[brookie229]

Yes, but if you knew you would be viewing all of these pics for 30 years on widescreens, would it change how you wish to frame the pictures today - assuming you will only be using the Passport another year or two?

Alternatively, do you take your DSLR camera and force 1:1 instead of 4:3 via settings or a mask?

1. No - I need instant gratification and don't really care how they look on widescreens. Who is to say that in 20-30 years we will not be back to square. Just not a priority for me at all.

2. Don't have a DSLR.

[brookie229]

I prefer to look at them.

I hear ya. And for what it's worth, I just finished going over album after album of pics that my mother had since she passed away recently. Almost all square and many from 1920-1970. Love those old black&whites. Most were tossed away but I kept the important (to me) ones. Memories........

[conite]

I hear ya. And for what it's worth, I just finished going over album after album of pics that my mother had since she passed away recently. Almost all square and many from 1920-1970. Love those old black&whites. Most were tossed away but I kept the important (to me) ones. Memories........

Ah, Polaroids.

[brookie229]

Ah, Polaroids.

No Polaroids - all taken on older cameras I guess. I know my mom had several Kodak's over the decades.

[conite]

No Polaroids - all taken on older cameras I guess. I know my mom had several Kodak's over the decades.

Just for fun, if you DID have a fancy expensive DSLR, would you try to find a lens mask that cuts off 1/4 of the sensor to get 1:1 photos?

[brookie229]

Just for fun, if you DID have a fancy expensive DSLR, would you try to find a lens mask that cuts off 1/4 of the sensor to get 1:1 photos?

No, I wouldn't to be honest. I would take the pics just as the camera was meant to take them. I can't dispute your technical argument at all. I'm just not that interested in editing I guess and I like those 1:1 shots (old or otherwise).

[anon(10387168)]

I hear ya. And for what it's worth, I just finished going over album after album of pics that my mother had since she passed away recently. Almost all square and many from 1920-1970. Love those old black&whites. Most were tossed away but I kept the important (to me) ones. Memories........

Sorry to hear about your loss, may God bless her. And that is exactly the point. Square, Black and White, faded, Polaroids, 35mm or even 65mm, those qualities for me are the whole ballgame. Imperfect and aged but yet appealing and nostalgic, immediately triggering an emotional response!

Posted via my Passport

[Radoslav Valkov]

Just for fun, if you DID have a fancy expensive DSLR, would you try to find a lens mask that cuts off 1/4 of the sensor to get 1:1 photos?

I know it is a bit off-topic but I am extremely curious to find out how you would define a fancy expensive DSLR as DSLR market is flooded with fancy and expensive ones!

[conite]

I know it is a bit off-topic but I am extremely curious to find out how you would define a fancy expensive DSLR as DSLR market is flooded with fancy and expensive ones!

I was more alluding to paying for an expensive sensor and then chopping it up.

[Radoslav Valkov]

I was more alluding to paying for an expensive sensor and then chopping it up.

Ah, right. Well, I would chop it afterwards. About 1:1... in my view, 1:1 is normally determined by the artistic means of expression and shooting circumstances to accomplish the intended idea. In this case 1:1 is a result of a sough effect. Format choice being the primary driving force is more like a planned specific means of enhancing viewer's perception of a given work or a set of many works that constitute a whole artistic theme, e.g. an exhibition set. We did not mention 16:9 here! Anyone ever attempted it on the Passport?

[conite]

Ah, right. Well, I would chop it afterwards. About 1:1... in my view, 1:1 is normally determined by the artistic means of expression and shooting circumstances to accomplish the intended idea. In this case 1:1 is a result of a sough effect. Format choice being the primary driving force is more like a planned specific means of enhancing viewer's perception of a given work or a set of many works that constitute a whole artistic theme, e.g. an exhibition set. We did not mention 16:9 here! Anyone ever attempted it on the Passport?

But switching to 16:9 is pre-cropping again.

I still would rather base my photo aspect ratio on the subject rather than the particular device I'm using to capture it.

If it's an important picture to me, I will take the most information I can, and then think long and hard about framing (chopping) later. If I feel different about the picture after looking at it some more, I can simply re-crop as the full sensor data is available.

[Radoslav Valkov]

But switching to 16:9 is pre-cropping again.

No doubt about this. However, there are shooting situations (with sufficient control over the perimeter where subjects move and good level of predictability for their trajectories of movement) where 16:9 would facilitate the sought effect. I am referring back to a photo from the topic, 16:9, portrait orientation.

[conite]

No doubt about this. However, there are shooting situations (with sufficient control over the perimeter where subjects move and good level of predictability for their trajectories of movement) where 16:9 would facilitate the sought effect. I am referring back to a photo from the topic, 16:9, portrait orientation.

https://forums.crackberry.com/attach...0_037_edit.jpg

No doubt it can end up that way in the end. But I prefer to take my time with the cropping decision and allow for mistakes, rather than decide it at the moment of shooting and forever rest in peace.

[conite]

My rule of thumb is to never delete data unless it's backed up, or deemed 100% superfluous after careful examination.

If, on the other hand, you're just talking about taking casual picks to keep on your smartphone, that's a different calculus.

[Radoslav Valkov]

An interesting parallel came to my mind. I have a 70x30cm landscape painting. My inspiration was owed to the fact that I saw a beautiful landscape that actually required me to scan through the whole scene in order to perceive it the way I wanted. Then 70x30cm came as the only appropriate format solution. In this case the sought idea determines the format. I think the main difference between this example and shooting directly 1:1 is that creating photographic output with a mobile phone camera is instantaneous and a much more 'relaxed' process. In such cases one would inevitably tend to match photography with the particular physical attributes of the device. It is the square screen!

[Radoslav Valkov]

An easy trick to achieve better exposure at close distances (applies to photos where there are also bright details to be used as metering reference points)

Take a look at these two pictures:





There is no significant difference between them. However, exposure is not acceptable for the first photo and this is owed to the fact I tapped on the tiny fungi to focus and meter hence the brighter areas are overexposed.

For the second photo I went for a different approach. I focused and metered the brightest area using the AF lock function which also locks AE. Then moved the camera a bit until I get the fungi in focus. This way you prevent the AE system from returning exposure setting that may seem inappropriate. I do believe this is another reason some users who actually adore their Passports dismiss the camera due to problems with overexposure.

[Radoslav Valkov]

A way to use your flash for negative exposure compensation and correction of white balance using the native camera app

My recent observation is that you can enable your flash in order to achieve better results under bright conditions, especially for blue skies.

Take a look at the examples. The first picture represents the scene where the darkest area is taken as a metering sample point. The second shows the same scene and metering method with flash set to “ON”.

The examples below indicate how useful negative compensation is because in the first example the blue tint is unnatural and the compensation works as expected.





The second example reveals that flash used for scenes with mixed shadows / highlights works well to provide a more balanced look even when overexposure appears in the background.

[Radoslav Valkov]

Be mindful when deciding on the most appropriate method to compensate. Depending on the shadows / highlights ratio for your particular scene, you may consider using the HDR setting instead of negative exposure compensation because with the negative compensation using the flash you can easily get highlights normally exposed and insufficient detail in shadows.

Negative compensation



HDR version

[Radoslav Valkov]

To conclude this aspect of the Passport's native camera use, I post a comparison between two photos where not only exposure changes, but also WB looks more accurate.

Flash not used



Flash fired

[S1lv1o]

Thanks for these nice shots and tips, to me they are examples of how a good photographer counts more than fancy equipment; even though I would reach for my DLSR first instead of a phone, my old Canon 30D still runs rings around any phone, mainly because I know its capabilities and limitations really well, it's easier to adjust shutter speed for somewhat shaky hands, and I'm used to spot metering.

The main problem with the Passport is getting shots off it, as Google Drive works as a Cobalt miracle only.

[Radoslav Valkov]

Thanks for the feedback @S1lv1o, glad you found the topic useful!

[falbo]

Great thread thanks for posting.

[Radoslav Valkov]

HDR landscape using the native camera app.

[guizmox]

Thank you very much @radoslav for all of your beautiful pictures and keeping the thread active.
What is great with PP camera is the focal length. It it shorter than most of the smartphones, which offers a reduced depth of field -> better bokeh, and it really makes a difference.
I guess PP has a 30 mm focal length (35mm film equivalent) and other smartphones are often between 24 and 28 (wide angle)

Posted via CB10

[guizmox]

I did a quick test today to demonstrate the focal length difference between the Passport and the Key2 (most of the smartphone are using the same focal length as the Key2 for the main rear camera : wide angle ~26mm)

1/ Passport Non-HDR (ISO 100 - Shutter speed 5500 - aperture 2.0)
2/ Key2 Non-HDR (ISO 100 - Shutter speed 5500 - aperture 1.8)
3/ Passport HDR (ISO 100 - Shutter speed 5500 - aperture 2.0)
4/ Key2 HDR (ISO 100 - Shutter speed 5500 - aperture 1.8)

Keep in mind that you probably see those shots on a small screen and you may think both smartphones performs equally, but apart the white balance, the Key2 shots are much sharper, especially in the corners (with smartphone cameras, pictures always become blurry as you move away from the center - mostly because of the lens being too close from the sensor. Those abberations are often corrected by DSP or software)