Not another refurbished phone, ohgodpleaseno
August 26, 2012 6:35 PM Subscribe
Will an iPhone meet my needs? After the last couple weeks I am fed up with Droids and need something that is going to reliably do what I need for work... mainly take a large number of pictures.
For one of my jobs, I need to discreetly take a large number of pictures (talking a few hundred) over the course of an hour or two. This can be pretty rapid-fire.
I've had a Droid Incredible 2, and it mostly worked, but due to recurring problems I had the phone replaced twice, and then replaced with a Droid X2 (I'm on my second one in 3 days and it's absolutely terrible... the first one randomly deleted 300 pictures I had taken and OMG SO FRUSTRATED). Anyhow, the last week or so of my life has been hell regarding my phone. I've spent upwards of 5 hours on the phone with Verizon, had FedEx decide to not knock when I was home, etc., etc.
The problems I'm hoping to resolve:
1. Battery life. My Incredible 2 would last about 2 hours of constant picture-taking, which was just enough for what I needed. It would generally last all or most of the day when I was using it normally, obvious things like GPS use and constant Angry Birds wearing it faster. The iPhone claims on battery life are better than what I had, but does it actually stand up to the claims?
2. Camera speed. Have you taken a bunch of photos rapid-fire? Did the OS start to lag? With my Incredible, there was a pause in between photos that the iPhone I tried at the store doesn't have. With the Droid X2, the OS lags terribly after a while (happened somewhat with the Incredible but not nearly as bad). So how does the iPhone deal with the stress of photo after photo after photo?
3. The other reason I kind of want an iPhone is because I now have a Macbook and Apple TV (after being hardcore anti-Apple for most of my life...) and everything would just sync better. Is this really necessary, or am I just wishing for the American dream here?
4. If you've switched from a Droid to an iPhone, was it worth it? Why or why not? What about the reverse switch?
For one of my jobs, I need to discreetly take a large number of pictures (talking a few hundred) over the course of an hour or two. This can be pretty rapid-fire.
I've had a Droid Incredible 2, and it mostly worked, but due to recurring problems I had the phone replaced twice, and then replaced with a Droid X2 (I'm on my second one in 3 days and it's absolutely terrible... the first one randomly deleted 300 pictures I had taken and OMG SO FRUSTRATED). Anyhow, the last week or so of my life has been hell regarding my phone. I've spent upwards of 5 hours on the phone with Verizon, had FedEx decide to not knock when I was home, etc., etc.
The problems I'm hoping to resolve:
1. Battery life. My Incredible 2 would last about 2 hours of constant picture-taking, which was just enough for what I needed. It would generally last all or most of the day when I was using it normally, obvious things like GPS use and constant Angry Birds wearing it faster. The iPhone claims on battery life are better than what I had, but does it actually stand up to the claims?
2. Camera speed. Have you taken a bunch of photos rapid-fire? Did the OS start to lag? With my Incredible, there was a pause in between photos that the iPhone I tried at the store doesn't have. With the Droid X2, the OS lags terribly after a while (happened somewhat with the Incredible but not nearly as bad). So how does the iPhone deal with the stress of photo after photo after photo?
3. The other reason I kind of want an iPhone is because I now have a Macbook and Apple TV (after being hardcore anti-Apple for most of my life...) and everything would just sync better. Is this really necessary, or am I just wishing for the American dream here?
4. If you've switched from a Droid to an iPhone, was it worth it? Why or why not? What about the reverse switch?
There are camera applications for the iPhone that will work much better for your purposes than the default Camera app. There might be some for Droid, I am not sure.
My preferred iPhone camera app is Camera Plus. You can turn on burst mode (it allows you to shoot rapid fire but at a slightly lower quality). It is much faster than the Camera app the iPhone comes with.
The iPhone allows you to use the volume button to trigger the shutter, so it feels much more like a point and shoot. This is built in; I think for a Droid you need to download an app to do this.
