It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…

It's not very often I can manage a kind word about the Northeast of England in January but today the sun was out, full belt all morning and most of the afternoon. Ok, it was VERY cold but that's what heavy coats are for - and so out with the new Mi 10 Pro phone complete with 100Mpx camera. As it happens I didn't have to go any further than our own garden to get a cheery photo. And here it is...

You've probably seen me writing about the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 which as well as being a decent phone is excellent for casual photography, good enough that I sold my Nikon P900 and other traditional cameras - well, time stops for no man or woman and I've now (as of December 2020) moved onto the Poco X3 - and what excellent cameras it has, from the 64Mpx main camera down to the (much lower resolution) macro camera. For more on this check out my tech blog. Sadly the ability to take IR photos seems to be missing out of the X3 but the camera aspect of the phone is so much…

Dear all This is very important: I've just started to dramatically cut back on what look like BOT registrations on the blog. It is entirely possible I may accidentally delete some genuine registrations for which I humbly apologise. If you are reading this you are obviously not a BOT - PLEASE take a moment (and if you were deleted, register first) to go to the PROFILE tab and ADD YOUR NAME - and if you like, photo - be assured none of this information is used commercially. That way I'll know you have taken the time to prove you are a human interested in my blog in which case you…

Who would have thought that you could get even remotely acceptable video editing out of a mobile phone? For some time now, half-decent mobile phone cameras have been able to make video recordings - in the case of my Xiaomi Pocophone F1 up to 60fps at 4K. There are even phones with decent lenses as well. The one thing that has been missing is half-decent video editing so I've always had to go back to the PC. Well, all of that has now changed. The YouTube video I refer to here is a mere 1080p and is a short technical video describing a new toy from AliExpress. All of that…

Not something you’d expect in the South of Spain in summer, but here’s our local river in Galera after the floods, just as the sun was re-appearing… a rather drab affair, somewhat improved with the aid of Skylum Aurora HDR…

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…