I was late to the party.
Two years ago I switched. I had been a long time Microsoft and Blackberry advocate. It just made sense. All of the my colleagues were the same. Everyone, it seemed, were the same. Everyone, except my kids. Once I stopped purchasing their equipment, one-by-one they slowly converted to the Apple laptops and iPhones. I was the last holdout. They kept raving about their phones and laptops. How easy they were to use. How much fun they were to use. How integrated they were. And, how helpful all of the phone apps were.
I had no choice. I had become the anomaly. I had to switch. First, the office switched. Now I work on a 27″ iMac. I anticipated a lengthy learning curve. I stumbled for an hour or two until I mastered the navigation but then it was smooth sailing. I thought I might loose some functionality. If anything, I gained some, particularly with the presentation and photo tools. Then, I purchased a 13″ MacBook Pro for home. And, finally, I purchased an iPhone 5C. I thought I would miss the BB keyboard. The touch screen keyboard was awkward at first but now that I have developed the right finger weight, I am just as fast. And, like my kids, I love the products and would not switch back.
I like a lot about the iPhone but what has impressed me most is the functionality and quality of the camera. I take it with me on all my rides and have been testing it under different lighting conditions. Difficult lighting conditions. Bright sunlight. Back lighting. Indoors. Outdoors. Low light. Shadows. Reflections.
I took a lot of selfies. Not because I like to look at myself. Or, because I thought anyone else would be interested. No. I was simply a convenient subject and frequently found myself in difficult lighting situations. I took selfies everywhere. I have shared a few above along with several scenes with difficult lighting.
On the weekend, I was putting a family slideshow together to share over the holidays. It included photos taken with both my compact camera and the iPhone. To my surprise, you couldn’t tell them apart. In fact, because the iPhone is easier to use, its images were consistently better. Better exposure. And, better composition. That becomes the focus. You don’t have to think about settings. You simply point and shoot.
I am not a photography neophyte. No. I am actually university trained and, at one point, considered a career in the field. I do have cameras that produce better results but I seldom use them these days. They are too big and heavy to cart around. Whereas, I always have my cell phone on me, particularly when I cycle.
I understand the iPhone 6 camera is even better. If you are still listening Santa, I am anxious to try it.
PedalWORKS 