Headworx

I'm on iPhone 17 now. Despite all my publicly heralded views about not replacing phones (and cars) too often, I pulled the trigger. Well, to my defense, I still drive the 2005 Subaru Forester. And the 15 is going into really good and caring hands. The key reason for the upgrade has been the telephoto lens , upgraded from 3x to 4x optical zoom and from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels. That let Apple introduce the 8x feature which is basically the 4x optical and 2x crop (equivalent to 12 megapixels, albeit with smaller pixels). On top of that ShiftCam promises a 240mm (equivalent) Super Zoom Tele add-on lens . I'm yet to see how it works as mine is somewhere in transit. More when it arrives. For the iPhone 15 I bought the Tele 58mm Mobile Lens from Moment , but it has been a lie. While it can be physically mounted on the iPhone's periscope telephoto lens, it does not work well. Only with the standard 1x lens, so not much long lens joy.  And I love taking photos with long lense...

Out of curiosity I compared the highlights and features of iPhone 17 with the Pro 15 (the one I use). They are (almost) identical. The only difference is the telephoto lens - offering 4x magnification (vs 3x in the 15 Pro) and 48 megapixels (vs 12 in the Pro 15). The higher resolution allows for a quite effective crop, which results in the 8x option advertised by Apple. I primarily bought the iPhone for the photography features . And they are great. The long exposure low light is something not achievable by real cameras. I mean, considering the pocketable nature of the phone and the fact it can shoot steady 3s exposures handheld, 10s with a simple support (say, resting your hand on a tree while holding the phone), and 30s when really steady (a simple lightweight tripod is fine for that). There is a great sensor fusion at work plus it stacks multiple exposures into one, with the result being fairly low noise ultra low light photo. The unfortunate thing is, that despite all the advances...

iPhone photography is great and it is clearly now my main camera. As the old saying goes - the best camera is the one you have with you. And it also makes very good photos. Purists will argue that a large aperture prime lens cannot be matched (and I agree) but a large aperture prime typically weighs 1 kilogram or more (and requires an equally heavy camera). So it is impossible to have a lens like that at hand all the time. One thing the iPhone (and most smartphones in general) lack is a long telephoto. Yes they have an equivalent of 70mm or even 120mm but there are certain "telephoto moments" when there is no substitute for a really long lens. I have been on a quest to find a lightest and most pocketable long lens setup for a long time. And we are talking about focal lengths of 400mm or more. Have tried different setups, such as the Ribcage - modified Sony DSC-RX0 , but nothing has worked well so far. Playing with the DSC-RX0 I realized I really needed a viewfinder to properl...

The beauty of photos taken with a phone is they are automatically geo-tagged. I love geo-tagging, as with every photo I can pull up the map location, search and organize photos by locations etc. Adding locations to DSLR photos was difficult. It typically required an awkward piece of equipment (a dedicated GPS receiver) attached. It was slow and drained batteries quickly. Then came the idea of the phone keeping a timestamped GPS log and synchronizing locations based on the camera clock (which I was often forgetting to adjust). Now with phones it is all built-in. But the issue with location stamping is the location data is not always available. It takes from a couple of seconds to couple of minutes to get a GPS "location fix". Which is the time the GPS receiver needs to collect the data from multiple satellites. Sometimes this is not possible at all. One example is flying a Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" which has electronic window shades which block the radio waves entirely...

I really like how over time I lug less gear with me . Be it on a business trip or a multi-day hike-through. Take less, do more say Gossamer Gear , one of my favorite ultralight brands. Could not agree more. Especially when the terrain is demanding and rough. But then there is the question of taking photos, and, in particular what I love, taking night photos. For that you need a good camera and a tripod. The camera part has been - to some extent - solved by the latest smartphone advancements - see what iPhones offer in the photography department . The results are not DSLR-class yet, but they are getting close. And some trips - like the New Zealand West Coast - really require the lightest gear possible. For the weight of a DSLR you can take 2 days of food (food is the challenge on remote hikes lasting 10 days). So an iPhone. Bt then you still need a tripod. In the past the FLM CP-10 carbon was my option, but that (while super steady and light) was very low, requiring to crawl and not a...

