iPhone 5: More Power in the Hands of the Public

Is this the new professional?

Being tech nerds here at Anchor Line, it’s pretty easy to guess what we had our eyes on Wednesday afternoon. Between edits, I couldn’t help but refresh Twitter and see what the latest news was from the Apple event. The new device will hit stores on September 21 and according to the LA Times, the devices are already on backorder on Apple’s website. Talk about shaking up the market.

Much of what was predicted was confirmed: a larger screen, thinner design, 4G LTE support, faster processor, but what really caught my eye was the improvements to the camera, specifically the new panorama mode. When activated, the mode allows you to move the phone across a landscape, automatically taking pictures at set intervals. Then the device stitches all the images together to create one photo that is a whopping 28 megapixels. This is the first iPhone to utilize such a feature and I cannot wait to see it in action. The camera also boasts a new “low-light” mode which will hopefully erase the frustration caused by taking pictures with just the phone’s flash.

This was taken by an iPhone?

The picture they showed as a demo was stunning. It was so crisp, colorful, and detailed that if you told me it was taken with a Canon DSLR I would have believed you easy. That is something that I feel very strange about. Why spend $1500 on a professional camera when my phone can take photos like this?

The evolution of technology has put people who work with photo and video in an interesting position. I remember when HD was still something new. My family had (rather, still has) a massive refrigerator of a television that was barely capable of 1080i. Now, anyone with a smartphone in their pocket can capture full 1080p video. If people can shoot high quality video like that themselves, then why would they need to higher a professional?

It’s a scary proposition but I don’t believe that people who make a living off of video and photography have much to worry about. The first thing my photography teacher said in high school was that the camera is merely a tool, the true art comes from the person. I didn’t really understand what he meant until I really started getting involved with cameras in college. It wasn’t until I learned how to tell a story through my images that I fully understood what he meant. You can give anyone a $3,500 DSLR and they might get one or two decent shots, but to capture truly riveting and inspiring images, it takes knowledge, practice, but above all, patience. I think the same goes for most professions. You could give anyone the keys to the fastest car on Earth, but does that mean they are going to win the Nextel Cup Series? Definitely not.

Technology will continue to evolve and new, powerful tools will continue to hit the market. Some may buy these tools thinking that it will make them a better photographer, but the true artist comes from the hands and the mind. That being said, I still definitely want that new iPhone!