iPhone: I Did the Deed

A view of Keuka Lake on Fourth of July weekend

Well, I done did the deed. I had just finished reading John Sandford's Deadline (Book 8 in the Virgil Flowers series) on my phone last night, when the text suddenly went sideways and the phone wouldn't turn off. So I hooked it up to the charger. The next morning it was off and wouldn't turn on.

So I was waiting outside the door at the Verizon Store when it opened this morning, and I'm now the proud new owner of an iPhone 13 Pro, 256GB. I got the higher capacity because you can use Apple ProRAW for photos. Fortunately, the Verizon store was able to revive the old phone by using a more powerful 30W charger, so they were able to transfer all the data. I doubt I need to run through all the rest of the specifics...you've bought phones.

The big change for me is that I chose the smaller model this time. The screen area is almost as big as that of the old Plus...a little narrower and a little longer, but more or less the same size. The new Max is the same physical size as the old Plus, and I don't mind the size at all, but I decided to save a little money. In a way I'm kind of glad my hand was forced, because I have trouble making decisions sometimes.

I imagine I might have something to say about shooting in ProRAW and about the camera system on the 13 in due course. I'll be presenting a mini-portfolio of iPhone 13 Pro pictures by Stephen Scharf tomorrow.

I do agree with the reader who noted a while back that it's only us photographers who are still impressed with the fact that phones can actually serve adequately as cameras. To the rest of humanity they're cameras, among all the rest of the things they do.

No offense
And a little detail about that book: John explained in a talk he gave in Brookfield, Wisconsin, that even though a lot of the details in his books are accurate, Deadline is set in a fictional rather than a real county of Minnesota. The reason is that the book shows the county's School Board engaged in a criminal conspiracy, and he didn't want to cast any shade on any real county's Board members! Writers need to think of everything.

Mike

P.S. Literally my last two pictures with my old 2016–2022 iPhone:

Book o' the Week:

The Mindful Photographer by Sophie Howarth. I only know of Sophie Howarth from her time as a curator at the Tate Modern in London, but my impression then was positive. Her brand new book (it only came out a few days ago) is about slowing down as a means of enjoying photographing more. It's said to contain a curated collection of photographs along with anecdotes and explanation.

The book link is your portal to Amazon from TOP, should you wish to support this site.

Our link to B&H Photo

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Comments

[Richard Parkin]

A few weeks of cheaper household paper products will soon pay for that!

[Richard Parkin]

I think the phone is smaller than the 7+ but the screen size is bigger. Apple thinks so too.

[robert e]

Indeed you did! Congratulations! I suppose yet another perk of the iPhone is that New Phone Day is also New Camera Day (as well as New E-reader Day, New GPS Day, New Audio Recorder Day, New Metronome Day, etc., etc., etc. . . .)

I anticipate that the camera's going to be worth writing about.

[Oldsweng]

I too purchased the iPhone 13 Pro but I chose the Max. I have decided I should have purchased the non-Max as you did. It would fit my hand better and still provided plenty of viewing area. Next time...

[Peter Komar]

Yipeee, now go purchase the MOMENT brand case with the bayonet insert for lens attachment. They are not expensive and good quality, then you need the MOONDOG multi filter attachment that fits into the bayonet mount of the case. This now allows you to attach 52mm filters over all three iPhone lenses. You can purchase a IR filter and shoot IR with any of the 3 lenses on your phone. You will enjoy photography a bit more since the phone/camera is usually always with you.

[Kye Wood]

Just curious as to why you didn't just get the battery replaced instead?

[I already did that, not even a year ago. Well, maybe it was a little longer than that, but it was during COVID for sure. --Mike]

[SteveW]

Nice! I'm coming to terms with the reality that my iPhone really is my camera, it gets used quite a lot more than my Fuji. I love my Fuji, but well, the iPhone is always with me, of course. I have the iPhone 11 Pro, and it's great. I'm sure you will really enjoy the 13.

[Dave Millier]

I have a budget phone (£160 Motorola G30) and I did a quick test of the camera. The image quality in a A3 print seems indistinguishable from my A7Rii. All that really shows is that high end sensors only really come into their own for very large prints. The camera is a lot more flexible, of course and the phone is a pain to use. Inspired my A3 print, I bought a £10 clip on handgrip with Blur tooth shutter release. Much more useable, but I have to remove the case to use it, unfortunately.

[Thomas Mc Cann]

I have a Samsung phone. There is a big family meet for lunch tomorrow so I was debating what lens to fit to my Panasonic DC G9 not wanting to appear a camera nerd with a selection and had just decided the Samsung S21 Ultra fits the bill perfectly and this article has confirmed me in that. I'm not going to be printing anything and images will be shared via Whatsapp

[Speed]

Soon ... you will wake up every morning and find that your phone has made an amazingly good short video from a group of related photographs and video clips ... complete with title and music. For me this is closer to magic than any other recent advance in photography. In an instant, I can, and do, share it with family and friends.

[Rube39]

I don't have cell/mobil phone. I don't even know how to take a picture with one when people ask me to (probably because I always have a camera looking camera with me). So no, I don't always have a phone with me. Many of my Japan based friends do not either. I never have a phone with me! But I do take pictures everyday, grin

[Tom Burke]

it is always so good when something you really want to replace goes and fails on you!

Of course, you then face the dilemma of determining how much you should try to repair the old one before you replace it...

[T. Edwards]

One of us,

One of us,

...

[darlene]

Fantastic! Now you have no excuse for not taking pictures whenever or wherever you are. Looking forward to the iPhone 13 mini-portfolio and article.

[Fred Haynes]

I am enjoying these posts about I phones. I don’t have one, or any smart phone. My wife has a Samsung, my sons have the latest I phone.
And they all take good photos. Some are so good, that have been made into prints and framed, on the family picture wall.
Beside my two cameras, I have a I pad mini, which of course has a camera, but does not do as well as the phones. My impression is that the I pad camera is not so good! Is that a fair assessment?. Does anyone know? Am I being too nit-picky?
By the way, I notice that the few folks I follow on Flickr have put aside their Fujis, Sonys, and Canons quite often!
Fred

[David Dyer-Bennet]

One of the advantages of science fiction—when writing about a fictional other planet far in the future, at least, you don't have to worry nearly so much about accidentally offending the school board in some real Minnesota county!