iPhone/iPad iOS 8 Tip – Is It Time to Retire Your Point and Shoot Camera?

This week’s topic coincides with Apple’s recent marketing blitz touting the capabilities of the 6 series iPhones in combination with the new iOS 8 camera app. Their idea is to promote the – now ubiquitous – theme that the best camera is the one you have with you at the moment. Apple wants you to know that their newest offering can easily compete with most high-end point-and -shoot cameras (if not a few DSLRs.)

But even if you don’t own the latest iPhone, you can still take advantage of the latest software. iOS 8 works well on all the 5 series iPhones and passably on the 4s.

Here’s a rundown of the three new features – Manual Exposure Control, Timer Mode, and Time-lapse Video – in the updated iOS 8 camera app.

Manual Exposure Control
In Apple's previous software (iOS 7) focus and exposure were combined in a single setting. So the lighting on the focal point controlled the exposure. Every professional photographer knows that there are times when you want to be able to focus on one part of your subject and set the exposure for another part.

The new software makes that possible. Simply tap the area of the picture that you want to be in focus. You’ll see a yellow square with a sun icon to the right. If the default exposure suits your taste, go ahead and snap the shot. If the exposure needs some fine-tuning, just swipe your finger up or down anywhere on the screen. Swipe up to brighten and down to darken. Use the moving sun icon as your guide to get just the right exposure. (It may take multiple swipes in either direction to get the affect you're looking for.) If you want to experiment with different focal points and exposure settings, simply tap on different area of the display.

Instead of a simple tap and adjust motion, if you perform a “tap and hold” gesture, you’ll see “AE/AF LOCK” appear at the top of the screen. This indicates that the auto-exposure and auto-focus has been locked to the focal point and the camera will maintain that setting for any pictures you take immediately after setting this option, and until you tap the screen to identify a different focal point.

Note: The FaceTime video camera also allows includes the exposure control feature. So now you can compensate for a background that’s too dark or too light to put yourself in the best light while talking to someone.

Timer Mode
The new timer control in the native camera app can be set to a 3- or 10-second interval. This is a great option when you want to be sure that you’re well-positioned in your own shots or if you’re using a tripod in low light and you don’t want to jostle the camera when you take the picture.

To set the timer, tap the clock icon at the top of the screen, then pick your preferred delay.

When you tap the shutter button, a countdown timer will appear on the screen and the flash will fire continuously to indicate that the timer is counting down. And since the camera uses burst mode when the timer goes off, you'll be able to pick the best shot from the 10 images taken in quick succession.

Time-lapse Video
The iOS 8 camera app adds a new take on the Slo-Mo (slow motion) video option that was added when the iPhone 5s debuted. Time-lapse mode lets you film a scene over an extended period of time (best done with a tripod) and then play it back in real-time so that hours of activity appear to take place in seconds.

Apple says that you can record up to 30 hours of time-lapse footage. And based on their innovating capture formula, your final video will generally come in around 20-40 seconds long, the perfect length for sharing.

Here’s how it works: For the first 10 minutes, the camera captures two frames per second. Once you go beyond 10 minutes, the camera switches to only capturing one frame per second (and it automatically deletes every other frame in the first 10 minute segment so that the frame speed matches.) When you exceed 20 minutes, the number of frames captured drops to one every other second, and again, the appropriate frames are dropped from the first 20 minutes of video. Every time the length of your video doubles, the number of frames is halved. This is what keeps the overall length of the final video short, maintains smooth frame transitions at a constant 30 fps (frames per second), and minimizes the amount of memory needed to store the movie.

The Time-lapse option is on the far left of the mode slider list, located above the shutter button.

Note: The Manual Exposure feature introduced for still photography is available in Time-lapse and all other video mode as well.

Between the improves to the camera app in iOS 8 and the technology improvements made to the iPhone 6 series, it just may be time to say goodbye to your point-and- shoot camera. And with the lens kit accessories now available for the iPhone, who knows, there may be a pocket DSLR in your future.

You can find more information on Apple’s site about the new camera technology in the iPhone 6 series.

iPAD OWNERS: I know that many of you take pictures with your device, so just to confirm, all of the above features will work on the newest iPad Air 2 and on the previous iPad model release. I just don't want to see any of you standing in front of me at my favorite rock concert holding your iPad above your head and shooting throughout the show!