The new iPhone 4 has to be one of the worst phones I have ever used. It reminds me of the phones of ten years ago when drop out was a common occurrence during a conversation. However, it does have potential in its ability to shoot 1280 x 720 HD video. A few manufactures are starting to make holders and mounts for the iPhone. One that really shines is the OWLE Bubo. The OWLE is a very sturdy metal housing for the iPhone with a 37mm lens attachment. Adding lenses to this bad boy is just what the doctor ordered.
The OWLE Bubo is a steal at just under $120. Included with the housing is a 37mm Zeikos wide-angle/macro lens with a 46mm front thread for adapters or filters. I picked up a Tiffen 46mm polarizer along with the housing. The ability to change lenses and add filters makes this one powerful little tool for iPhoneography. The housing also has four ¼-20 female thread mounts on each leg of the body. This makes it very easy to mount it to a tripod and add accessories. To take the lens craze even further, a company called EnCinema is making DOF adapters that work with Canon EF lenses for this mount.
There are a slew of great Apps for the iPhone to make it a much better tool. One that really works well for HD video is called Almost DSLR. This app gives you the ability to lock all of the auto functions on the camera. Almost DSLR lets you lock in exposure, focus and white balance. This is a must have in video shooting. In stills, auto isn’t that bad when you are dealing with one frame correction at a time. Auto in video presents too many variances in color and light, it becomes distracting to the viewer and takes away from the story. I contacted the programmer and they responded right away.
Another must have App for the iPhone 4 is iMovie. It is a stripped down version with only the most basic functions. I think this will evolve into a much better system in time. For now this is really only good for on the fly edits, if the material must get to the web right away. I see this working very well for newsgathering.
Why add all of this crap to your phone? Well for one, I have found that getting back to basics with this camera has pushed me to shoot more. I now see everywhere I go as an opportunity to shoot something for my reel or tell a story. The new iPhone 4 may be the worst phone on the planet, but its camera has opened my eyes to the world again.
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