Hand held night mode.
The iPhone presents two reticles in the middle of the screen as you hand hold it for long exposures, the idea being that you want to keep the two superimposed for best results. At the same time, and on-screen message exhorts you to keep steady. These two, combined, work well.
Imagine what Brassaï would have done with this technology.
iPhone 12 Pro Max. Hand held.
In Scottsdale. Click for the map.iPhone 12Pro Max, 1x lens.
The American Dream fades.
Millions of Americans will play Russian Roulette with their lives, and with yours and mine, today by insisting that travel is their God-given right, denying the fact that the coronavirus affects one and all. As the ultimate superspreader event, Thanksgiving will kill hundreds of thousands of Americans who were too selfish to wait a matter of a few months until preventive vaccines come to market. Their victims will include the blameless who stood by and watched in disbelief and were unlucky enough to get infected by these sub-human beings.
This is not the America to which I immigrated in 1977. It is, rather, a collection of selfish bigots who care nothing for their neighbors and think only of short-term gratification for themselves, and hang the consequences.
The America of my dreams no longer exists. And while Rockwell’s fine painting includes a message of white dominance, everything else about it is admirable. I wonder, would this cadre have piled onto a virus infected aircraft back in 1950?
So, give thanks …. and keep your fingers crossed.
The most beautiful motorcycle made.
Designed in 1934, the BMW R7 was a ‘one off’ show bike. BMW decided not to manufacture it as the Great Depression was sweeping across Europe and it would have been unaffordable to most.
The very height of Art Deco design, the bike came with an 800cc horizontally opposed twin engine, the forerunner of the 900cc unit in my 1975 R90/6. BMW last sold Airheads – air cooled, horizontally opposed twins as they are commonly known – in 1995. A sad day.
The white pinstripe provides relief for the black and silver livery.
This is a ‘hardtail’ design, with rear suspension provided by the sprung seat.
The left panel opens providing access to the fuel petcock and the tool roll.
The air cleaner is in the chrome cylindrical housing. Cloisonné tank badge.
The kickstarter kick rod folds out for easy operation for a seated rider.
Note the locking lever on the rear fender to allow it to be raised for ease of wheel removal.
All the above images taken by my friend Jared RL on his visit to the ‘Shape of Speed‘ exhibit in the Portland, Oregon Art Museum in 2018 (slow link, be patient).
You do not have to love motorcycles to revel in the beauty of this design, nor to fight nausea when you look at the modern incarnation.
The world’s best cellphone gets better.
I opted for the Max large version of the iPhone 12 Pro for two reasons. I really want to obsolete my 7″ Kindle Fire for reading (it’s a nice small size and weight which can be held in one hand when lying on the sofa) as fewer gadgets are always a good thing. And because the iPhone 12 Pro Max has some nice enhancements over the iPhone 12 Pro and 11 Pro when it comes to the cameras. Night Mode is now available on both 12 Pro models for the UWA lens (not available in the iPhone 11 Pro) and internal processing sees to it that the objectionable UWA ‘mustache’ distortion is no longer present.
You can read about the high distortion levels in the UWA lens in the iPhone 11 Pro here and follow the link to my LR/PS distortion correction profile from that piece. Suffice it to say, as the above images disclose, there is no need for a distortion correction profile with the UWA lens in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Masochists can go to Settings->Camera->Lens Correction to turn off in camera distortion correction for both the UWA and standard lenses.
Another reason to upgrade to the iPhone 12 is the shape of the case. The iPhone 12 has reverted to the slab sided design seen in the iPhone 4 and boy, is it wonderful to hold after the slippery eel that is the iPhone 11. So much so, that while I am sticking with a (larger) belt holster for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, I no longer use a protective cover or case as it’s so much nicer to hold naked in the hand. The worst aspect of the iPhone as a full time camera has always been its awful ergonomics, and this is a significant step in the right direction.
There’s another ergonomic upgrade courtesy of software changes. Go to Settings->Accessibility->Touch->Back Tap and set it as follows:
You can now simply double tap the rear of the iPhone to release the shutter; sadly no single tap option is available. But either way, this is a strong argument to avoid the use of any sort of protective cover, or to cut a hole in the back if you do use one to permit the use of Back Tap. I have found that the UWA is so wide that getting your fingers out of the way is a challenge using Back Tap with that lens, but it’s easy with the other two.
Speaking of lenses, the ‘long’ lens, still at 50mm in the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, is now 65mm in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Until a periscope zoom comes along in later iPhones, this is a step in the right direction.
Finally, the new LIDAR detector permits accurate determination of focus even in darkness. This image of my son watching TV on the patio was taken in almost total darkness, the iPhone advising me to keep still during the three second hand held exposure. This is magic. Why would anyone revert to the dated, incompetent offerings from Sony, Nikon, Canon et al?
As for obsoleting that Kindle Fire as a book reader, here are the key statistics:
Kindle Fire – screen diagonal 6.8″, weight 10oz, battery life 7 hrs.
iPhone 12 Pro Max – screen diagonal 6.4″, 8.6 oz, battery life 20 hrs.
Hast la vista Kindle.
More when Apple Pro RAW becomes available in the iPhone 12 with an upcoming iOS release.
The iPhone 12 Pro is the best camera in the world for 99% of users.
You think the iPhone 12 Pro Max is expensive? Run the numbers. Read this. It costs $300 a year.