Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’ • Hacker News Board

Re: Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’

#41

Post by sk5t » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 5:34 AM UTC

hnriot wrote: post #32

kfury wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take someone with a DSLR on their hip and someone with an iPhone in their pocket and see who can get the shots you want. Subjects don't stand still and they won't wait for you to be ready.

It's hard to know which side you're arguing for. The iPhone is likely faster, there are a plethora of apps that burst shoot, it can switch to video in a moment and it's faster to start taking photos. By the time the SLR has been set to P mode and auto iso etc e iPhone would have already shot the photos and uploaded them to the server. The wifi/cell part of the photo is not to be ignored, GPS stamped images uploaded i…

Nooope, it's not even close--the iPhone is slow, inflexible, and poor-performing compared to a pro DSLR hooked to a 24-70 f/2.8 or 70-200 f/2.8 zoom. Consumer DSLRs are kind of pokey, but the pro models go from "off" to "shoot" in a fraction of a second, with no perceptible delay between hitting the shutter button and an exposure. There is no faffing about with P mode or the like (only someone who doesn't know how to use his camera would be caught out doing this).

The iPhone does have an advantage in network connectivity, but it's comparatively unlikely to capture the couple of moments worth saving.

Re: Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’

#42

Post by tptacek » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 6:20 AM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #21

mcphilip wrote: post #13

Playing the devil's advocate here. What is wrong with the Sun-Times making this decision if it is shown that having a staff trained in 'iPhone photography basics' allows the ST to cut costs without hurting revenue? An iconic photo (e.g. Tank Man photo [1]) opportunity is a black swan event, after all. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man

An iconic photo (e.g. Tank Man photo [1]) opportunity is a black swan event, after all. The photo opportunity is, but the ability to exploit the opportunity and get a good photo is not.

Whoah, you're back. Come down to MTV this week to see me and Patrick (and whoever else shows up).

Good to see you here again.

(Apologies for off-topic comment).

Re: Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’

#43

Post by corresation » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 1:36 PM UTC

sk5t wrote: post #40

corresation wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but photojournalism has never been about the capabilities of the camera Fast frame rate. Very bright lens (e.g. f1.4). Large, high-sensitivity sensor. It is very much about the capabilities of the camera, because the truth is that lesser cameras miss most shots, especially in a moving situation where you get a momentary window of opportunity. The iPhone camera may get there eventually, but in that situation right now…

You're right on target about the iPhone's unsuitability for photojournalism. There's the horrendous shutter lag, inability to control aperture/sensitivity/shutter speed to any meaningful degree--I can make all these adjustments using dedicated controls on my D3 without taking my eye out of the viewfinder. A big storage buffer, fast frame rate, and removable, redundant storage modules and replaceable batteries also re…

It would make for an interesting (and almost certainly viral) test to concoct artificial scenarios of a "newsworthy" event, having participants armed with each type of capture device. Instructing them that something important is going to happen in a few moments (already giving them more information than they would usually have) and then having a staged shoot out go through the scene, or a pretend robbery, etc.

Re: Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’

#44

Post by zaphar » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 3:48 PM UTC

potatolicious wrote: post #12

kfury wrote: post #2

Will they teach their journalists how to take shallow depth-of-field shots and long telephoto shots with their iPhones? Probably not, since you can't. Given the 'yes and' style of derivative news reporting commonplace today, the Sun-Times might be more effective firing the writers, keeping the photographers, and teaching them actual journalism.

Photojournalism has never been about depth-of-field shots nor long telephoto shots. Photojournalism has always been primarily wide, deep depth of field, and more about lighting and composition than anything else. Shooting "real" photojournalism with an iPhone is more than doable. Hell, the iPhone's field of view is a 28mm equivalent, which is perfect for photojournalism. I don't disagree with the overall point about…

The announcement said they fired all of their photographic staff.

Which combined with your comment leads me to wonder about their sports section. Taking sports photography is very definitely about the capabilities of the camera and even more importantly the lens. An iPhone is not going to do very well for sports photography.

Re: Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’

#45

Post by snogglethorpe » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:24 PM UTC

zaphar wrote: post #44

potatolicious wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Photojournalism has never been about depth-of-field shots nor long telephoto shots. Photojournalism has always been primarily wide, deep depth of field, and more about lighting and composition than anything else. Shooting "real" photojournalism with an iPhone is more than doable. Hell, the iPhone's field of view is a 28mm equivalent, which is perfect for photojournalism. I don't disagree with the overall point about…

The announcement said they fired all of their photographic staff. Which combined with your comment leads me to wonder about their sports section. Taking sports photography is very definitely about the capabilities of the camera and even more importantly the lens. An iPhone is not going to do very well for sports photography.

> An iPhone is not going to do very well for sports photography

Though it would be amusing to see the attempts... >[Seriously though, it sounds like they're simply going to use freelancers for photos from now on, many of whom will presumably have all the fancy kit you need for sports etc...]

Re: Chicago Sun-Times will train reporters on ‘iPhone photography basics’

#46

Post by snogglethorpe » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:33 PM UTC

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #30

Via eBay, I bought some 50's thru 70's era Chicago SunTimes vintage 8x10 file prints. Apparently, someone acquired their physical archives? The skill of photo journalists in those days was astounding. There were beautifully composed photos of the 1968 riots -- while people were rioting! I'm not suggesting that today's PJ's aren't as skilled, but it's certainly easier with a DSLR.

I saw a museum exhibition a few years back of a famous Japanese war photographer in Vietnam (who was killed there).

In addition to the usual blown up prints of his most famous images, they had contact sheets from his film rolls, and they really showed how incredibly skilled he was.

From looking at the contact sheets, and comparing with the blown-up images, you could see that 95% of his shots were perfectly composed, well exposed, in focus, and there were almost no wasted shots at all—none of this "take multiple exposures and choose the best one" business, he just got it right the first time and moved on.

While being shot at.

I liked his work before seeing that exhibition, but I was in awe after it...

[and of course while the equipment of the time (from the contact sheets, you could see it was 35mm film) wasn't all that bad, it was a bit primitive compared to what we have now....]