iphone | Jeff Wong

Testing Slow Motion Video Between DSLR and iPhone

February 13, 2018 / Video

D600

A still frame of James on the D600.

I’m not sure what compelled me to do this today, but I wanted to do a quick comparison between my iPhone 7+ and my Nikon D600 to see which one did slow motion better.

Iphone

Same shot, but from a different angle on the iPhone 7+.

While my Nikon was outfitted with a 35mm f1.4, I had to shoot at 720p in order to get 60fps. While I lost a lot of resolution, it doesn’t look terrible. On the other hand, the iPhone boasts awesome slow motion performance, but the feeling isn’t as cinematic.

James showing off his Vape Nation skills in slow motion video.

Now I’m really curious to see what it’ll look like show with my 58mm. In addition, I think it would be cool to try doing a portrait photo with a light pattern casted from some window blinds… or maybe even play with a prism to get a cool rainbow effect running through the smoke.

More importantly, I’m thinking about using this kind of stuff for b-roll when I make a real video in the future. Anyway, enjoy!

Bokeh Comparison of a Full Frame 58mm DSLR vs iPhone 7 Plus 58mm in Portrait Mode

March 22, 2017 / Me, Photo

Shot with a 58mm f1.4g at f5.0 on a Nikon D600.

The iPhone certainly can produce amazing images, but I wonder if it could be a replacement for a full frame camera. I think for certain photos it can produce identical results, but I was curious to see how well “portrait” mode would work. So I did a quick test shot with my DSLR versus my iPhone.

Shot with an iPhone at 6.6mm (58mm equivalent) at f2.8.

So the answer is, it actually does a pretty good job blurring things, but it has trouble blending around sharp edges with high contrast. For whatever reason, this photo exposes the weakness of portrait mode.

The biggest difference to me is that my DSLR lens can shoot all the way down to f1.4, letting in more light and can potentially blur the entire background. The bokeh also has much more character versus the iPhone. The iPhone photo also feels like it was a still photo from a video, and the photo from my DSLR feels like it was shot on film. Keep in mind that both of these photos had little to no post processing.

Anyways, you can see the difference yourself. The iPhone portrait mode has a lot of potential, but still lacks a natural feel. I bet in the right environment with the right subject matter, it could actually work pretty well… but that’s an experiment for another day.

A Couple of Photos

February 8, 2017 / Me, Photo

Selfie of Annie and me next to Highway 1.

As much as I love the camera on the new iPhone 7 Plus, there’s just something magical about using a DSLR to capturing a moment. I shot this using a mini tripod, a timed exposure, and my old trusty Nikon D600.

I scrolled back and looked at some of my recent blog posts using my iPhone, and I’m just not satisfied with the results. I guess I’m going to have to start lugging my DSLR with me everywhere. Hah!

By the way, I wanted to share a couple photos from a trip I took recently. Here’s a sneak peak–I’ll post more soon.

Kent taking a photo of a sea turtle at the Marina Del Rey Aquarium.

Annie and Julia taking a selfie in front of McWay Falls in Big Sur.

Los Angeles at night, from Griffith Observatory

Sunset at Santa Monica.

Astrophotography on a semi-hazy night at Big Sur.

Ps. Thank you everyone for all the support. I’m reading them all your messages and I will respond to you soon. I’m just taking the moment to reflect, meditate, and edit photos. ^_^

iPhone 6 Plus vs 7 Plus Camera in Low Light

October 18, 2016 / Photo, Tech

iPhone 6 plus versus iPhone 7 plus low light comparison.

So I just picked up the new iPhone 7 last week, and I can say that the new camera is a huge improvement in low light. Typically, DSLR lenses cost a ton more for each stop of light you gain from faster apertures.

The combination of image stabilization, noise reduction, and a faster lens has improved the low light performance (as you can clearly see in the photo above). The iPhone 6 Plus uses a f2.2 lens and the iPhone 7 Plus uses a f1.8 lens. Pretty amazing what these little gadgets can do now-a-days.

I won’t be shooting astrophotography with the iPhone 7 Plus, but at the rate things are improving, it could actually be a possibility in a future generation.

Ps. Thanks to Rudy for being a guinea pig for my photo experiments. 😎

Getting My 2010 Macbook Air 11″ Diagnosed at Apple

September 23, 2016 / Me, Photo, Tech

2010 Macbook Air 11″, 4g RAM, 1.6ghz

My Macbook Air was having some issues shutting down when I closed the lid, so I took it into the Apple Store to get it diagnosed. Looks like there’s a hardware issue. Doh.

Customers shopping and waiting for Apple technicians to help diagnose their issues.

Apple has offered to replace the logic board for $280â€”a reasonable price, but I think that I’m going to use it as it is. Eventually, I’ll sell it on Craigslist.

Fully loaded 2016 MacBook for $1600

I will say that if I was in the market for a new laptop, I’d be interested in the new MacBooks. So nice… Okay, I’ve got to stop looking! My life is served perfectly with my iPhone and 15″ Macbook Pro.

iPhone 6 Plus (left), iPhone 7 Plus (right).

While I was at the store, I checked out the new iPhones. They’re pretty much the same form factor. The new 7 plus camera is actually a huge improvement on both sides.