IPhone Cafe

If you have a Canon Rebel XT and want to capture digital images from your iPhone, here are some tips….

1. Get yourself a small table top tripod
2. Get a polarizing filter 
3. On the Canon, select “Program Mode”, click “Menu” and set ISO to 100 asa
4. Prop up the iPhone in an area with natural sunlight.  
5. Use the XT’s auto-timer to operate the shutter because at 100 asa, shutter speed is low and a hand held shot will  be blurry. 

I am by no means an expert on digital photography.  I’ve used a Canon digital Rebel XT for two years and never left the safety of full automatic mode which worked just fine for landscapes [here are some full automatic examples] but when I started shooting iPhone displays, initial results were just bad. 

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There are several image edit programs out there.  I use Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9 which isn’t the most highly rated, but is easy to use. One problem - my Canon creates large images which must be downsized to fit onto a web page. For some reason, downsizing distorts the picture. To get around this, I use the following steps: 

1. Plug the Canon XT memory card into a computer (or connect via the USB port) and copy images to the local hard drive.
2. Use “Windows Explorer” and “Windows Picture and Fax Viewer” to display a picture of interest.  Use Hypersnap to cut and paste a copy of the image into Digital Image Pro.
3. Size the picture down. For some reason, an image which is copied from Hypersnap doesn’t distort as it’s downsized.  
4. Save the image as a JPEG.  Use it on your favorite web site. 

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A sales associate at Talls Camera in Seattle answered my questions and help me better understand the process to capture images from my iPhone.  It didn’t cost much; just a small tripod and a polarizing filter. The steps listed above improved iPhone display quality.  Below is an example:

Pictures in the sample link below show what can be done with iPhone’s 2 Megapixel  camera.

Sample pictures of George

For the first few months, I moved pictures from the phone to my PC using email.  This method seems to perform image compression. Lately, I learned how to move pictures to the PC when the iPhone is connected by USB port and this method doesn’t appear to compress images. Now, I’m a bit more impressed with the camera phone.  Even though it’s only 2 Megapixels, picture quality isn’t bad. The camera is versatle and can produce decent low light shots as long as the subject isn’t moving.

Having recently purchased my iPhone, it didn’t take me more than 12 hours to realize that I would need to protect my investment.  Apple does not provide insurance to replace a lost cell phone, and while it comes with a year-long warranty, I don’t know what conditions apply to qualify the phone for warranty repair.  If I accidently drop it, will they fix it?  The futuristic rectangle of a casing doesn’t fit snugly into the palm of my hand, so I’d rate the possibility of my dropping it as extremely high.  It doesn’t exactly look sturdy, either, so I don’t have a high confidence level in its ability to survive regular wear and tear.  Even if Apple will fix that kind of issue, am I supposed to ship off my iPhone to a factory and go phoneless for a month?  I don’t think so.

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The solution is obviously to get a case, and so I went to my nearest Apple store to do just that.  I’d never been before, though I’ve walked past the place a million times and glanced in.  I’ve always been intimidated by the crowds that populate the store no matter the time of day, and I can’t tell who works there and who’s just hanging out with the computers because they all look like they’d rather be home playing World of Warcraft.  I think they knew as soon as I walked in that I was not one of them, and everyone avoided me as I wandered around the displays looking for the iPhone cases.

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I don’t know what I was expecting–maybe a three or four options, as was the case at the AT&T store where I bought the phone.  The Apple store had literally dozens of iPhone cases, some leather, some plastic, some rubber, in all kinds of colors and styles.  I had no idea what kind to get, and the more I looked, the less I liked the options.  I wanted something that would protect the face plate from scratches, as well as from a drop, but quickly realized anything that covers the plate keeps you from being able to manipulate the touch screen.  Anything that requires you to pull the phone out of its case runs you the risk of dropping it in your rush to answer the phone.  Of the multitude of possibilities, none combined the padding and hard shell of a regular case with the ability to keep the faceplate open but somehow cushioned or otherwise protected against potential damage.  In the end I settled for a slimly profiled case with velvet lining, but I think I’m going to return it, since the Apple store has a 14-day return policy…funkyfresh

I’d heard stories of IPhones be locked and turned into “bricks”, usually after downloading an operating system upgrade on an iPhone running software not approved by Apple. Bricking is a derogotory term for an  IPhone that has locked up or frozen up. Lots of reporting was devoted to this subject in the months after the IPhone’s release in 2007.

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Before the IPhone, I used a Motorola Rokker on a plan from Cingular. I was okay with Cingular (and liked the Rokker) but wondered if AT&T’s “buy out” of Cingular would change some things (like service). After a month or two, the level of service had not changed, so I decided to stick with AT&T and with the Rokker through 2006 and 2007.  The Rokker used ITunes and I collected lots of ITune downloads. I collected so many ITunes downloads that my next phone would need to be ITune compatible to avoid losing the investement.  Eventually, the Rokker died due to unnatural causes; e.g. a bad recharger connector (how lame). However, by this time, Apple had reduced the price of an IPhone so it became the best choice for a replacement mobile phone. I bought an IPhone and stayed with AT&T and was careful not to modify anything because I didn’t want to be “bricked”.

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I don’t have much first hand experience with bricking or locking but did find these links:

• IPhone Unlock
• IPhone Locked to Cingular
• Why is the IPhone Locked Up?
• IPhone SIM Freer

See iPhone 1.1.1 Harder to Hack? for more on measures being used by Apple to prevent hacking of the IPhone and IPod Touch.

Before choosing the IPhone holster shown below, I went through several different holster brands.  

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In the end, I chose the InCase holster (shown in the picture below) because this holster hardware provides access to all IPhone controls without removing the phone from the holster. Answering a call or playing a tune, or other IPhone functions can be performed with the phone in holster.  This matters (to me) because of the IPhone’s contruction which is slippery smooth metal that falls from your hand in a snap if you’re not carefull. A leather case with access to phone controls reduces the chance that the phone will slip and then crash/burn on a ceramic floor.  

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Like I said, I tried out three holsters before the InCase. 

Holster #1 was lame. It came from the ATT store.  Downsides:  The case covered up IPhone controls and outputs and the belt clip was high profile.  Don’t get it.

Holster #2 was cool because it looked really good, and it was a horizontal holster, however the phone had to be removed before answering calls or doing pretty much anything. So, this wasn’t good for me ’cause I tended to drop the slippery IPhone. I was using this holster when I lost IPhone No. 1 in western North Dakota.

Holster #3 (below) is a good compromise.  All functions are accesable and the belt clip is low profile.

I’m now using the Incase holster below which comes in black, leather, demen, etc. It has a low profile belt clip. If only the belt clip were horizontal instead of verical.