Will it turn off?

[Updated see below]

Until we get our hands on the new iPhone 4, there are many questions that we as iPhographers might need to know

So here is an open question to Apple or any developer that may know the answer (you can reply via our contact page)

” We believe that the new LED flash in the iPhone is activated via an ambient light sensor. Will this feature be able to be turned off eg. via settings? “

So some of you iPhographers may be wondering why this is so important for us to know. Well 5 potential reasons

1. If your anything like me you would rather catch the ambience of the real moment rather than introduce new lighting even if it results in a dim grainy picture & that a light that was not there before would completely change your entire memories of that moment
2. Smoke & Mirrors. No we’re not talking about a magic trick but rather when smoke or fog or haze is present, any light between the lens and the the subject will light up the particles in the air and obscure the subject. That’s why so many peoples photos at rock concerts etc with their point-&-click camera produce bad photos where you cant seem to see more than 3 feet because the flash has lit up the air. Also mirrors. Now I know that you will be able to take self portraits of yourself with the forward facing camera but (a) it’s low resolution compared to the rear camera. (b) If the millions of iPhographs we see of girls taking their photo in the mirror is anything to go by, then there are going to be many annoyed girls with images of a bright light reflecting & obscuring their faces in the mirror
3. Battery life - an LED coming on often we assume will drastically reduce its battery life 
4. We don’t don’t know the answer to this one but will pose it anyway. Does LED lights produce red-eye, or are they not powerful enough? Is it a warm or cool coloured light?
5. Its hard enough getting pictures of my friends when we are out as it is. Capturing those funny candid moments when your at a party or having a night on the town is pretty much the only time I get to see them, ie. in dimly lit places at night. But giving them even more opportunity to duck when I take an iPhograph means I’ll either need to get some less chicken friends or take a different camera out with me

I know we have said before that it is limitations that inspire creativity, but this is definitely one limitation I hope we can do without

An example of an iPhograph that wouldn’t have worked if there was flash light in the foreground. Notice the stage lights lighting the fog.
iPhograph © Funky Love Bunny

[Update] As we don’t have a test model yet, we can’t verify but we believe from various stories we have seen that the light can be switched to on, off or automatic.

We knew all along

We knew all along that you could get great shots from an iPhone, but thought that there was a bit of coincedence when we saw the sample gallery for the iPhone 4’s new camera.

So we give a shout out to Dixon Hamby who is one of our exhibitors at the ‘1 is enough’ exhibition.

Have a look at Dixon’s exhibit ( http://1isenough.com/dixonhamby ) , then visit the sample gallery at Apple.com & decide for yourself if great minds think alike :) 

PS We are still on the hunt for 100 of the worlds best iPhographers for the 1 is enough exhibition. Are you a great iPhographer? Then jump on over to 1isenough.com for more info on how you can submit or just to have a look at all of the great exhibits so far

Did the leaked iPhone 4 prototype spoil todays unveiling?

NOT at all!!

Gizmodo’s recent posting of an almost identical prototype was thought to take the shine off Apple’s unveiling today at the WWDC Keynote. But I can tell you it absolutely didn’t for me. Why? Just the sheer breath taking quality of design & attention to detail never fails to amaze me. It truly is an engineering marvel (more details in another post)

I have no qualms going all fanboy over this one. It’s beautiful, it’s smart, it’s useful & as soon as we are able to get our hands on one in Australia & test it, we will be updating the wish list for the iPhone on our about page. I have a feeling its gonna be a short wish list now.

I love the 3GS iPhones we have here but as we mentioned before it was only a small update that didn’t really wow us & that we felt if you had time left on your contract you were best to wait. But with the iPhone 4, I think that I’d sell my grandmother to upgrade (Not really Nana, you still win out over the iPhone)

If you haven’t got an iPhone & you were thinking about it, this is definitely the time to get one. It’s not just an upgrade but rather like a completely new iPhone

It leaves you thinking 3 things

1. How quickly can I get my hands on one of these or upgrade
2. White or black?
3. I can’t wait to see that beautiful new screen & play with the camera

We will over the next few days be exploring the new iPhone 4 when more information becomes available

iPhone OS4 now iOS 4

iPhone OS has had a name change to reflect it’s multi device compatibility, being able to run on iPhones, iPads & iPods.

The new iOS 4 will be released June 21st and will be a free upgrade for iPhone and iPod touch owners

Not all features are compatible with all devices. For example, multitasking is available only with iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS

With over 100 new features, there is too much to list but here are a few that might be of interest to iPhographers

• Multitasking - Able to use more than 1 app at a time & jump straight back to the app your using. Also even when you quit an app it can continue processes. great for us avid iPhograph editors
• Tap to focus video
• 5 x Digital zoom. obviously this is not optical so it will degrade the quality slightly
• Folders so you can manage up to 2160 apps
  
• Wallpaper for your homescreen
• Faces & places sorting in photos. I am really keen to see if iPhographs re synced to your library are still small & super grainy. I would love the option of being able to put higher quality versions back on the iPhone so they can be edited after they are no longer in the camera roll or if they were shot on another camera. I still dont quite understand why the smaller photos in your library have to be soooooo grainy. No info as to whether you can tag iPhographs on the iPhone, one of our wishes, instead of having to do it at the desktop/laptop on iPhoto
• Send apps as gifts to your family and friends. This might be a great way for us here at iPhography to be able to test your apps without sending us broke, seeing as promo codes only work in the America

And one more thing… :P

iMovie will be available on iPhone 4 to edit your 720p x 30fps HD movies. $4.99 USD

Also you may want to grab a copy of Safari 5 the worlds fastest internet browser available today