Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Taking a picture with your cell phone

  1. #1
    Moderator cchataway's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Just North of San Antonio, Texas
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    310
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 49 Times in 44 Posts

    Taking a picture with your cell phone

    Just a FYI for anyone taking a picture with their iPhone or Smartphone, if you will hold your phone in the wide stance (top of phone in your left hand and the bottom of your phone in your right hand) you are now going to take a picture in what is called 16.9:1 aspect ratio or "WIDESCREEN". Getting tired of seeing those black bars on the left and right side of your picture when you look at the pics on your computer monitor or that nice new widescreen TV you have? Those black bars are because you are holding your phone like you are going to talk on it. Those black bars are from shooting your picture in "PORTRAIT MODE" or 4.3:1 aspect ratio, when you hold your phone in the top and bottom left and right position that is called "LANDSCAPE MODE" or 16.9:1 here is what I'm talking about;
    Name:  20150509_162724.jpg
Views: 628
Size:  96.8 KB
    this will produce a widescreen 16.9:1 picture NO BLACK BARS.

    holding your phone to take a picture like this is taking the picture in the "PORTRAIT MODE" and you'll have black bars on the left and right of your picture in 4.3:1 full screen.
    Name:  20150509_162743.jpg
Views: 572
Size:  95.6 KB

    Let me give a little background on me;
    I have a Masters degree in Cinematography with a discipline in Film and Television production. I graduated from USC The University of Southern California. For the past 23 years I have owned a video production company, I employee thirty-two folks and we make documentaries, film weddings, Quinceanera's, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, commercials and depositions for the municipal, state and federal court systems.

    The best way to get a successful picture posted is to export your picture to your computers desktop where you can make sure it is oriented correctly for uploading to the forum. If you don't have a computer and you live your complete ethernet existence on a cell phone then when you take a picture where ever the picture is stored if you select the pic to make it large then go to the menu for that picture you should find a control for rotating the pic left or right. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and my wife has a iPhone 5S on the iPhone choose the picture from "PHOTO" then"ALBUMS" choose the album that holds the picture you want to post, touch the picture to make it large then touch the "EDIT" tab the white part of the screen will turn black and at the bottom of the screen you'll see two opposing "V's" to make a square touch that and then you will see a square with a curved arrow going over the top right corner of the square, touch that until your picture is oriented correctly for posting.

    Computers are so inexpensive these days that if you don't have one you should get one. If you have a hard time getting credit for whatever reason then look at Aarons Rents or Rent-A-Center where I believe you can own a lap top
    like a Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Series 2-in-1. in 12 months for $89.99 a month and if you don't like it until those twelve months are up you're just renting it. A friend of mine who has no credit gets everything from Aarons or Rent a center. Your electronic life will be so much easier with a computer.

    If anyone needs help with pictures or video please don't hesitate to contact me, I'll help you either here or via email or on the phone.


    Last edited by cchataway; 05-09-2015 at 10:21 PM.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to cchataway For This Useful Post:

    outtahours (05-31-2015)

  3. #2
    Senior Member chris_top_her's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    san antonio
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    104
    Thanks
    19
    Thanked 27 Times in 17 Posts
    ou can get a used laptop for $100-200 off ebay, or local pc shops. Tehey may have xp or vista, but for people that abrely use a PC, they usually are not a bad deal.

  4. #3
    Moderator cchataway's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Just North of San Antonio, Texas
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    310
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 49 Times in 44 Posts
    chris_top_her I totally agree with you and you get what you pay for on the norm. The suggestion in the post was for warranty and new, but you are absolutely right. Good Luck with everything!!

  5. #4
    Moderator cchataway's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Just North of San Antonio, Texas
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    310
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 49 Times in 44 Posts
    And chris_top_her won't you post a picture of your Mirage for us to see or even better all your toys!

  6. #5
    Senior Member 3dplane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    USA Florida
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    291
    Thanks
    82
    Thanked 288 Times in 141 Posts
    Hey Carl thanks for the tips! I will use them when one day my current non-smart phone takes a dump and I will have to get a smart phone!

    Still I hope it's ok to share some pics I took with my current phone which has a basic 2 MP camera with 4X digital zoom, some control over light sensetivity and a timer for the shutter. (no shutter speed control unfortunately)

    I added a plastic ring around the lens made out of a piece of 3/4" pvc pipe turned down to the correct diameter to fit inside the eyepiece of my telescope. This makes my phone just a few millimeters thicker but I can take pics through the telescope.

    My telescope is a relatively inexpensive (120 dollars) reflector type with a 5" (127mm) mirror in it.

    Ever look up at night? (or even before the sun goes down?)

    Here is my best shot at Jupiter in daylight:

    Name:  150501_0009.jpg
Views: 459
Size:  51.5 KB

    Very hard to find it in daylight but the bright background light provides a fast shutter speed so there is some detail left on the image like the two main wheather bands are visible on the above pic.

