1. stozzaudio's Avatar
    I put together a list of some of the tips and tricks I used for when I don't have my DSLR on me.

    Blackberry Review / Tips : Make better photographs with your phone ? AudiophileON

    Most are applicable through all smartphones but theres a lot of things Passport specific that some folk might not know.
    I also included a video of editing on photos in snapseed on the device but they are taking an age to upload to youtube so the article should be updated over the next 24hrs as the videos go live.

    As always discussion with fellow BBer's is greatly welcomed, I hope some people can take something away from it.
    05-27-15 09:11 AM
  2. mister2d's Avatar
    Excellent article!
    05-27-15 09:25 AM
  3. Frosty_Power's Avatar
    Great read, thanks for sharing!
    05-27-15 10:21 AM
  4. GLAT's Avatar
    What about night photos.... my galaxy s3 blows this camera out of the water at night. The Passport photo takes great photos in normal lighting just really frustrated with low light.

    Is the FV 5 app really good?

    Posted via CB10
    05-27-15 10:40 AM
  5. Kwms's Avatar
    What about night photos.... my galaxy s3 blows this camera out of the water at night. The Passport photo takes great photos in normal lighting just really frustrated with low light.

    Is the FV 5 app really good?

    Posted via CB10
    Yea I want to know, because to get greater than 2mp pics you have to buy the pro version for 2-something.

    Posted via CB10
    05-27-15 11:08 AM
  6. thymaster's Avatar
    Good read and the quality of your writing is A+.

    I think Passport takes great picture but the major complaint here is the autofocus to the average consumers is not so friendly like the iPhone. It's too jumpy and the shots end up being blurry. BlackBerry can easily fix this with software. For me I know my phone really well so I can have ways to manipulate the auto focus to take great pictures every time.
    Paul Callahan likes this.
    05-27-15 12:23 PM
  7. GLAT's Avatar
    All I want with a camera phone is to open the camera app and take a picture without manipulation to get a decent picture. I think a lot of the issues have been resolved through updates but this is the first phone that I was not able to do that until recently.

    The whole point of having a camera phone is to catch those moments or scenes quickly without hoping the moment doesn't pass because your phone is trying to lock onto a target like a heat seeking missile without a heat signature.

    Like I said I think the camera now does a good job but in low light situations it is maybe passable... worse on the night setting.

    Posted via CB10
    Paul Callahan likes this.
    05-27-15 01:45 PM
  8. cvdburgh's Avatar
    OP, this FV-5 Camera app you refer to, that's an Android app? Didn't see it in BB World. But it works well with the BB Camera, apparently?
    05-27-15 02:34 PM
  9. stozzaudio's Avatar
    Hi everyone to get fv5 I installed the google play store and downloaded the paid app from there. If you cant get to grips with the somewhat technical menu's you can just hit the refund button back in the app store within a limited time.
    05-27-15 03:04 PM
  10. stozzaudio's Avatar
    Thanks....thymaster

    I agree the that the autofocus isn't great (but then I shoot with sigma dp's most of the time so am somewhat used to it) having the phone set on burst mode can give you a few more useable shots in a pinch. As you say its really about actually knowing the limitations and how to use any camera to the best of your ability. Will be interesting to see what the camera is like on the new slider (though I want an updated passport way more than that device).
    05-27-15 03:09 PM
  11. stozzaudio's Avatar
    BONUS TIP FOR CBB USERS :P

    I just remembered one other thing that might be useful. If you want to take some smooth handheld video on the Passport (or any device) start recording and then hold it against your chin. Keep it pinned there and move your head and body if you need to change angles. The reason this works is your head is basically an organic gimbal unit and is pretty stable in comparison to your hand. Of course you will look weird, but you going to get a better shot out of it.
    05-27-15 03:13 PM
  12. MaximV's Avatar
    I found the Camera ++ app a fantastic addition to Passport. I was already impressed with the camera, but this native app took it to a whole new level. One of the best apps I ever bought.

    Posted via CB10
    05-27-15 05:09 PM
  13. eyeb's Avatar
    does anyone have photo samples with the settings? I mean I have photo magazine that has pictures with detailed info of the camera used and the settings like exposure/aperature/etc.

    Mostly, I'm a newbie at cameras and would be nice to just "follow" someone's settings until I learn what they do

    hell, I don't even know what hdr does, except it makes the colors darker :S
    05-27-15 05:35 PM
  14. stozzaudio's Avatar
    Camera++ is amazing as well Maxim good mention
    05-27-15 05:55 PM
  15. stozzaudio's Avatar
    Hi Eyeb,

    The problem with following pre set settings is the light conditions need to be the same for them to work for you.
    The easiest thing to do is to understand the 3 main points of how a camera operates. This is known as the trinity. In its simplest form you have aperture, shutter speed and iso. There are tons of videos on youtube, one of the best at explaining is Tony Northrup, I don't really like his photos but he has some of the most concise info for someone beginning in photography.
    THis video covers this subject.

    As for post processing videos I really like serge ramelli's lightroom tutorials. Just watch out he's always selling something in his vids.

    It shouldn't take you long just force yourself to not use auto mode and you will learn faster by trial and error.
    05-27-15 06:05 PM
  16. eyeb's Avatar
    Hi Eyeb,

    The problem with following pre set settings is the light conditions need to be the same for them to work for you.
    The easiest thing to do is to understand the 3 main points of how a camera operates. This is known as the trinity. In its simplest form you have aperture, shutter speed and iso. There are tons of videos on youtube, one of the best at explaining is Tony Northrup, I don't really like his photos but he has some of the most concise info for someone beginning in photography.

    As for post processing videos I really like serge ramelli's lightroom tutorials. Just watch out he's always selling something in his vids.

