iPhone Photos and Video
All iPhones have featured a built-in digital camera, but the iPhone 4 brought increased power and performance by adding a VGA (640x480 pixel) front-facing camera to a very good 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash. Every iPhone comes with software for managing, viewing, and sharing your photos. With the iPhone, you can snap your friend's picture, e-mail it to her, assign it to her contact information, or even use it for your wallpaper. The iPhone makes it easy to use your photos in many applications.
Your iPhone isn't just a still camera, though. Since the iPhone 3GS, iPhones have had the ability to capture video as well. The iPhone 4 can actually capture high definition (720p) video at 30 frames per second, perfect for recording everything from weddings to roller-coaster rides.
In this tutorial, you'll discover how to use your iPhone's camera and the built-in photo software to snap, view, and enjoy your pictures. You'll find out how to capture, view, and share video of the world around you. You'll learn how to download your photos and videos to your computer, upload existing photo albums and video clips to your iPhone, and perform many basic tasks related to capturing stills and videos. By the time you finish reading this article, you'll encounter both new and familiar ways to take advantage of your iPhone for photography and videography.
One App, Two Icons
On an iPhone fresh from the factory, Photos and Camera icons appear on the top row of your Home screen. You may have moved them to another Home screen on your iPhone or perhaps collected all your photo apps into one folder Regardless of where they're located, the two built-in apps we're interested in are very easy to find. The Photos icon is marked with a cheerful yellow sunflower. The Camera icon is a lens. Tap Photos to view your photo album collection. Tap Camera to snap new pictures and video.
The Photos and Camera icons are located in the bottom row of this folder that is chock-full of photography apps for the iPhone. Many apps are available that act as a "digital darkroom" for your photos, providing touchups and effects that can turn a plain picture into something special.
What these icons don't tell you is that they're hiding a secret. Both actually belong to the same iPhone application. MobileSlideShow.app handles all photography services, including taking pictures and video, managing albums, displaying slide shows, and so forth. But that's all beneath the surface. As far as you're concerned, you can pretty much treat the two icons as two separate applications. Use Photos for viewing pictures and captured video, and use Camera for taking your videos and photos.
Locating (and Removing) the Camera
The iPhone camera is embedded onto the back of your iPhone. You can see its small, plastic circle by flipping over your iPhone and looking about an inch up and to the left of the Apple icon. It's placed behind clear plastic for protection. The iPhone 4 has a second camera located on the front of the phone next to the earpiece. It's primarily used for FaceTime chats, although it also works very well for taking self-portraits. The iPhone 4 also added an LED flash, perfect for taking photos at night.