I-phone 6S

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Lots of you guys have said I need to step up to a smart phone. So I have been researching and think the I-phone 6S is powerful enough for my needs and is within budget.

Like to hear any issues you can think of. I would use it as a hub for my I-tablet on trips and the occasional image. Maybe allow me to upload stuff to this forum when away from home which I can't do now.
 

AlanLichty

Moderator
It will work for that. Any chance you can get a good deal on an iPhone 7? That one might have a slightly better camera and a slightly longer life for getting updates. The 6S is getting close to its end of life for operating system updates.
 

Jeffrey

Well-Known Member
That one is getting old. It was my last phone. I just upgraded my wife's iPhone and have her iPhone 8 available if you want it. Works better, and has a better camera than the 6 series. Set up for ATT but maybe can be unlocked. It'll save you a while lotta money.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
I need to replace both phones and I can get the 7 as Alan suggests thanks for the offer Jeffrey
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
I still use the 6s, and it’s still working great for me. But Apple defintely made the camera better with each version. So getting a good deal on either the 7 or 8 would be worth it.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Thanks Jim, I suspect it will be ready to trade up in two years anyway. I will go for the 7. I am thinking 128GB ram.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks Jim, I suspect it will be ready to trade up in two years anyway. I will go for the 7. I am thinking 128GB ram.
Defintely get the 128gb memory. The biggest issue I have seen is people (family members) get a smaller memory model to save a little money but in a years time they are complaining their phone is always full. Those photos add up fast, and though you will back up those photos you will find reasons not to delete certain photos and your space free will get smaller and smaller. So start big, it will save many headaches down the road.
 

Kyle Jones

Moderator
I'm an Android user. The pixel 3A has a great camera, is new so it will be supported for a while, and only costs $400. Pair that with Google FI service for $20 per month plus $10 per GB of data you use.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Alan, there is a Photoshop app I use on my iPhone shots, and have used to process a lot of my Sony A6400 photos too since I can download them from the camera to the phone so easily.

Ben, be sure to download PS Express App. It works great for editing your photos as it has the basic ACR functions including a Content Aware Fill tool.

And it is very easy to upload to FocalWorld with the phone too as you saw.
 

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
I have a 6S+ (there are many articles about why one should stay with that instead of upgrading to an X). The touch screen is starting to get a little finicky, so I know an upgrade is in my future.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
I need to learn about Apps. I also need to figure out how to transfer Raws from my Cannon 5DSR to the i phone. I want that milky way ap that Jim was using at Skyline.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Ok, I have the photographers emeritis loaded, know how to make a hot spot and hook up my I-pad for internet usage. It will be a long time before I use the keypad on the phone for more than dialing a number or downloading an app.

I read up about how to transfer a Raw from camera to phone, but it needs a card reader which I would need to purchase. Not sure I care, I have taken a laptop on trips for years complete with Photoshop, but got tired of using it and stopped taking it along 3-4 years ago. I have no need to process or upload images from a trip until I get home.

But I may pre load images on the phone, like for Lets play or weekly waterfall usage and upload them. I may also upload image I have taken with my phone.

Now I ask about other aps I need. One for sure is the milky way app Jim was using at Skyline, what is the name of that?

I have also heard about location apps that show your position. What do you uses for Google maps type stuff?
 

AlanLichty

Moderator
I don't really use my iPhone for processing at all. Since I almost always have my laptop along I just import the files into Lightroom and keep the images in my regular Library. I have far more control over how an image is processed from Lightroom/Photoshop than anything on my iPhone (including the iPhone version of Lightroom).

Most of the location apps require an internet connection so they can download map info on the fly. Apple Maps and Google maps both use this process. I purchased a program called Earthmate from DeLorme (now owned by Garmin) that allows me to download various scaled maps down to and including 7.5' USGS Quad sheets although I do have to pay an annual fee for the map access. The advantage is that I can download maps for an area I am about to hike into and have full access to trail info without an internet connection.

MW sky maps - PhotoPills and Star Walk are two I have loaded on mine. I think Kyle was the one who pointed me to PhotoPills.

Weather apps: WindyTV, Dark Sky, Tides, Weather Underground
Other neat apps: Merlin Bird ID
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Thanks Alan. I did a Google search and found Google Earth, which I downloaded. I will check out the weather and MW aps.

Do you process your phone camera shots? On the lap top? How do you import them?
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Ben,

You have TPE, that's a great App that I use a lot.

As for your Raw, unless your camera syncs wirelessly to your iPhone I wouldn't worry about it. I have been using that ability on my Sony A6400 but only because I look at that as more of a snap shot, but it's still decent quality and I can use that to shoot something on the road while traveling and then upload it to FocalWorld. I can also wirelessly transfer with my Nikon D850 and have done that a time a two but mostly I want to do serious edits on photos off of that and iPhone edits in general will be more basic edits because the screen is smaller it will be harder to see some of the smaller details with deal with when editing.

So... my other Apps.

Sky Guide - is the one you saw me use for the Milky Way. There are other apps that do the same thing, but I just settled on this one.

Moon - That's it's name, it's Icon is just a Moon that is 50/50. I like it mainly because it gives a Calendar View so it's easy to plot out when the moon will be Milky Way friendly. It also gives daily info, but I mainly like it because of the fast access to the Calendar view of the Moon phases.

Wunderground - For Weather. In general it seems the most accurate.

PS Express - It's Photoshop Express by Adobe. I use it for all of my photo editing on the iPhone. There are other apps, but I like it's ease of use the best.

MotionX-GPS - I use this to mark all of my GPS waypoints. It's like Garmin but so much easier. You can download maps for when you don't have a cell signal. It has trails and roads even on it depending on what overlay you want to see. I use the trails when backpacking. But I mainly use it to mark with a GPS coord the places I go so I can get back there again. :)

Tide Graph - You might not need this, but since I am listing my Apps. I use that to know what the tide will be at the ocean. It's invaluable because depending on what the tide height is will determine what the beach will look like and what features will be showing.

ExposureCalc - An easy to use App that just converts Exposure settings. Like that's what I use at night when I am shooting my 25-30 sec exposures but then want to shoot a longer one, say 20 mins or 45 mins. I don't want to find out after 45 mins I messed up, so this let's you plug in ISO, fstop and shutter speed and then changing a setting and getting the longer result.


Apps I have but don't use much though everyone else uses them. :)

PhotoPills - I have it and it's like the Swiss Army knife because it does pretty much everything in that one App that all of my other Apps do by themselves.. I don't use it much because I have been using the other Apps for years and I like the Single Focus Apps. There is no menu looking or searching, and I am just used to my older apps. But I didn't want to leave PhotoPills off the list since I know others use it a lot.

Dark Skies - Another App getting great reviews that I just haven't messed with yet, but I know lot's of people are using it.

I think that's it, though I am sure I missed something.
 
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