pro photog uses iPhone to cover the Olympics

[haven]

Dan Chung, award-winning staff photographer for Britain's The Guardian newspaper, is taking a novel approach to documenting the current Olympic Games. Chung is using an iPhone 4S, equipped with an iPro lens system. The results are pretty amazing. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/27/london-olympics-2012-smartphone

The iPro system consists of a rigid iPhone case that includes a bayonet mount for three lenses: fisheye, wide angle, and 2X. The case also offers a way to attach the iPhone to a standard tripod. Price for the case, three lenses and tripod adapter is about $190. Read about iPro here http://www.iprolens.com/

Images are processed using the Nik Snapseed application ($5 through the iTunes app store). Snapseed includes the ability to email the finished photos. Here's a review http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/snapseed

To increase the iPhone camera's range, Chung is using a pair of Canon binoculars as an long lens. I have not found any detail on the binoculars Chung chose. Canon makes a wide range of bins, including two with optical image stabilization. Holding by hand a separate lens up to the phone certainly increases the degree of difficulty! I'd like more information about this aspect of Chung's project.

 

[haven]

So are the results up to pro standards for sports photography? The resolution and other technical aspects definitely are not. However, the photos do a good job of conveying the emotion in the scene. It's an interesting project.

 

[FJR Colorado]

Those interested in the above might also find this interesting:
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/...ign=Scripps+Adds+Duties+To+3+General+Managers

 

[haven]

Interesting! Video from an iPhone adds consideration of the audio that can be captured through the iPhone. The built-in mic works best at short range, so some sort of external mic is pretty much a necessity. The TVnewcheck.com article mentions the Action Life Media mCam adapter for the iPhone. The mCam aluminum shell for iPhone 4 and 4S costs about $165, including a 37mm wide angle lens and an external mic.
http://www.actionlifemedia.com/mcam-features

 

[Expedition.Report]

Interesting! Video from an iPhone adds consideration of the audio that can be captured through the iPhone. The built-in mic works best at short range, so some sort of external mic is pretty much a necessity. The TVnewcheck.com article mentions the Action Life Media mCam adapter for the iPhone. The mCam aluminum shell for iPhone 4 and 4S costs about $165, including a 37mm wide angle lens and an external mic.
http://www.actionlifemedia.com/mcam-features

I personally like this one more, however it doesn't seem to have the lens options of the other....

 

[Sempertoy]

A little off topic, but just the other day I watched a north face video of a climb shot entirely on an iPhone!! Amazing👊

 

[Clark White]

The photo's are good, and do a good job in conveying the feeling of the event. However, they also do not match up to the photo's listed in this other ExPo posting...
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/81825-London-2012-Olympics

I applaud Dan Chung for doing it that way though!

Clark

 

[cowboy4x4]

I agree they just look like any other photo from a little phone camera..... on that note canons little cameras have 16 mp looks like this guy got to cover the olympics with just shots that any of us could have taken... lucky him. JMO

 

[ywen]

Dan Chung, while a decently capable photo journalist, fills the niche of being on the cutting edge and obscurity in terms of using unconventional equipment that is accessible to the prosumer market, and gaining relative large attention in the prosumer gear-head demographic. There is not much special about these images, even in the context of the iphone4, esp when displayed as such small dimensions..

i chuckle a bit at the notion of sports photo journalists.. When Usain Bolt took over the journalist's camera and snapped a few pics, his pics were of no less quality than pics by the sport journalists.. Don't get me wrong, there are some exceptional sports photo journalists with tremendous artistic vision in their work.. but most just use a long azz telelphoto and let the camera's AF take over..