Who Will Use the iPhone 13 Cinematic Mode Feature?

 

Who Will Use the iPhone 13 Cinematic Mode Feature?

How many existing camera features do you use now?

Anthony Lawrence
The Nantucket — photo from Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nantucket_(IX-18)

The Nantucket shown above was originally a Navy gunboat but from 1909 to 1941 was a Massachusetts Maritime Academy training ship. My dad boarded her in September 1932 as a cadet.

One of the items he carried with him was a movie camera. He shot films of the ship he trained on with his future brother-in-law, my mother’s brother. Later, after he graduated, he took film of his children but also made a fun fictional film about hunting a rare bird in the jungle. My mother played an elephant with big floppy ears or perhaps she was the bird; I don’t remember much more than that. We all had great fun watching that and the Nantucket films.

Although my father did transfer those films to video tape or DVD before he died, unfortunately all copies seem to be lost. Yet another thing I wish I had thought about years ago.

My dad on the Nantucket?
Family Photo — I think this is a still from the “jungle” movie.

The Internet

I imagine a hand-held movie camera was not inexpensive back then, but my grandfather was very well off even after the 1929 crash, so it may have been a gift when my dad went off to college. I can vaguely recall what it looked like, but not well enough to pin down a model.

In some ways, you might think of my dad’s camera as somewhat equivalent to an iPhone today. A somewhat high expense for home movies, but not anything a professional would ordinarily use. My dad had no internet to share his movies, but I expect that he would have if he could.Today’s Youtube, Tik-Tok, and other video celebrities aren’t using cell phones when they can afford professional equipment, though perhaps those without much money who are trying to gain fame might start there.

Features

But other than those hopefuls, who will use Cinematic Mode? Certainly, it’s a “Wow!” feature, but where would it fit in our lives? Will people use it like my dad used his camera to make little mini-films to share with their family? Will would-be directors without backing submit their masterpieces to the big studios?

I can’t see much of that happening, can you?

Today’s phone camera’s have gone far beyond your Average Joe’s needs. Portrait Mode, Night Mode, Slow-Mo: all things that seemed so exciting when they first came out, but I have never used them after the first few days of having them. I would guess most folks might take a video of their kids soccer game or playing at the beach, maybe a birthday party or graduation — would any of those benefit from Cinematic Mode? I don’t know. Are we getting close to Peak iPhone Camera?

Because I have a coin collection, I was momentarily tempted by the new Macro capabilities of the iPhone 13 Pro because it would take wonderful pictures of my collection. But I already have pictures that I seldom look at and nobody else is any more interested. Yes, I could take better pictures with that new phone, but am I really going to get all those coins from the safe deposit box to do that? No, I wouldn’t.

It’s more than enough

So, no new phone for me. My iPhone 11 does more than I need right now and my wife has never taken more than a handful of pictures with her 11 Pro. Unless our phones unexpectedly die, I can’t see us getting new phones for at least three or four years. By the time we are ready, they’ll probably be doing 3D movies or holograms!

How about you? Do you use your phone’s more advanced camera features often? Do features like the iPhone 13 promises excite you? Let me know in the comments.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Telegram From Mark Twain to My Great-Grandfather

Image
  A Telegram From Mark Twain to My Great-Grandfather We have some written history and some oral history. Do they tell the same story? Anthony Lawrence (Pcunix) Photo by author — one of my most favorite books One of my cousins is very interested in genealogy. He has a lot of fun with it, perhaps because he often visits or has extensive phone contact with cousins he finds through his research. I’m not disinterested in my ancestors and living relatives. Still, I also realize that we are all cousins; for every famous person we might find a close connection with, dozens of rapscallions and worse are just as closely related. I also tend to question family lore. For example, my paternal great grandfather was an artist of some minor renown. The history passed down to me has him involved with many things, including: From Wikitree  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lawrence-5332 .. an interior designer for the White House under McKinley, the Toronto Parliament Building, the Boston Public Li...
Read more

A Major League Ballplayer Who Quoted Shakespeare at the Umpire

Image
  A Major League Ballplayer Who Quoted Shakespeare at the Umpire And who happened to be my mother’s uncle Anthony Lawrence (Pcunix) HISTORY My mother’s uncle wrote this book Lloyd Garrison “Chick” Davies was an unusual baseball player .  He only played four widely separated seasons in the major leagues and four more in the minors, but he did distinguish himself playing for the New York Giants in the 1926 World Series, leading the National League with 6 saves and 29 games finished. He also happened to be my great-uncle . See below for an update that explains that he did not play in the 1926 World Series but did play against Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Oh, and he wrote a book about pitching .  I vaguely remember seeing a copy of it when his sister, my grandmother, lived with us after her husband died.  I wasn’t interested then in pitching or great-uncles I had never met; I wish now that I had been. My quest I  recently bought a well-worn copy of ...
Read more

My Great-Grandfather’s Toy Cannon

Image
  My Great-Grandfather’s Toy Cannon I’m not sure that “toy” is the right word, however, that is the word my father and his mother used. Anthony Lawrence (Pcunix) History The “toy” cannon The picture above is a Lawrence family heirloom. I’m not sure that “toy” is the right word, however, that is the word my father and his mother used. I know that it was a gift to Herbert Myron Lawrence, my father’s grandfather. My father gave it to me and I, in turn, have given it to my oldest daughter. HML engraving I do not know how old Herbert was when he received this. He was born in 1851 and died in 1937, which does not identify the time frame of the gift. However, my father did say it was a gift, not something he bought for himself. That could be a misunderstanding. The cannon is engraved with HML initials. One  reference I found  asserts: In fact, toy cannons date back to the American Civil War and before, and not only were they popular toys for children, they were remarkably danger...
Read more