Holiday Gift Guide »

Video: Demo of the new HDR camera feature for Apple’s iOS 4.1 shows it’s not all it’s cracked up to be

Categories: Apple, iOS / iPhone OS, iPhone
By: , IntoMobile
Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 1:45 AM

One of the features in Apple’s upcoming 4.1 version of iOS is the ability to capture high dynamic range (HDR) photos, and on paper it sounds like such a feature should increase picture quality, but in the 5 minute 34 second demo by TechThrow below it looks like the implementation was rushed, wasn’t tested thoroughly enough, and in most cases actually makes your photos look worse.

HDR photos, for those unfamiliar with the term, are created when an image is taken at multiple exposures and then combined into a final product, which ideally should make your subject matter look sharper and more natural. What used to take Adobe Photoshop and a lot of time has now been added to the feature list inside your mobile phone. Nokia is also working on adding HDR to their smartphones by contributing to the open source project FCam. It’s already been demoed on the Nokia N900, and while the image samples provided on the Nokia Conversations blog look good, so did the samples shown at Apple’s event last week. Real world testing is going to settle the HDR vs. non-HDR once and for all.

Personally, I’m one of the people who are opposed to HDR photos. I like my darks to be dark, my colors to pop, and for there to be gaps in the image that I have to fill with my imagination. HDR photos look like artsy fartsy attempts at trying to be creative. Software algorithms can do a lot to clean up a photo, and it’s why many pictures from Apple’s previous iPhones looked fantastic even though they used inferior camera sensors, but I’m a traditionalist who believes better optics, better sensors, and a team of engineers dedicated to photography is what produces great cameras. Not some code that a programmer writes while on the company clock.

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Duane Black

    Stefan:
    The first examples of HDR photography were the specialized darkroom techniques of Ansel Adams. He took a black and white negative and did miracles by dodging and burning. Until recently, no one thought digital could reproduce these type of results. But technology has advanced, and now we are in the early stages of another digital revolution. With care and skill, HDR photos can range from “I didn’t even know it was HDR…,” to ornamental conglomerations. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it is still a fairly-free country. It is funny to me how popular it is to say, “I don’t really care for it personally.” Fine. As I shoot highly-detailed photos for realty clients I will constantly think of your opinion. In the meantime, HDR will gravitate toward the texting “impulse photo” crowd and people who really work hard at their images. There isn’t much in between.
    I appreciate Apple attempting to move forward with a 3-shot system, which is an improvement over the TrueHDR and ProHDR apps, which shoot two. Missing from your review is standardized editing with an iPhone app such as Photoshop or Camera Plus Pro. And consideration that this application will no doubt be improved.
    I also have the option of shooting five frames with my Pentax or (believe it or not) 29 with my Nikon. When you do a detailed study of Apple’s HDR feature with proper techniques and standardized lighting variations please let me know.