    Here is Jupiter at night with two of it's moons visible above it and one below,but Jupiter itself is just a bright spot now with no detail visible:

    Name:  131101_0000.jpg
Views: 572
Size:  26.8 KB

    Here is Saturn:

    Name:  140708_0010.jpg
Views: 731
Size:  27.9 KB

    Our moon:

    Name:  131107_0005.jpg
Views: 554
Size:  72.2 KB

    Name:  131208_0028.jpg
Views: 574
Size:  73.6 KB

    They look a LOT better with your own eyes on the telescope. There is motion blur involved here when taking a picture at these zoom levels.
    Aim the scope ahead of the object as it streaks across the screen (Earth's rotation),set the timer for 5 seconds which allows the vibration to stop after pushing the shutter button and hope for the best

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 66.3 mpg (US) ... 28.2 km/L ... 3.5 L/100 km ... 79.7 mpg (Imp)


  7. The Following User Says Thank You to 3dplane For This Useful Post:

    R01k (05-30-2015)

  8. #6
    Moderator cchataway's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Just North of San Antonio, Texas
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    310
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 49 Times in 44 Posts
    3dplane, for what you did with your cell phone camera is pretty impressive! Here is a good rule of thumb when buying a camera or cell phone; Look for Optical Zoom or OIS: If taking a lot of photos from far away subjects is important to you, be sure that the camera you buy has an optical zoom. An optical zoom is a true zoom lens, like the zoom lens you’d use on a film camera. They produce much better-quality images.

    Digital zoom: Some cameras offer a digital zoom, which is simply some in-camera image processing. When you use a digital zoom, the camera enlarges the image area at the center of the frame and trims away the outside edges of the picture. The result is the same as when you open an image in your photo-editing program, crop away the edges of the picture, and then enlarge the remaining portion of the photo.

    Enlarging the “zoomed” area also enlarges the pixels and reduces the image resolution and the image quality. If the camera or cell phone has both optical and digital zoom remember this the zoom will be good through the optical (Thru the lens) zoom portion but as soon as you get into the digital zoom (image manipulation) your image starts deteriorating.

    When your time comes for a new cell phone and you want to take pictures with it then look for a cell that has OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) Like your picture of Jupiter, the telescope probably had a good image of the planet, however by zooming your cell phone camera lens to the max you digitized the image creating excess pixilation and degrading the image as represented by your photo.

    The Apple iPhone 6Plus has a video resolution of only 1920x1080 at 30fps or 60fps which is good video resolution and the still camera is just 8MP with a f/2.2 aperture but the camera has OIS.

    The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge has a 16MP still camera with a f/2.4 aperture and the video is 3840x2160 @ 30fps, 2560x1440 @ 30/60fps, 1920x1080 @ 30/60fps and 1280x720 @ 60fps for YouTube or Vimeo direct upload and all resolutions are at 16:9.1 aspect ratio. So bottom line is check the specs before buying especially if you plan to take a lot of still pictures or video with your phone.

    Here is an example of cell phone stills made into video. This couple was a client of mine, shot their wedding and reception video, the groom works for NASA hence the space shots in the video, but all the still photos were taken with a Apple iPhone 5S on their honeymoon. The video segments are from a wedding I shot in California and after the wedding I traveled around capturing some "B" stock footage. Be sure your speakers are on and the better your sound system is the better the video will sound. The video is best viewed with a high speed internet connection, you can start the video then pause it and let it load if you are on DSL then start watching and if your computer cannot handle high definition video then just click the "HD" so it's not illuminated and you can watch it in standard definition (which will be such an injustice!!! LOL)

    https://vimeo.com/104170184

    I hope you enjoy the video of San Fransisco and if you like check out some of my other videos across the top. If I can help with video production in any way don't hesitate to contact me.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to cchataway For This Useful Post:

    3dplane (05-15-2015)

  10. #7
    Moderator cchataway's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Just North of San Antonio, Texas
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    310
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 49 Times in 44 Posts
    3dplane, here is something you might want to check into for your current phone and/or when you get a new phone;

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Ad...8/N/3939743107

    Name:  1035837.jpg
Views: 367
Size:  38.6 KB

    this is a lens you can affix to your cell phone for better more accurate photos. One of my frat brothers uses one of these and just carries it in his pocket for when needed, I have bought a ton of merchandise from this company and they only deal in quality merchandise and their customer service is impeccable.

    What you have done is impressive the lens, I believe will only enhance what you already do. The prices are great, no tax and free shipping.

  11. #8
    Senior Member 3dplane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    USA Florida
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    291
    Thanks
    82
    Thanked 288 Times in 141 Posts
    Thanks Carl!

    Yes BHphoto is great,that's where the telescope came from,plus several other optical items I got from them!

    The fisheye/macro attachement reminds me of the fact that my current phone's closeup focus is so bad that every time I want to take a picture of the display on the Mirage's cluster, I have to hold a magnifying glass between the phone and the display or the numbers are unreadable.
    Of course this now introduces reflections off of the magnifying glass...it can be so much 'fun' sometimes just to take a picture.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 66.3 mpg (US) ... 28.2 km/L ... 3.5 L/100 km ... 79.7 mpg (Imp)


  12. #9
    Moderator cchataway's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Just North of San Antonio, Texas
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    310
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 49 Times in 44 Posts
    3dplane, I ran across this which might just suit your needs and not expensive either;

    https://stacksocial.com/sales/3-in-1...als+Newsletter

  13. #10
    Я R01k's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    US
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    544
    Thanks
    161
    Thanked 87 Times in 64 Posts
    3dplane, your pics are stunning.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 37.6 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.3 L/100 km ... 45.2 mpg (Imp)


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •