# iPhone 5 Camera and HDR



## Culprit (Nov 8, 2013)

Last week I read up on HDR here in Scott's thread and tried it with my Canon point and shoot SX130is with hacked firmware to do the auto bracketing, then download the 3 pictures to my computer and process them through the Photomatix software.

The results were pretty good, but it was time consuming, required my laptop, and I still needed to improve some things, including my white balance and other settings on the camera.

So today, I took a different approach: iPhone 5 on a tripod with the Pro HDR app for $1.99.  My photo tent/light box idea came from mmayo's thread using a $10 light diffuser from a fluorescent light fixture, but I spent even less time putting mine together than he did.  You'll see what I mean in the second picture below.  Don't laugh.  It's cheap and offers quick set up and take down.  What you don't see in the picture is the scrap of 2x6 and strip of duct tape holding the paper up, and the two $7 clamp on lights from Lowe's, each with a $5 5000k daylight bulb aimed at the diffuser.

The tripod is one that I carried across 4 continents for over 10 years now and cost $5-10 when new.  The iPhone tripod adapter is an idea from YouTube.  I had the $4.50 clamp, so I replaced the pivot bolt with a 1/4-20 size, and used a coupler to attach it to the tripod.  The balance is questionable, but it works.

So here is the first picture I took with my fancy new setup.  The exif data says it was f 2.4, 1/40 sec, ISO 64, but I wouldn't know that because the camera did it all for me.  I didn't even play with the 5 or so sliders that it gives you after blending the 2 HDR exposures.  I cropped the picture right in the $1.99 Pro HDR app.












For new folks who want to get decent looking pictures cheaply, this setup cost less than $50 for the diffuser, two lights, two bulbs, tripod, clamp, bolt, and coupler.  iPhone, table saw, white paper, duct tape and scrap of 2x6 sold separately.

I'm happy with the results.  Please let me know what you think.  The pen is a CSUSA Panache with Locust wood and CA finished with MicroMesh and Hut Plastic Polish.


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## Kretzky (Nov 8, 2013)

Just proves the point, you do not need an expensive slr camera & lenses to take a good pic. Great idea, well executed & as you said pretty cheap.
Good Job :highfive:


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## OZturner (Nov 8, 2013)

A fantastic sharp clear photograph, good depth of field,
What else do you need?
The pen looks great, I would like to see it assembled to see the waisting.
Fit and Finish are Superb.
Looks Fantastic.
Congratulations and Thanks,
Brian


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## jyreene (Nov 8, 2013)

Nice set up. Quick and easy. And yet it's like the inception of photography. We must go deeper.


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## SDB777 (Nov 8, 2013)

Awesome!!   What does the table saw and 2x6 bring the total package to??  The light tent makes sense, and the bulbs you picked up are great for the 'tone' of the photo.


BTW, there are times I would like to put my iPhone in a clamp and just keep squeezing!






Scott (expanding the HDR....awesome) B


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## Culprit (Nov 8, 2013)

Thanks, guys. 

Brian, I'll post a capped pic when I get home tonight. 

Scott, even with the table saw and 2x6 the whole setup is still cheaper than an iPhone without a contract.  Which actually is about the price of a DSLR and kit lens.  Funny, I never thought of it like that before.  I can't say I've ever wanted to put my iPhone in a vise and keep squeezing, but I sure would like to put Steve Jobs' successor in one and keep squeezing.  Dumping Google maps for Apple maps still has me bitter.  I use the Google maps app, but it's a pain not having it as the integrated app that automatically opens when you click on an address. 

I think I'll spend another $12 on the way home today for another light and bulb.  I think I need a third one up high to help with the shadows. 


Semper Fidelis, Gunny.  Happy birthday a couple days early!


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## Culprit (Nov 8, 2013)

Brian, here's what it looks like capped.


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## WIDirt (Nov 8, 2013)

For those of you with android phones, you can get a free HDR app at the Play store. I have a Canon 20d, and I take more pictures with my Note than I do with it, because I can instantly use HDR on my 8MP phone......

Go figure.


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## OOPS (Nov 8, 2013)

I must say this is impressive.  First, this is one of the nicer "do-it-yourself" light tents I have seen, as it really produced a result which is above average.  Second, its impressive because I never thought I would see such a nice result with a phone camera, even an iPhone.  So I must say, congrats to you for such an eye opening post. 

NOW...... there is no excuse for those of you who shoot photos of your pen with a cell phone camera, where we aren't sure if we're looking at a writing instrument or the surface of the moon!  (little pen turning humor here, but some of you, come on.....)

I do have a question, however.  You said that you are using HDR software apps to get these results.  Did you find that using the HDR was necessary?  Does it really offer a superior result?  

Thanks again for this informative post.


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## OZturner (Nov 9, 2013)

Culprit said:


> Brian, here's what it looks like capped.


Thanks Josuha,
That looks fantastic, I had trouble trying to guess the impact of the two curved sections.
Inspiring
Congratulations,
Brian


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## Culprit (Nov 9, 2013)

Thanks, guys!

Oops asked if the HDR was necessary. To be honest, I haven't tried the iPhone on a tripod with the photo tent without HDR.  After reading Scott and mmayo's threads last week I just jumped in and did it all at once. I'll try it in normal shooting mode and show the results here. I'll also try the iPhone's organic HDR capability and show it also.  Even if it is as good as the Pro HDR app, the app still gives you the five sliders to tweak things right there in the app.  The iPhone camera app just gives you one enhance button.  Both allow you to crop.  Pro HDR also allows you to add text and frames.


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## Culprit (Nov 12, 2013)

OOPS asked if using HDR on the iPhone was necessary; if it gave a better result than normal shooting mode.  Here are the results:

I took the following 6 pictures all with the iPhone 5 on a tripod.  Nothing was changed between shots: the lighting, camera position, tripod, light diffuser, or pen.  The only thing that changed between shots was the slip of paper in each shot telling what camera settings were used.  The iPhone 5 camera is a fixed aperture, so all shots are f 2.4.  The camera flash was not used in any of the pictures.  Each picture was cropped to approximately the same area.

The 6 different camera settings used were:

iPhone 5 native camera app, normal mode
iPhone 5 native camera app, normal mode with auto-enhance on
iPhone 5 native camera app in HDR mode
iPhone 5 native camera app in HDR mode with auto-enhance on
iPhone 5 Pro HDR app
iPhone 5 Pro HDR app, with 5 sliders tweaked































One drawback to using the 4' x 2' $10 flurescent light fixture diffuser as a quick and cheap photo tent is the funky reflection on the metal near the bolt end of the pen.  You can see the pattern of the cheese-grater-like texture of the plastic diffuser.  I may be able to move the lights and eliminate that, but for the purpose of comparing these 6 different iPhone camera settings, I didn't take the time to try it.  I was actually curious to see how the camera settings handled it.

One other thing to mention is that the native iPhone camera app doesn't have a self timer, but the Pro HDR app does.  

Which photo/shooting mode do you think looks the best?


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