Buying a new iPhone 10S or 10R?

[fragman2]

Ok so I really don't need a new phone as I have an iPhone 7 and it works fine, but would a new iPhone 10S or 10R help me take better tank and coral pics??? One of my friends took a shot of his 250 Reef with his iPhone 10S Max and it was amazing. He is no more of a photographer than I am. I grow a lot of corals for sale here on R2R and to local Fish stores and we all understand the importance of having "Great Pictures". I need something easy. Several years ago I purchased an entry level Nikon DSLR (D-60) before I knew anything about cameras and then later a Nikon 18-105 Macro Lens. I have read many of the great threads that you all have shared and it has helped me some, but I still have trouble getting good quality shots with either the iPhone 7 or the Nikon. I bought one of those Xenvo wide angle clip on Lenses and some gel filters and played with those a little. Sort of cool. I wish I could learn to take Great photos like you guys do. Hey if anyone lives near me and wants to train me how to take good pictures, I'd pay them with coral Frags (lots of coral frags) :-)

So any thoughts on the original question: Will buying a new iPhone help me take better Pics?

Paul

 

[ReeferReefer]

It honestly sounds like you have the correct tools to take great pics, buying a 1k+ phone won't magically make your pictures better.

Have you tried some image editing apps?

What is it about your pictures that you are not satisfied with?

 

[andrewkw]

Macro lens are fixed. An investment in either a 50mm or 100mm will be less then a new phone and lead to much higher quality pictures especially if you are using it to take pictures of frags to sell. The D60 may be an older body but it will be fine paired with a proper lens.

 

[Tyler Collinske]

Well the IPhone XS has way better camera the then IPhone XR. I have an XS and it’s pictures are a lot better then an iPhone 7 aswell. It’s a good fast phone. You can buy macro lenses some help some really don’t unless you can dunk your phone into your tank to get it close enough for a macro to do its job. But the 2X zoom on the iPhoneXS has little pixel loss compared to an IPhone 7 or every XR since it has a dedicated 2X zoom camera on the back of your phone. Also instead of buying an macro lens for your phone you can buy a magnetic magnifying glass that you can add to your tank called a portal. I use it in combination to my phone and it works great. Hope this helps feel free to ask any other question.

These where taken with my IPhone XS

 

[fragman2]

I do also have the 18-55mm lens for the D60. I have almost accidentally taken some good shots with the Nikon.

Tyler, were those shots taken with the 10 S top down? Through an acrylic box, just calm surface or did you submerge the camera? Those are really nice! Any post processing on those?

 

[Tyler Collinske]

I do also have the 18-55mm lens for the D60. I have almost accidentally taken some good shots with the Nikon.

Tyler, were those shots taken with the 10 S top down? Through an acrylic box, just calm surface or did you submerge the camera? Those are really nice! Any post processing on those?

One of the bowser zoas where top down no flow. I didn’t sumerge the phone at all. And yes they where both taken with an IPhone 10s and the second one was taken from outside my fish tank from the side. I use and app for iPhone that’s called Aquarium Cam. It’s $2 wel worth it. Allows you to apply gel filters so takes amazing pics under blues. Other then that there was no editing or processing done to Doctor the pictures. Just point shot post. Easy easy.

 

[Tyler Collinske]

Some of my favorite pics. All with my iPhone. All of the pictures under blues where taken using the aquarium cam app applying the orange gel filter. That’s it. All great pictures for a phone.

 

[Dual40IM]

I know most people that are Apple/iPhone fans despise android. But I take all my pics using the PRO mode on my Samsung S8+.
You can adjust white balance, shutter speed, ISO and such and get pretty good pics. You may be able to find a used one fairly cheap on Ebay. Even my S7 took really good pics in my opinion. No filters were used on any of the pics shown, just adjustment in PRO mode.

 

[BigJim]

The D60 is an older camera, so the dynamic range (ISO) and resolution are not as good as more modern cameras. It should still be better than any phone pictures you can get. I would look into the nikkor 40mm f/2.8 lens. It is $250 and takes really sharp true macro pictures. It will not get you as close as the 90mm or 100mm macro lenses, but you can put the lens very close to the subject to compensate. It can also be used as an every day lens since it takes a much wider shot than the longer macro lenses. I use a nikon D7500, and I like the 40mm better than many of my more expensive lenses.

You will still need to work on your camera skills to get good shots though. Lightroom is a big help too. The heavy blue lights tend to make for very grainy pictures. The sticky threads in this forum will give you some great tips. Feel free to PM me if you ever have questions.

 

[fragman2]

Thanks for the Great suggestions. Being an Apple guy, having an excuse to go out and buy a $1,200 new phone is always appreciated. The Nikkor 40mm f/2.8 lens sounds like a more versatile option than the Nikon 18-105 macro lens that I have. It is bulky but powerful.

 

[Johnson556]

I have the XS Max and it is awesome. Highly recommended. My phones also manage to last me quite some time so I always go with the top model at that time. Camera is incredible