    It shouldn't take you long just force yourself to not use auto mode and you will learn faster by trial and error.
    Thanks for the video... but I'm not sure how much I got out of it :S

    Here's what I learned from it
    -Aperature moves the focal point by opening/closing aperature, which moves the "focus/blurriness" from foreground to background or vice versa, higher number means more background details, lower is more foreground.
    -Iso makes things grainy but picks up more details. Higher = detailed but grainy, lower = blurry but smooth
    -Shutter speed makes it take the picture quicker, which negates the shaking because it takes it before my hand shakes it too much. Lower = quicker but less light

    So... here's my problem. I want a clear (non-blurry picture) from a distance. Lets say I am at a conference (good light) or a sports event (sunny). Because it is sunny or has good light, the shutter doesn't need to let in as much light, so I make it as quick as it can go. I don't want it blurry so I make the ISO as small as it gets. And since the stuff I'm shooting is far away (on field, on stage) I make the aperature as high as possible.

    My end settings are ISO 50, Shutter 1", I couldn't find the aperature... I saw the f/2.0 at top but couldn't figure out how to change it. But it didn't really matter I think, no matter what I did in the app, all the test photos came out blurrier than default camera app.

    This is why I would have liked "settings" to compare with. Its not that I can't figure it out, it's just I can see before/after pictures as they change settings (like in video).
    05-27-15 10:17 PM
  17. stozzaudio's Avatar
    Hi eyeB,

    It appears you learned more than you give yourself credit for You now know the basics of how light travels into a camera so it will make it easier for me to give you some tips.

    First things first. If you are shooting on a phone you will have a fixed aperture/f number in the blackberry's case this is f2.0 (more advanced cameras such as DSLR's etc will have adjustable apertures that range in incrimets (stops) anywhere from f1.2 to f22).

    Now you know that on the passport aperture cannot be adjusted we look at what you can adjust. That is the ISO and shutter. Now the rule on the shutter speed is that anything above 1/25th of a second (taken handheld) on your passport will most likely come out blurry. 1 second as you mentioned using means that the shutter is open capturing all the information while your hand is shaking thus causing a blurry image.

    Therefore you know that to reduce blur you have to use a faster shutter speed. When you do this you will notice if you keep the ISO setting low the image will come out too dark. Therefore you need to go to a higher ISO the image will suffer from increased grain but that is better than having a blurry shot or shot that is too dark.

    Think of it like this. Indoors you want the shutter speed to be just fast enough so as not to be blurry (faster than 1/25thsec) and the ISO high enough to brighten the photo.

    If your photo comes out sharp but a little too dark you can go into snapseed app I mention on the site, open your photo, hit the plus symbol in the bottom right, click tune image, scroll down to shadows and then swipe to the right to bring out some lost detail.

    Another tip I can offer is to try not to shoot a subject with a light behind him pointing at you. Instead have be in the position a light is shining on them. This helps to stop the silhouette effect from a backlit subject.
    05-28-15 11:27 AM
  18. eyeb's Avatar
    Do you have a screenshot of the shutter speed setting? I figure it is the setting where I change P to S but 1" is smallest I can see, custom let's me put in a number but I can't figure out how to put in 1/25. Thanks

    Also have a tip to remove grainy background with high iso in the snapseed app?

    And how do the focus modes differ? The tutorial didn't talk about it, the box with flower vs face? I'm guessing flower is close to subject so it opens shutters for light and details? And face is for middle ground where a person stands? Not foreground or in background. The box with half arrow, no idea what this is.

    Kind of fun to play with settings.
    05-28-15 12:58 PM
  19. stozzaudio's Avatar
    I would stick to leaving the shutter on automatic and adjusting only the ISO in your case. That way the camera will pick the best shutter speed to match your choice of ISO. Reserve the shutter speed adjustments for taking light trails of cars, milky/smooth water or still life shots/buildings/landscape when the camera is stable (improvised tripod coffee cup maybe?).

    To remove the grain I believe lowering structure setting and increasing ambience might help in snapseed but I use adobe lightroom if I really want to get rid of grain. If you like I can add a youtube video thats more thorough in the functions of snapseed?

    The flower is the indicator for Macro photography, essentially yes it optimises for shooting a subject close up in detail the face is as you say for shooting a portrait of a person at standard difference.

    Its def fun to play with settings, try blasting out some shots with the BB camera in good light and then mess with it in Snapseed. You will get the hang of it, I started on film in the late 90's so the technicalities come a little easier but anyone can learn fast nowadays (thanks to the net and Youtube) and take great shots.
    05-28-15 07:26 PM
  20. eyeb's Avatar
    I "got smart" and headed over to the camera fv site... turns out they have a manual
    Camera FV-5 Official User Guide

    I'll leave the shutter on auto like you suggested, it seems really hazy/grainy/blurry (not sure what to call it, but it doesn't look good) when I start to mess with it.

    I'm leaving the auto focus on continuous setting

    but so far, I'm thinking I'll stick with default camera app and just play around in snapseed. I'm not entirely impressed with the manual camera settings, it seems like the focus isn't as good as in the default camera app. I'll play with it a bit since I have the app but not sure I'll use it often.

    edit: okay, I should stop playing with camera I found I like their cinema fv app a lot. I don't care for the settings since I don't understand them yet, but I can "zoom" in more than on default app, which I do like.
    Last edited by eyeb; 05-28-15 at 09:02 PM.
    05-28-15 08:06 PM
  21. XBSTANLEY's Avatar
    Nice read... thanks!

    RED Passport SQW100-1/10.3.1.2576
    05-28-15 11:26 PM
  22. stozzaudio's Avatar
    Thanks Stanley, next article will be posted on Tuesday/Wednesday
    05-29-15 03:56 AM

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