The utility of the iPhone only increased with the iPhone 4. Taking photos on the go was always possible with the iPhone. Remember, I used the first gen iPhone with its 2.1MP digital camera for over 3 years.  However, the iPhone 4′s camera quality and speed nearly makes it a digital camera replacement for my use.

If you’re a pocket-sized point-and-shoot camera owner than the iPhone 4 may indeed be a digital camera replacement. If you’re like me though – and you tote around a DSLR – then the iPhone 4 can make the choice of which camera to use frustrating. The iPhone 4 is good enough quality-wise and certainly good enough speed-wise to use it in nearly every situation I’ve come across over the last few months. Does it shoot as well or give you as many options as the DSLR? Not even close. Does it need to? Well, that is up to my now frustrated photographic geek sensibilities.

Good photography has never really been about the tools but about the photographer. Photographs from the early days of photography using silver nitrate and a pinhole camera with 30-minute exposures are oftentimes much better photographs than I’ve ever taken with the most sophisticated gear. So making the choice between the iPhone 4 and the DSLR typically isn’t about art. It usually comes down to how I will use the images. If I’m sharing them on the Web then the iPhone 4 is more than adequate. If I’m going to create a DVD or print the images then the DSLR is a much better choice.

But then there is video. My DSLR doesn’t shoot any video, let alone HD-quality video, while my iPhone 4 does. Capturing quick moments of video for use later is a neat option to have in a pinch. In fact, I still haven’t gotten used to this feature. I often forget it is even there – just waiting for me to press the red button.

Using my DSLR has now become a forced exercise. Something I plan, prepare for and do rather than just allowing it to happen naturally. Before each outing, each trip or any photo op I will have to ask myself – will I use the iPhone 4 or the Canon Digital Rebel XTi? It is a good problem to have but one that I’m regretting having to make.

But I’m a photographic geek of the second order (in an attempt not to peeve the photographic geeks of the first order) and I’d wager no on else would really care nearly as much as I do. So if you’ll excuse me I’ll go back to adding copious amounts of metadata to my 50,000+ photo archive for no other reason then to be able to sort them based on the color spectrum. *pushes black-rim glasses up his nose*

You can read about the BeetleCam Project in detail via The Digital Photography School website and see the photos it takes via the creator’s site.

I’m a Canon man but the reviews of the new Nikon D90 that I’ve seen so far are intriguing. Chase Jarvis, arguably one of the best modern day professional photographers, was given the opportunity to advance test the Nikon D90. In fact, his entire team was able to get their hands on a few of them and to test them during a project they were working on.

Photo credit: Chase Jarvis.

Here are Chase’s top five reasons that the Nikon D90 is great:

“1. The D-movie. HD720 video in an dSLR is really big news. It’s so cool that we’re seeing the merging of high quality still and video pictures into the same camera. Sure, for us pros, we’ve got the RED camera. But for everybody else? This is the future. People: this is an SLR that shoots killer video! It’s the merging of features that the pros are using and it’s made accessible the the amateur at a price point of $1200+ bucks. Trust me, I played with this feature at length…all of us on location did, for that matter. It’s going to be a powerful tool. You can control your own depth of field so beautifully using the manual focus ring, the audio capture is solid, the high ISO capabilities in video?! Way cool… Long lenses, fisheyes, zoom lenses…versatility. I’m a BIG fan of the D-Movie.

2. Photo J possibilities. This camera will be a great second body for pro photojournalists. Commercial guys like me will be loyal to the D3 and its future, but for any PJ shooter, all the bells and whistles we’ve discussed already– especially video and audio capture–make this a no-brainer as a backup body.

3. Image Quality. The sensor is really top tier for a camera targeted at advanced amateurs. The high ISO capabilities are going to be a welcome addition to cameras in this price point. Want to take images of your kid in the rain at his baseball game at 7pm? This is your camera. It’s the D300 sensor with some juice.

4. The ergonomics of this camera are great. As someone who holds a camera for a living, I think camera ergonomics are waaay underrated. This camera (light at only 1lb. 6oz) is a treat in your hand. The menus are great and everything is right where you want it.

5. Oh ya, did I mention that this thing shoots video?!”

It seems like Nikon is taking a giant leap forward in the “advance amateur” category by giving all of this away for about $1,200 and I hope that other manufacturers quickly follow suit.

Source: Chase Jarvis RAW: Advance Testing the Nikon D90.

The video at the above link is also worth watching.

Michael Mistretta, easily the youngest author whose blog I’m subscribed to, recently took a trip to Zambia.  In “Going Beyond Automatic: Photography in Africa” he gives the broad strokes of what the “Automatic” setting is on your camera, and how it takes practice to master “Manual” mode. He also talks a lot about why it isn’t important to focus on the gear you have but the way you look at shooting.

In the very first sentence of this piece I see Michael being slightly frustrated by something that ends up happening far too often to me.  He says: “I haven’t had the chance to write down much of what I experienced and accomplished while in Zambia.” I find I often “move on” to the next thing and forget to reflect on where I’ve just been – and writing seems to help me to reflect.  I need do it more.

Michael’s photos from Zambia are striking.  What an excellent opportunity for someone I’m sure will be an incredible photographer for many years to come!

Source: Going Beyond Automatic: Photography in Africa.