Back in February I had a blast experience hiking (tramping they call it) in fairly remote parts of the New Zealand's southern island - the West Coast and Fiordland. Packing about 10-day's worth of food on my back let me enjoy the freedom of being entirely on my own for a long time.  There have been several experiences related to what technologies / technology products do or don't work on such a trip. And interestingly - the off grid context turns the classic pyramid of needs upside down. Paper topographic maps and old school candles trump the technology achievements of the modern era. But still there are some developments worth noting. This was my first hiking trip without a dedicated camera - I only took an iPhone and was super happy with that decision. West coast hikes go through quite challenging terrain - a lot of bush bashing, very steep ascends / descends, jumping on boulders along riverbeds. Carrying as little as possible with you significantly decreases the effort a...

I was blogging about my trail running habit multiple times. Overall running into this habit has been life changing for me. Despite years passing by, I continue to feel good, and in some aspects even better. Clearly being physically fit helps maintaining overall emotional balance a lot. And being able to swiftly run up a hill without sweating and gasping too much can be rewarding. Also as my friends of course know, I have been on a fairly busy business travel schedule. Daily runs are good and difficult in this context. Good, as they clearly contribute to being able to successfully combat jet lag and sometimes many strenuous hours on an airplane seat. Although still I do appreciate the magic of seating in an armchair, listening to (noise-canceled) music and sipping wine cruising close to the speed of sound at 40000 ft. Many people have just forgotten how incredible this is. Daily runs while maintaining an active business schedule also mean running in the dark for big part of the year. Of...

Modern phones (not just iPhones) offer the indisputable advantages opened by computational photography. Ars Technica has recently had a good writeup on these . Low light performance is probably the one I enjoy the most, as the phone in my pocket can produce images rivalling the advanced techniques which require carrying heavy gear (tripods) and a lot of post-processing (selective stacking). With a press of a shutter button an iPhone can do all that automatically, in-place, hand-held. But for those willing to experiment a little bit more, there are many creative photo gadgets to accessorize the phone. Again the popularity of a fairly narrow set of models invites the accessory manufacturers to offer clever add-ons. Despite the fairly niche audience, the accessories offer their designers a great ROI, as they will still be selling in high numbers. Pictured here are two examples: the flat-folding credit-card-sized magnetic tripod from Peak Design and the case+lens combo from Moment .  ...

My switch to iOS had something to do with how the system handles pictures. In every application you can copy a picture to teh system clipboard and then paste it in any other application. That includes screen captures, which after simple trim or retouch can end up just in the clipboard, not messing up the photo library. To my knowledge this is not possible on Android (well, maybe it is after installing some clever apps, but on a plain Android no copy/pasting photos nor screenshots). But this time I wanted to discuss a bit more the iPhone (Pro) photo taking capabilities rather than how the system handles pictures. Of course I was expecting a big jump from my 6-years-old Blackberry to iPhone 15. After all phones' photographic capabilities have been the area of the most progress. Both on the physical/hardware size as well as the computational aspects. The improvements start from things almost unnoticed (unless you did not have them before), such as water/dust proof construction and sap...

I have done quite a lot of travel in the last two weeks. Actually it was a full RTW circle: Poland - Hong Kong - California - Indiana - Washington - Poland. Was using the iPhone a lot for all sorts of things. The battery life has proven to be sufficient. Which is a big relief. I purchased a small universal power bank (the Anker 622 , which is both magnetic and cable and can charge other devices over USB-C too). And I have not used it, which actually is a good thing :). What has really proven to be the strength of the iOS platform is its market leading position which forces vendors to prioritize applications and services to support the Apple devices. You simply cannot afford not to. To get around Hing Kong you need an Octopus card. The issue with the Octopus is you need cash (yes, cash!) to purchase it (unless you have an account in one of the local banks). Now there is a virtual Octopus for Tourists (an iOS app which integrates with the Apple Wallet). The app actually allows you to to...

