Pixelmania... from the iPhone perspective. So as most you you know, I decided to scale back the camera gear for this years PixelMania. I had recently purchased a new iPhone (8+) and got a case that had a camera like grip as well as lenses that mounted on it. Here’s my take and a few of my favorite photos. One of the main reasons for going with my new gear was to get thru Disney Security with a minimum of scrutiny (previous camera bags had a ton of pockets and zippers to go thru). My setup included the following: BitPlay! Camera Case (with traditional grip and shutter button placement) BitPlay! Lenses: Ultra Wide Angle (with Macro) Wide Angle Ultra Fisheye (with Macro) Fisheye Circular Polarized 3x Telephoto Handgrip (with threaded mount) GoPro Mount (with various attachments and extensions) Remote Shutter (linked via Bluetooth) To start, the camera case was one of my best purchases I made for my new phone. I love that it gives you the feel of a traditional camera in so much as it has a molded grip. It also has a rocker switch that places the shutter button in a position so the camera lens is in the upper left corner of the phone (if using the phone without the case the camera would be in the lower right corner). The only downside, which I suppose could be modified at home, is that the grip is too smooth. It is a hard plastic and would be better if it had a layer of rubber to make it more “grippy”. I also found out that the shutter button can stick occasionally (discovered that when a CM ended up taking 100+ pics of myself with Rapunzel). Now to the lenses. Overall they did a decent job, granted they are nowhere near any DSLR Lens. And for anyone that was at the parade in the Magic Kingdom, yes, they can be a pain to remove (I’m still trying to figure out how to make a better filter wrench). Anyway, while most of the lenses exceeded my modest expectations, the telephoto (3x) lens was a little lackluster. It did allow for a better zoom, however, it also had a lot of blur on the edges. My only guess is that it is not meant to be zoomed via the camera app. About halfway thru PixelMania I opted to not use the lenses. But it was more about only having the Wide Angle and Fisheye lenses to use and that they are not ideal in all situations. So I focused on what the phone could do by itself. And I’m very happy with the results. For me, taking photos is about sharing my experiences with my family and friends. I’m not necessarily looking for that one perfect shot to have framed and mounted on my wall (though at times I am). The ease of use and accessibility of my phone versus carrying around a DSLR and backpack full of gear was great. I came away from this trip with lots of great photos. Photos that I can work on via my iPad and photo apps then share. I’m glad I took this direction on this trip, however, next year I will definitely be bringing my Sony NEX and most of my gear. Here are a few of my favorite pics straight from my phone... Hollywood Tower Hotel Walkway Tinkerbell (used the Telephoto lens as you can see the blurriness on the edges... though I kinda like the vignetting in it.) Pandora at night (though more light available than most of the land) Paige Turner Beaches & Cream (used the phone’s Portrait Mode that uses both of the phone’s built-in cameras) _________________________ And a few of my favorites after running them thru some iPad apps... Homecoming’s Muleshine (used app “Halftone”) Festival of Fantasy Dragon (used app “Snapseed”) Fiesta de Navidad Dancers (used apps “Snapseed”and “Big Lens”) Lumiere (used app “PopAGraph”) Christmas Gertie (used apps “PopAGraph” and “Lory Stripes”) _____________________________________ And finally, some of the “not so great” shots to show you the downsides of the lenses... Wide Angle Lens (notice the bending of the Christmas Tree) Telephoto (3x) Lens (very noticeable blur on the edges when people were present. I believe that on top of the Lens I did a manual zoom of 1.5-2x, so that might explain the more noticeable blur.) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Cool stuff Jeff! You can REALLY see the blur in the last set (as you said). But all the other shots are fantastic. I would consider doing this (the grip) for my trips in the summer, as I have not brought my camera into the parks much but this would give me some options.
Yeah, even without using the lenses attached to the case, just having that traditional camera feel made it so nice. And what I plan to do with the grip (or at least test) is to spray a coat of Flex-Seal over it in order to give it a rubber feel (rather than smooth plastic). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am sure as the summer gets closer, I will be asking you (or digging up this thread) to find the info on the grip.
I’ll make it easy for you (though you could also reference my post a few months ago when I bought the gear). Anyway, it’s the Bitplay Snap! Case and then just depends what model iPhone you have. Bought on Amazon (use Tim’s clickthru if he still offers it) for around $50 (which is the case, the grip portion, and a removable thumbrest). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
