So what does the ipad mean..
So what does the iPad mean for photography? Well to begin with, pretty much nothing. There are hardly any quick wins for the platform over the iphone. It really is just a bigger, more powerful iphone. There are the obvious content creation and payment opportunities (witness the repurposing of so much content for the iphone) but beyond this, why does the form factor and interface matter?
That screen real estate and portability does make me wonder, how long will it be until the iphone/ipod is targeted by a camera manufacturer as an external preview device? At the moment the Canon 5Dmk2 (for instance) has a HDMI output that will show live view in HD. Unfortunately it doesn't show the HD view when recording but this problem was fixed on the recent 7D which shows Canon are paying attention to this feature.
Let me put together a small 'upgrade' scenario for the iphone/ipad and newer cameras. The first is a way of getting video out of the camera and into the iphone/ipad. There are a few ways to do this, HDMI being the first but we're unlikely to see a HDMI in on an iphone/ipad. Next is wifi, which sounds like a distinct possibility as we're seeing many wifi enabled cameras and we know the iphone/ipad has it. Wifi would be OK to show compressed video with current hardware but it would be good to use something like 'transferjet' - high bandwith wireless at short distances - which would probably manage uncompressed HD. However, just wifi will do for most uses.
So how does wifi help? Will, imagine a point and click, touch screen preview for your camera. Set up a composition and control focus, aperture, multi-shot, etc .. everything from your iphone or ipod. You could also use pinching to zoom in to check focus (which would be great with tilt/shift lenses).
More importantly for a lot of photography where full tethering is difficult and laptop unfriendly, composing and managing photos on a 10" screen would be a boon and the ip*d should be powerul enough to apply some photoshoppery, live in the field. For instance, you could apply a grad onto the scene and the camera could take multiple shots and blend them as a preview! You could also include 'peaking' on preview to show in and out of focus areas (peaking is a videography originated concept where in focus areas blink or have a zebra pattern).
The two main things are that a bigger viewfinder on a camera is better but over the 3-4" currently, they just don't make sense. An ipod or ipad could act as a temporary, portable and highly functional external screen with the added attraction of 'consumer' developed interfaces. The democratising of the camera viewfinder could help extend the instant feedback facility of digital cameras to the point where a view of the picture as large as a 5x7 ground glass, an interesting thought..
Highlight this Comment Tim28/01/2010, 10:43
Yebbutt... we still need a full-frame digital sensor, don't we? (I don't just mean 35mm or 645, either!)
Highlight this Comment Tim Parkin28/01/2010, 11:34
Hi Tim, YES!! YES!! YES YES YES!! regards Tim..
Highlight this Comment Julian28/01/2010, 12:22
Steady on there, Tim, or we'll have to start putting bromide in your tea.... ;^)
I'm not sure what to make of the iPad, to be honest. Would a photographer want to carry that around just to get a decent size Live-View? It's an extra 1.5lbs in the bag, after all. Still, it's an intriguing idea.
Back in the real world, I can see it being great for viewing DVDs and sharing photographs but I'm not convinced about the market for eBooks - it's much heavier than the average paperback, after all. Where it might find a niche is in the delivery of magazines and newspapers - stuff that usually gets discarded after reading.
OTOH, it might be worth buying up copies of beautifully-printed photographic monographs with half-an-eye on future value... ;-)
Highlight this Comment Paul Arthur28/01/2010, 13:50
I do quite a lot of tethered shooting, and the potential of this device has got be quite excited for that reason (and, well, many others).
It'll be great for showing my portfolio, for showing slideshows and movies and a number of other things I can think of - and all in a much smaller and lighter package that has great battery life. I guess I won't be getting that 3G dongle for my laptop now.
Highlight this Comment David Clapp29/01/2010, 08:44
I can see this being particularly useful for studio shooters, but I would be somewhat worried about taking it around with me.
Considering I can set up a 24mm tilt lens using my 3" Live View with precision, I couldnt see a use personally. Now I have tested these settings I am unlikely to ever need to review Live View.
There are some smaller 7" screens on the market that could fit the bill you are talking about Tim... 7" HDMI external monitor
Highlight this Comment Tim Parkin29/01/2010, 09:33
Hi David,
I totally agree that a larger screen than 3" is not essential, however it would be beautiful :-)
I think the external screens sound good but battery life and tethering make them a bit of a pain. I've seen Philip Bloom using a Marshall monitor and it needed all sorts of mounts and huge batteries. Even a hi-res iphone where you can pinch to zoom in would be cool. I'm mostly interested in using the screen to analyse composition than in getting focus though and a detached, wireless 4-5" screen that behaves like an iphone would be killer..
And stop talking about the 24 tilt/shift - it's very dangerous (could provoke financial damage and spousal abuse)
Highlight this Comment David Clapp29/01/2010, 10:09
The iPhone idea would be the way to go I feel. Again yet another super use for this landmark electronic obsession of mine. It would give so much to the 5DmkII in particular, zooming in and out of the screen at 100% in particular. Checking areas by finger scrolling...
24mm TS-E mk2 - if I had just two lenses in ther landscape it would be this one and the Contax 35-70mm (you must try this adapted lens Tim it will make you double take)
Highlight this Comment Dan Baumbach29/01/2010, 23:27
I actually thought it would make a great portfolio presentation device. Instead of carrying around prints, you just carry you iPad and a bunch of hi-res jpegs.
Highlight this Comment John Robinson03/02/2010, 02:52
I always wanted a larger screen for focusing/composing my images. I get tired of coming home to find what looked great on a tiny 3" screen lacked the same impact when viewed on a 22" monitor.
This post got me thinking though, I always thought the only option, if one wanted a larger viewfinder for viewing/composing/focusing/etc was to tether it up to a laptop pc, is it easier/possible to just hook an external monitor direct to the camera?
I didn't bother going down the tethered route as it all sounded like too much, and a disaster waiting to happen when shooting coastal scenes.
I think a larger screen, if secured to a tripod in a way that it does not hinder or slow us down while making images would actually improve the quality of our work, in terms of both, composition and certainly a step in the right direction to help us produce sharp images in the field.
While David rightly pointed out, we don't 'need' larger screens, I personaly feel when using tilt shift lenses, a larger screen would be an invaluable aid for setting up the plane of sharp focus to a more accurate degree.
So with all that said, what is our best option if our ultimate goal is to simply have a larger, high resolution screen that is compact, can be secured to our tripod, and positioned in way that feels right, an example of this would be the way one would compose using a view camera.
Is the above too much to ask, or have such options always been available?
Highlight this Comment Hamish07/02/2010, 23:04
I suppose if they figured out a way to tether it to a camera and do all you ask (pinch-zoom, touch screen controls etc) then fair enough - a larger viewing surface to be nearly LF-like. You could even stand there with a dark cloth over your head and turn the pad upside-down to make it more authentic (!). Then again is there a need? As mentioned previously live-view on cameras these days seems pretty good (I haven't got it myself but seen it in use), seems that taking an extra bit of kit out into the field is a bit unnecessary. And if you're shooting video some editing may be required. As a presentation device I can see it being useful, to show off images to people, I often show off photos on my iPod touch this way and even use it to watch movies when traveling - I can see the benefit of a larger screen! - but then if you're going to go as far as carry something (that doesn't fit in the pocket) might as well go the whole way and use a laptop - with its bigger screen and hdd and all that... H
Highlight this Comment Thomas Birke09/03/2010, 19:00
I can't wait for the IPad, not to aid my shooting, but to use as a powerful portfolio presentation device. You have a very high dpi screen, like 135 as I recall - and the colours on Apple devices always have been brilliant. So I think it is exactly what I need to make a big impression with potential clients. And it is so easy to slide the images.
greetings, Thomas Birke - http://thomasbirke.comSend us your comments
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