written a suitably inflammatory narrative and am out on the street searching out new subjects for my camera. Plus, you are $5,000+ out of pocket and your shoulder is sore. I suffer from neither affliction.

iPhone 11 Pro resolution

iPhone, Photography

Not half bad.

To check how the iPhone’s Normal lens (the 25mm 1x option) compares with a full frame DSLR, I dusted off my Nikon D700, a 12mp FF digital body with a sensor renowned for its low noise. The closest fixed focal length lens in my rapidly dwindling Nikkor collection is the superb 20mm f/3.5 UD Nikkor, a lens which comfortably outperforms its three successors which came in compact variants with f/4, f/3.5 and f/2.8 maximum apertures. Dwindling? I do not collect gear and will have little if any use for these dated behemoths after buying the iPhone 11 Pro.

I then photographed one of my bookshelves with the iPhone and with the Nikkor, comparing the two in Lightroom. In the comparison image below, the iPhone image is straight out of camera. The Nikon’s had to have contrast increased but is otherwise also SOOC. The iPhone image is JPEG, whereas the Nikon image is RAW.




The original image.

The images below are 1:1 enlargements – the pixel peeper’s favorite which has sold a lot of ridiculously large sensors to those who have no earthly need for them. Each image is from the center of the sensor. We are talking 30“ x 40“ prints here.




The Nikon’s ISO was quadrupled to adjust for the smaller aperture. f/4 is very much this Nikkor’s sweetspot.




Extreme corners, at double the magnification of the above.

I would guess that the iPhone image is using Deep Fusion computational photography, but frankly all I care about is the result, not the road traveled to get there. You be the judge.

The latest from Patek Philippe

Photographers

Another masterwork.




Father and son

The latest father and son image from the long running campaign for the world’s best wristwatch.

The last time I saw a book this large it was one of the volumes of Audubon’s Birds in the Dartmouth library.

Mercifully, my son is every bit as beautiful as these models:




Winston at the Gill Tavern, near his prep school. Click the image for the map.

That’s just one of the many advantages of the cell phone camera over traditional digital hardware – a GPS location, accurate to a foot or two.

iPhone 7 snap, background blurred in Focos.

NY Court of Appeals

Architecture, Photographs

Magnificent.

Say what you may about the legal system, the 1842 Classical Revival building which is home to the New York Court of Appeals is impressive. Endless marble columns frame the entrance and it looks like entry would be tricky to obtain.




No entry.


The view from the steps is no less impressive:




Snapped on a rainy day in Albany, NY.


Both images taken using the ultrawide lens in the iPhone 11 Pro. For this sort of architectural work, where straight lines really need to be straight, my lens correction profile fixes the uncorrected barrel distortion in the ultrawide optic. Regular correction of distortion in PS or LR does not remove the ‘mustache’ curvature I address in that link.

A first Deep Fusion test

iPhone

Not that obvious.

With the introduction of iOS 13.2 Apple has enabled Deep Fusion for the cameras in the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. For an explanation of how this works click here. Note that Deep Fusion does not work with the ultrawide lens; it’s limited to the normal and telephoto. You must also turn off “Photo capture outside the frame” in Camera Settings. Finally, Deep Fusion does not work in burst mode and requires a current top of the line iPhone, meaning the 11 or 11 Pro.

By sampling and combining the best parts of multiple images Deep Fusion claims to further improve the already stellar results from the iPhone 11’s camera. It’s not easy to test, however, as it only kicks in with moderately lit subjects and there’s no indication that it’s working.

To compare results, I took one indoor image using iOS 13.1, downloaded the update, and took a second image with iOS 13.2, the one with Deep Fusion.

Here’s the original:




Before and after exposures and ISOs were identical. No processing was applied in Lightroom.

Here is the center of the image magnified to a print size of 60″ x 80″:




Regular (left) and Deep Fusion images.


There is just a little more detail (and less aggressive sharpening by the iPhone) in the butterfly’s wings in the Deep Fusion version, less smearing and slightly lower contrast.

Now let’s take a look at the shadows nearer the edge:




Regular (left) and Deep Fusion images.


Again there is a very small gain in definition but a significant reduction in grain and less smearing of the detail. Contrast in the Deep Fusion version is again lower.

So does Deep Fusion improve things? Yes. Is that improvement really significant? No.

But the above – these are enormous enlargements – confirm that the days of gargantuan sensors are numbered. A pinhead sized sensor combining multiple images shows barely any grain and more definition than any photographer looking at a 30″ display will ever need. Unlike on your DSLR, that sensor is dust and waterproof. As for web publication, it bears repeating: No one needs more than 3mp.