Smartphone News

Photokina 2014 in Germany has been covered widely on the Internet already—including our own extensive reporting on the show on Shutterbug.com—so there’s no need for me to rehash the major announcements from the event, such as the latest full-frame cameras from Canon and Nikon and the like. My photo report here is aimed at sharing some wider ranging thoughts and perspectives on this important biennial show and what it told us about photography today and where it might be heading tomorrow.

Even though his first smartphone camera wasn’t very good by his standards—he is a professional photographer, after all—he liked being able to take quick, casual, spur-of-the-moment pictures when his DSLR wasn’t at hand, or when he didn’t feel like hauling it out.

A solid understanding of key camera settings is essential if you're serious about shooting impressive photographs instead of mere snapshots, and one of the most important considerations is whether to use the Raw file format or shoot Jpegs. As you'll see in the video below, the decision you make depends up a variety of factors—including the specific way you intend to use the images you make.

Despite the preponderance of accessories available for smartphone photographers, it’s rare we stumble upon something unique that stands out from the crowd. But that’s exactly what we discovered after receiving the Magnetic Phone Mount Kit from eXplorer Photo & Video.

Whether you're on vacation or traveling for business there are times when you'll want to use the smartphone in your pocket to memorialize a destination, and this tutorial from the Happy to Wander YouTube channel reveals instant improvements you can make when photographing people, iconic landmarks, street photos, and more.

We make a lot of selfie stick-related jokes here at Shutterbug but we’ve never seen anything as hilariously depressing as the Selfie Arm. The invention, which we hope is meant as a satirical joke, is a fake arm that you can attach a smartphone or camera to take a self-portrait.