If I was a judge in a contest for the perfect design for technology products, the Foolography Unleashed would be my pick of 2023. I backed this project two years ago on Kickstarter, it really took two years for it to be developed, but no regrets. Even more: it surprises me in every aspect with the quality and the attention to details. Simply speaking Unleashed is a Bluetooth interface for digital cameras. The Bluetooth interface done right. I ordered the N1 (Nikon) version and it works flawlessly. But even before putting it to work, I was stunned when unboxing - how small (and mechanically well thought it was). Then the initial setup was a complete breeze - it paired with my phone, executed a firmware update in a matter of seconds and was ready. But OK, what is it doing? It has a companion phone app which does full remote control of the camera PLUS can download photos (over Bluetooth, so full resolution takes a few moments, but a low / medium variant is perfect for instant sharing). A...

As promised a quick update after 2 weeks with the iPhone 15. It seems there are many hardware / software features Apple does not talk about. Or people just don't care. The first is - already mentioned - the great keyboard. This is purely an iOS 17 improvement, as after the upgrade the iPad keyboard started behaving the same. Super accurate predictive text and corrections and no need to switch languages anymore. Just type. Like on a BlackBerry :) I make less way typos and errors. Another are camera improvements. I've yet to try them, but supposedly there is some magic when taking long exposure astro photos. When the phone is steady (e.g., on a tripod) and the subject is dark, the night mode shutter can go up to 30 seconds. At 30 seconds you would already see small star trails but they are supposedly being removed . A kind of behind-the-scenes image post-processing AI magic like the keyboard? Maybe... I need to try it. The magsafe system of accessories is yet another great little...

It seems Apple has plateaued. iPhone 15 is identical to iPhone 14. Just has a different (mandated by the EU) charging connector. Everything else is the same. I mean of course there are changes / improvements, but probably none of them are noticeable for the users. Not to discredit Apple's work: the insane price aside, this is probably the finest phone ever made. Thanks to the USB-C connector, after 15 years it will likely be my first iPhone. And maybe the last one? I am replacing the 6-years old Blackberry , which has aged beyond hope. Still works, but is slow by today's standards and - my biggest complaint now - is not waterproof. But it seems all that could have been invented in a phone, has been invented. Of course you can start adding foldable screens and other fancy concepts, but it is disputable they make the device better (which is very subjective). The #1 feature i want from a phone is that it is robust, always working. Foldables are not as robust as simple one-piece-br...

One big gap which exists in one of the most popular consumer device categories is the missing link between standalone cameras and smartphones. I wrote on this a number of times before . Of course the fundamental gap is the lack of a full-stack communications standard. One that would allow any phone to connect to any camera without a special dedicated app for that particular camera. It sounds super obvious and in the past there even was a digital camera working group at Bluetooth SIG. But that group never produced anything (any specification) reaching the adoption phase. Clearly members of that group did not have enough motivation to create the standard They clearly thought they would achieve better results doing it in a proprietary way. But even in a proprietary way - they failed. The cameras' smartphone apps are infuriating - writes Richard Butler at DPReview. Yes they are. This statement probably does not apply to the latest - meant by design to be connected - photo and video ca...

I still fly a lot (and this starts building some guilt inside me... you know, all that carbon footprint - but that is for a separate blog post). So I still fly a lot and having a window seat is one of the biggest rewards I could imagine for being a frequent flyer. Forget the upgrades and the lounges and fast security tracks. Dear airline, let me just select a window seat. There is so much going on out there. Flying itself is fascinating - sipping wine while sitting in an armchair cruising at almost the speed of sound in the clouds. And the things outside the window are equally fascinating - the clouds, the occasionally met planes and the Earth from above. I always carry a camera - the Nikon Z50 with the plastic telephoto lens has proven to be a perfect balance for casual window seat aerial photography. And keep collecting the photos - see in my Window Seat album . But interestingly many people don't care about window seats. So often I see them taking the seat and immediately shutt...

