I love digital photography, but I am by no means an expert shooter. I have a pretty good Samsung mirrorless camera with a few lenses. I've done some reading and research. I've taken an online course, and I've spent some time practicing. I know enough to be able to pick a lens that will work for a situation and put the camera in manual, adjust the settings, and get a usable picture out of it. Still, sometimes it can be a lot of trouble for a little bit of result. Sometimes you come up completely empty.
This is EXACTLY the reason why mobile photography completely killed off point and shoot cameras and relegated higher-end equipment to enthusiasts like myself and professionals. The cameras that you get with the iPhone 8 and X, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 and the Google Pixel 2 are nothing short of amazing at this point and the majority of people don't need anything else to get not just good, but consistently great pictures. They require far less work to set up and take a shot, and more importantly, they are ALWAYS with us.
The iPhone X continues a long line of photographic success that extends back to the iPhone 4. The original iPhone had a mediocre camera, even by 2008 comparisons and the 3G and 3GS were only marginally better. It wasn't until the iPhone 4 that Apple got really serious about cameras, and they have steadily improved ever since. The dual lens iPhone 7 Plus is evidence of Apple's continued commitment to keep moving forward and stay with the leaders of the pack in mobile photography.
I loved the dual lens camera on my iPhone 7 Plus and I got a lot of great pictures with that setup. You can see a few I took while testing the Ztylus Switch6 and Revolver camera lens cases out this Summer on a trip to New Orleans here, here, and here. However, the iPhone X takes all that the 7 Plus could do a solid step further by adding a faster telephoto lens with image stabilization in a markedly smaller package.
We had a fairly dreary weekend here in the Memphis area, and the Fall colors are late coming in this year. However, I still couldn't pass up an opportunity to put the iPhone X's camera to the test. The rain held off yesterday, so my daughter and I headed to Arkabutla Lake, which is about a 20 minute drive from the house, and took some pictures. I am posting them here, unedited and uncropped. I'm also not going to try to explain what is good, or potentially not so good about them. Just take them as they are and see what you think.
While none of these pictures particularly features the camera as much as I would like, it still performed very well with the shots it was given. There were very few duds from this excursion. The colors in the photos are natural and accurate. Also, the X does a better job than its predecessors of dealing with bright backlighting and sun breaks in the clouds without completely blowing out the colors in the sky. I did have one really great Portrait Mode picture of my daughter, but I would rather not post that publicly since she is a minor, so I have omitted it. It was by far the best picture of all, though.
Battery life update
After a little concern over the first weekend, things were looking up today. I worked all day in a signal-challenged hospital and used my phone constantly. When I left around 5 PM, my phone was still over 50%, which came as a surprise. That's a marked improvement from the first two days, and it has stayed consistent since I got home, as well, I charged the phone during my drive home and was at 74% when I arrived. I am still at 64% a four hours later,
Improvement is to be expected, but I wasn't sure just how much of an uptick I would see. If this is the battery life that I get consistently from here on out, I will be very happy.
That's all for this installment. I will be back tomorrow with some more iPhone X goodness. As always, if you have any questions or comments about the iPhone X, feel free to reach out in the Comments section below, on Flipboard, on our Facebook page, or on Twitter @iPadInsightBlog.
Source: Living with the iPhone X- Rear Facing Cameras
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