Published earlier today and already discovered by AppleInsider, a new patent from Apple seems to show that the Cupertino company would like to put swappable lenses in future iPhones. The camera in the iPhone 4S is already great, it was even used all by itself for an editorial fashion shoot, but there is always room to improve in creative ways and swappable lenses are certainly uncharted territory for a camera phone.
A sample from the patent reads:
It would be desirable to provide a structure for a compact device that allows the end user to reconfigure the optical arrangement of the device while retaining the benefits of assembling the device using a pre-assembled digital imaging subsystem
Apple would achieve this by using a removable back pannel. They may even take it one step further and create a panel complete with multiple lenses. Sure, a patent doesn’t necessarily mean a product is coming in the near future, but if Apple are looking to compete with the updates coming to the Lumias, and re-establish themselves as “game changers” in the world of phonetography, then this is definitely one way to do it.
(via AppleInsider)
PHOTOS USING THE IPHONE 4S
TECH SPECS OF THE IPHONE 4S
Dynamic range
The retina has a static contrast ratio of around 100:1 (about 6.5 f-stops). As soon as the eye moves (saccades) it re-adjusts its exposure both chemically and geometrically by adjusting the iris which regulates the size of the pupil. Initial dark adaptation takes place in approximately four seconds of profound, uninterrupted darkness; full adaptation through adjustments in retinal chemistry (thePurkinje effect) are mostly complete in thirty minutes. Hence, a dynamic contrast ratio of about 1,000,000:1 (about 20 f-stops) is possible.[4] The process is nonlinear and multifaceted, so an interruption by light merely starts the adaptation process over again. Full adaptation is dependent on good blood flow; thus dark adaptation may be hampered by poor circulation, and vasoconstrictors like tobacco.[citation needed]
The eye includes a lens not dissimilar to lenses found in optical instruments such as cameras and the same principles can be applied. The pupil of the human eye is its aperture; the iris is the diaphragm that serves as the aperture stop. Refraction in the cornea causes the effective aperture (the entrance pupil) to differ slightly from the physical pupil diameter. The entrance pupil is typically about 4 mm in diameter, although it can range from 2 mm (f/8.3) in a brightly lit place to 8 mm (f/2.1) in the dark. The latter value decreases slowly with age, older people's eyes sometimes dilate to not more than 5-6mm.[citation needed]
[edit]Field of view
The approximate field of view of a human eye is 95° out, 75° down, 60° in, 60° up.[clarification needed] About 12–15° temporal and 1.5° below the horizontal is the optic nerve or blind spot which is roughly 7.5° high and 5.5° wide.[5]
Accommodation of the lens
A change in the curvature of the lens, accommodation is carried out by the ciliary muscles surrounding the lens contracting. This narrows the diameter of the ciliary body, relaxes the fibers of the suspernsory ligament, and allows the lens to relax into a more convex shape. A more convex lens refracts light more strongly and focuses divergent light rays onto the retina allowing for closer objects to be brought into focus.[54][55]
TEN BEST IPHONE APPS
There are hundreds of photo apps out there (I should know…I think I bought most of them) that take your iPhoneography to the next level. I’ve picked top 10 camera apps for iPhone, but then I realized that there is so much more to taking pictures on the iPhone than just taking pictures, so as a bonus I’ve included my top 4 favorite apps to edit and enhance photos just to round things out.
Let’s get started…- Camera+ $0.99. This is my go-to app to take pictures. I wish I could set it as my default camera app. What’s great? The in-app photo edits and fast sharing. Yeah, man.
- 360 Panorama $0.99. Want to make easy, peasy awesome looking panorama shots? Here you go. You’re welcome.
- GridLens $0.99. What to take a series of shots laid out in a cool frame or grid? This is the app. Maybe one picture divided or several different shots over a few seconds, it’s just tap and go.
- Hipstamatic $1.99. One of the leading “toy camera” app to let you give your iPhone shots different looks with software lenses, filters, and films. Its’ cool.
- Retro Camera Plus Free. This is a simple way to get those Hipstamtic style shots without spending a penny. I really like the Soviet-era camera styles included. Gritty and real is what those shots are, gritty and real.
- Snapseed $4.99. This might be the most expensive of these apps, but it’s also the one with the most robust editing suite as well. It’s like Camera+ meets iPhoto. Bonus…it’s a universal app that is awesome on the iPad too.
- Mattebox $3.99. Maybe a little pricy for a “basic” camera app, but the focus lock, white balance, and ISO displays make this a nice app for taking well composed shots.
- Instagram Free. Instagram is more than a photo app (or a Facebook property) it made photo sharing more social. Snap, tweak, share. Feel the love.
- Camera Awesome Free. From the folks at SmugMug, this app focuses (hah, hah) on composition and processing to make for great shots. Hey it is free, so always worth a try.
- 8mm Vintage Camera $1.99. This is the only pure video app in the list. What you get is an easy way to shoot “vintage” looking movies with your iPhone. It’s easy and the results are awesome.
And, of course, let’s not forget the default app — Camera. It’s the app that you can get to quickly from the lock screen. Just because Apple included it with your iPhone doesn’t make it any less of a great app. Grid overlay, HDR pictures, and even focus/exposure lock (tap and hold on a spot until the square pulses). It’s a solid app folks.
Editing, tweaking, and extra:
