Many people with iPhone will snap a picture here and there when they see a pretty sunset or something funny they want to capture. But when the pictures are in your phone it’s easy to forget about them. I’ve noticed that not many people upload the pictures they take on their phones onto their computers. Many people don’t realize how good of a camera the iPhone has. It really takes amazing pictures for a phone camera. When you view a photo on the screen of an iPhone you don’t get the full idea, but when you view it on your computer screen, you can really notice the quality of the images.

These are two of my favorite photos my boyfriend took with his iPhone at sunset in Santa Barbara. They were taken on a 2G iPhone while traveling over 60mph on the Amtrak… and they look just as good as if they were taken on an actual digital camera.

This is a close-up of some flowers behind the office, where you can see how much detail there is. It looks just like a photo that any expensive digital camera would take.

It’s crazy how far camera phones have come.  After seeing a ton of really good photos my boyfriend took on his iPhone and then uploading some of my own, I was curious to see the difference between these photos and the photos from my very first camera phone, which I bought in 2001. It’s crazy how much better the quality of the images have become. Even compared to the photos I took with my Motorola Razr a year or so ago, the iPhone takes really good pictures. This image was taken on my Sony Ericsson T 86 camera phone in 2001:

The difference between these photos is drastic. Whereas the iPhone takes photos that are 1600 X 1200 pixels, this image is only 640 X 480 pixels. Not only is the resolution low, the coloring is really off. It’s weird to think that only a few years ago people thought a camera like this was amazing.  The iPhone pictures are sooo much better… I can only imagine how they are going to look on the new iPhone 3G S.

My boyfriend’s recent obsession with photography has inspired me to inform other iPhone owners that they should be taking full advantage of their cameras. Camera phones have come a long way and more people should upload their images to enjoy them on their computer, instead of letting them sit in their phones where they’re never viewed. Even though it doesn’t take good pictures in low light, this camera is a very good alternative for people who have an iPhone and can’t afford to spend another few hundred dollars on a digital camera. And what’s so great is that it is so easy to upload onto a computer. All you need to do is plug your phone into your computer with the USB cord and the computer will immediately ask you if you want to import the images. With a few clicks of the mouse you can enjoy the photos on your computer.

About a week or so after the highly anticipated release of Apple’s iPhone, I had a chance to really sit down and test the device. I must admit, while Apple has a track record of developing phenomenal and revolutionary products and personal devices, I thought this latest jump into the cell phone/PDA/all-in-one device market was going to take at least a few rounds before Apple really nailed it. Overall on the first try they created something that truly takes an all-in-one device to the next level. The entire design is focused on the user and the Apple design team was able to remove itself from the mindset of what is perceived as required for one of these devices (i.e. an actual button keyboard) which lead to a product that truly maximizes its usefulness and adapts for each individual function.

One of the areas I was most impressed by a was the iPhones Digital Photo functionality. For this function the iPhone uses the entire screen and images can be viewed both from a horizontal or vertical orientation (something that can change on the fly due to a built in gyroscope). With the flick of your finger you can scroll through photo after photo or with a pinch in you can zoom in on any photo. Photos can be easily uploaded to the device from you computer or from the web. Its amazing to think that for the first time ever it is totally reasonable to think someone’s entire life long photo collection could be loaded on one device and go with you wherever you want.

The video below gives a great, quick overview of the iPhones photo functions. Have a quick look, its a pretty amazing device!

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