low light photography
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Apple is enlisting iPhone 11 owners to help sell Night mode
Now that the iPhone 11 and 11 Pros have been out for a couple of months, Apple has launched its latest Shot on iPhone challenge. This time around, the company is asking iPhone owners to share their best low-light photos.
Use your iPhone camera to grab Perseids meteor photos
We are in the middle of the Perseids meteor shower over the next couple of days. This particular shower is made up of cosmic debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. The peak nights should be tonight and tomorrow (August 11-12, 2014) , although there are always variables that can cause earlier or later peaks in the number of meteors per hour. There's a very bright moon in the sky over the next couple of nights making this an imperfect year for viewing this event, but with luck, you should be able to get some iPhone photos of the meteors hitting our atmosphere. You might try as soon as you can see stars and before the moon rises at about 9 PM local time, although the frequency of meteors will increase as it gets later and the moon rises higher. The image above shows the long, arc-shaped trails of stars, but you'll notice other streaks that go at odd angles to the star trails. Those are either satellites reflecting light from the sun, or meteors burning up as they hit the earth's upper atmosphere. Take a long enough exposure and capture a lot of meteor trails in a photo, and they'll all appear to be coming from a certain area of the sky, known as the radiant point. You could just aim your iPhone camera and hope to get lucky, but that's not likely to work very well. The best way to capture those meteors as they streak through the atmosphere is to use an app that lets you take long exposures. A tripod mount to keep the iPhone stationary is a good idea, or you can set your iPhone flat on a table or blanket that gives you a good overhead view of the sky. This shower is centered near the constellation of Perseus in the Northeast, so you could point your iPhone that direction, but meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. One app that should work well for this purpose is NightCap Pro. This US$1.99 app has a variety of night shooting modes that will help you get that meteor shot. App creator Chris Wood suggests that you put your iPhone in Airplane Mode (Settings > Airplane Mode > On), then set NightCap Pro to Night Mode and then Light Trails Mode. Focusing on stars isn't easy, so pick something shadowed in the distance on the horizon to focus on and then lock the focus using the appropriate control in the app. Tap the shutter button and hope for the best. When you are done, tap the shutter button again to end the exposure. You can capture those dim photons for several minutes, but the longer the exposure, the more the moon will blot out the sky. You'll get better pictures away from city lights, but again, the moon will still be a bright distraction. Other apps that can take time exposures are Shutter+ (free with in-app purchases), Light Camera (free with in-app purchases) and Slow Shutter Cam ($0.99). The Perseids meteor shower is among the most reliable for watching those fast, bright streaks of light, but the next big one coming, the Orionids in October, will have only a sliver of moon so you can get another try if the Perseids don't work out well. There's a detailed list of yearly meteor events available from the American Meteor Society. Good hunting!
Engadget visits Nokia House wrap-up: Stephen Elop Q&A, Lumia 920 camera tests and more
It's been a whirlwind week of all things Nokia for our Engadget crew here in Helsinki, Finland. With a (nearly) all access pass to the company's glass House in Espoo, we brought you a very candid, very live Q&A with CEO Stephen Elop -- recorded for posterity with the Lumia 920 -- as well as in-depth proofs of that handset's game-changing rear camera module. From side-by-side low light comparison shots with other leading smartphones to optical image stabilization tests and even a peek behind the Finnish outfit's R&D practices, we've got it all. So, if you haven't had time to catch up with this flurry of pre-launch news from behind the blue velvet rope, now's your chance. Just click on past the break for the full recap.
iPhone 5 camera gets tested in Iceland, panorama and low-light comparison with iPhone 4S included
Sure, we tested the iPhone 5's camera in the well-lit streets of New York City, but if you're wondering how Apple's latest functions when used primarily as a shooter, TREK has a pretty remarkable look. Photog Austin Mann and a few of his closest pals took a pair of iPhone 5s to Iceland following launch weekend in a bid to test the unit's durability, capability and image quality next to the 4S. After two days of geyser spray and admitted "drops in mud," the uncovered 5 seemed to be a-okay, and when it comes to output from the sensor, that's worthy of praise as well. The low-light capabilities of the 5 are perhaps the most impressive upgrade compared to the 4S, with much less noise seen in shots from the former. He also gushed over the panorama mode, which admittedly churned out some pretty seamless results of the Icelandic countryside. As for shutter speed? That too has been "significantly" improved over the 4S. He interestingly noted that Snapseed was acting a bit wonky with iOS 6, but one has to wonder how much smoothing will be done by the Nik team now that Google's calling the shots. Hit the source link below for the full rundown, comparisons included, and a video that shows how the iPhone 5 reacts after sunset.
Nikon D800 studio samples posted at DPReview (update: 5D Mark III studio sample added)
Nikon faced some backlash following the announcement of its D800 DSLR, due both to the camera's potentially excessive 36.3-megapixel resolution and its relatively limited top sensitivity of ISO 25,600. Then, less than one month later, Canon revealed its own mid-range full-frame cam -- the 5D Mark III -- with a 22.3-megapixel sensor, and an option to shoot at ISO 102,400. Both models appeal to the same market of professional photographers, but with vastly different specs, which is the better pick? Low-light shooters will likely base part of that decision on high-ISO capabilities, and after reviewing samples from both cameras, there appears to be a winner.DPReview spent some time with the D800, and we took the Canon for a spin last week. We scaled the D800 sample down to 22.3 megapixels to match the 5D, then pasted a 300-by-400 1:1 pixel section from each camera side-by-side in the image above. The D800 JPEG (on the left) appears to be the noisier of the two, which seems logical, considering that Nikon opted to boost the camera's resolution instead of its sensitivity. Still, the cam's top-ISO is quite usable, and if you plan to shoot in a studio setting or can live without a six-digit sensitivity, the D800 will likely suit you just fine. Hit up our source link for samples shot at the full ISO range, including full-res downloads, to make that call for yourself.Update: We've replaced the Canon sample with a studio shot from DPReview, which provides a more accurate comparison. You can find images from both cameras at our source links below.
Canon's 8-inch CMOS sensor can record SPACE at 60fps
For whatever reason, Canon seemed more concerned with showing off its engineering prowess than finding a use for the giant 8-inch CMOS sensor it created last year. Fortunately, the super-powerful snapper has found its way into the 105-centimeter Schmidt Telescope at the University of Tokyo's Kiso Observatory. The sensor's size makes it a perfect fit to record in low-light; capturing the wonders of the universe in 0.3 lux at 60 fps. The University will premiere footage from the experiment, possibly with nibbles, after September 19th -- presumably in a theater with a blanket ban on people muttering the introduction to Star Trek as it plays.
AIST shows off full-color night vision camera, well lit Bullwinkle figurine (video)
You might know them for seemingly ridiculous innovations like Segway shoes or the HRP-4C pop star robot, but the folks at AIST have put away the gimmicks for their latest invention -- a full-color night vision camera. Produced by Nanolux, an arm of AIST, the camera uses a series of algorithms to read and process wavelengths reflected by objects lit with infrareds, allowing it to successfully reproduce reds, blues, and greens in the darkest of conditions. The company hopes to make the device available by the end of 2011 at a price point lower than conventional night vision cameras, and says they will work with different lenses to improve long-range photography for the device. Such an invention could have serious implications for fields like surveillance and wildlife observation, but fear not, AIST hasn't lost its sense of humor -- the company used a Bullwinkle figurine rotating on a Lazy Susan to demo its latest invention at Printable Electronics 2011. Check out the video after the jump.