My Blackberry is ageing. It still works many days on a single charge but barely copes with the new software. Apps are slow and some even fail to run. But the biggest issue is the camera which has gathered a lot of duct on the internal lens surfaces, so photos come out washed out and often not sharply focused. I've been waiting to "pull the trigger" and buy the new Samsung Galaxy S23 but after a careful examination of pros and cones I passed on it. To be honest passed on Android as such. In a surprising move I have become an iOS guy. Not yet, as Apple must first release a USB-C iPhone. But that is definitely in the works, so it is all very probable I will be buying the iPhone 15 when it comes out. I did a list of features I wanted from a new phone and surprisingly there have been several points where Android lost to iOS. And even more surprisingly many of them have been around handling photos. This is surprising as Google Photos is definitely the leading personal photos a...

The legacy - originally Japanese - photo camera business has been increasingly challenged by smart phones. This is obvious now to almost everyone and it is hard not to admit the SLR, and even the mirrorless cameras, have become a niche of a niche of a niche. Of course this was inevitable, as many (most?) people are just fine with the photo quality offered by today's phones. And the problem is the overall user experience - from taking a photo to having it corrected and archived or shared with others. Nothing has changed there for the last 20 years. Clumsy cables, memory card readers, unintuitive software. I remember it took me many hours of tutorial videos to understand the concept and the basic features of Adobe Lightroom. On the other hand anyone can start using Apple Photos or Google Photos without any learning nor training. My curiosity has pushed me recently into making time lapse video clips. It is a pain using a DLSR. You need to manually calculate all exposure parameters tha...

Despite photography (electronic photography) continuing to be a category where most consumer product investments go, managing a photo library remains an unsolved problem. It works at a basic level thanks to mobile apps like Google Photos, but anything more advanced is full of process / conceptual gaps and a serious content management challenge. This is the reason why the compact / prosumer camera segment died. People simply got lost in the complexity of managing the photo sets, including how they access the photos on the road (when they do not have access to a computer), where / how they do edits and how they backup and share the photos. Things are super simple if you just have a phone. You take a photo, it gets geo-tagged and time-stamped automatically and gets uploaded to the cloud. Then you do some retouching edits and they are applied with an option to undo/redo on all "copies" (local / cloud) of the photo. Timestamping always uses a properly synchronized clock because th...

I have finally managed to get my Android Auto setup working reliably. It has been the goal since I purchased the collectible Subaru Forester STI JDM (MY2005). It is an awesome car, probably the best Forester Subaru has ever done. But being 18 years old it lacks some convenient modern features, mopstly related to the head unit - navigation and apps. I decided to retrofit it with a Pioneer AVIC-F80DAB 2-DIN unit, one of the first models with capacitive touch and Android Auto support. Unfortunately I could never get the Android Auto working reliably. It was either not connecting to my phone or disconnecting randomly. So I gave up.  Until recently when I decided to give it one more try (assuming 4 years have passed and both Pioneer and Google probably have figured out most of the quirks and fixed them). I also had a suspect USB cable, with an extender on Type-A connectors, which I was blaming for the random disconnects. After all the latest firmware updates and replacing the cable all ...

There is the proverb saying the darkest place is under the candlestick. And it is so true when looking around and seeing the obvious things not happening. Especially in product design. I blogged about digital camera companies many times in the past and there is one theme in common. They struggle to survive, being killed by camera - enabled smartphones. Yet consistently they keep pushing themselves into the grave. E.g., the lack of standard connectivity options is so evident. Sharing a photo taken with a dedicated camera is tedious, painful and only a small elite of enthusiasts are doing that. The lack of protection against accidental deletion of a photo is another gap, solved 30 years ago by Windows and Macs by the concept of a wastebasket / trash bin. And now when the still cameras have gained video recording capabilities, the sound recording part is completely unsolved. OK, the cameras have 3.5mm microphone jacks. That is it. And then you can buy a clunky set of wireless microphones ...