Just hold the iPhone horizontally with the home button on your left, and place your index finger on the volume button to take the photo. This works in Camera Plus as well.
posted by kathryn at 7:07 PM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
My preferred iPhone camera app is Camera Plus. You can turn on burst mode (it allows you to shoot rapid fire but at a slightly lower quality). It is much faster than the Camera app the iPhone comes with.
The iPhone allows you to use the volume button to trigger the shutter, so it feels much more like a point and shoot. This is built in; I think for a Droid you need to download an app to do this.
Just hold the iPhone horizontally with the home button on your left, and place your index finger on the volume button to take the photo. This works in Camera Plus as well.
posted by kathryn at 7:07 PM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: My preferred iPhone camera app is Camera Plus. You can turn on burst mode (it allows you to shoot rapid fire but at a slightly lower quality).
I've heard of these for droid but unfortunately will not work for my purposes... I need targeted photos that are high quality, so it needs to go through the auto focus step.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:19 PM on August 26, 2012
I've heard of these for droid but unfortunately will not work for my purposes... I need targeted photos that are high quality, so it needs to go through the auto focus step.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:19 PM on August 26, 2012
Best answer: That makes sense.
I'd note, however, a third party camera app on the iPhone can be faster than the native camera, by using a buffer. So no after shot delay.
"Camera+" is the app I like, made by tap tap tap. There's another app in the App Sore, confusingly named Camera Plus (oops, my mistake).
posted by kathryn at 7:34 PM on August 26, 2012
I'd note, however, a third party camera app on the iPhone can be faster than the native camera, by using a buffer. So no after shot delay.
"Camera+" is the app I like, made by tap tap tap. There's another app in the App Sore, confusingly named Camera Plus (oops, my mistake).
posted by kathryn at 7:34 PM on August 26, 2012
Best answer: Just to point out, if you do decide to make the leap to the iPhone, you should wait a few weeks. There is a rumor that the next iPhone will be announced on September 12 (with availability a bit after that). That will give you the option to A. get the latest and greatest or B. get a good deal on a iPhone 4S.
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:38 PM on August 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:38 PM on August 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
A few hundred photos an hour? Have you thought about getting an actual camera?
posted by Diag at 4:29 AM on August 27, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Diag at 4:29 AM on August 27, 2012 [4 favorites]
Why are you not using an actual camera?
posted by gatsby died at 6:51 AM on August 27, 2012
posted by gatsby died at 6:51 AM on August 27, 2012
Response by poster: Discretion. I can't have anyone noticing that I'm taking pictures and a cell phone is much less noticeable. It's a market research type of job.
posted by DoubleLune at 8:19 AM on August 27, 2012
posted by DoubleLune at 8:19 AM on August 27, 2012
It almost sounds like you'd be better off taking surreptitious video with something like a GoPro if you want *that* many pictures. Then you could grab frames later at your leisure, and you wouldn't have to be holding this phone up all the time, while madly clicking away.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 2:09 PM on August 27, 2012
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 2:09 PM on August 27, 2012
I'll note that the iOS camera app has the advantage of being quickly accessible from the lock screen.
I think there are some android phones with better battery life than the iPhone, thanks to all the space behind their huge screens, but that added size is also going to make them more obvious.
posted by Good Brain at 1:17 AM on August 28, 2012
I think there are some android phones with better battery life than the iPhone, thanks to all the space behind their huge screens, but that added size is also going to make them more obvious.
posted by Good Brain at 1:17 AM on August 28, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
2. Supposedly the Galaxy Nexus has a lag-less camera. If you're using a phone as a camera for 2 hours continuously on a frequent basis I'd recommend a dedicated device but the iPhone 4s camera is pretty dang good.
3. I use Android and OSX but not an Apple Tv . I'd guess that Apple devices work better together thanApple and Android but I hhaven't had any problems.
4. I like my Nexus S a lot but when it comes out I plan on returning to iOS. The switch to Android was worth it for the price and the change in perspective though.
posted by christhelongtimelurker at 6:51 PM on August 26, 2012