The iPhone 4 is a great all rounder for taking pictures and HD 720p movies – as long as the camera isn’t shaking! The iPhones sensor suffers from the usual CMOS drawbacks which can exhibit skew, wobble, and partial exposure. The rolling shutter effect can be minimised in a number of ways – here are three that I regularly employ.
1) Stationary tripod
Most of the time I use the Glif with a small tripod – either one of the free small ones you get with most compact camera kits or the Joby GorillaPod. Both are light and easy to fit in most small bags. I’ve got the DSLR GorillaPod so use the Glif to attach the iPhone (remember, if you’re shooting video you’ll want it in landscape mode otherwise you’ll have the black bands when played back on a TV or computer). If you don’t already have a GorillaPod then you could by the one designed for the iPhone 4. The only drawback of the GorillaPod over the Glif is that you can only connect the iPhone to the GorillaPod stand as it’s a bespoke attachment where as the Glif uses a standard 1/4″-20 thread that fits any standard tripod. It also allows you to use your bigger tripods…
2) Moving tripod
For a slightly more mobile solution you could try to use something like the Konig Neck Tripod – check out the link for a picture of someone using it with a video camera. I’ve used this with both the iPhone and Canon 7D instead of carrying a heavy tripod up mountains and it actually works quite well. I’ve found that the best results are when you’re standing still and try not to breath too heavily!
3) Software
SteadyCam Pro say that they use advanced signal processing algorithms and a little bit of magic to stabilize your video and correct for rolling shutter in real time. It’s a free to try app and $2.99 to buy. I’ve tried it while both standing still and then moving and have yet to obtain results as good as they say (and show in their demo video). The app introduces a delay while trying to start recording and then stutters every now and then. This is one to watch but not buy at the moment.
—— iPhone Camera Specifications ——-
Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi
Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi
Exposure Time: 1/1257 sec
F-Number: f/2.8
ISO Speed Rating: 80
Lens Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 3.85 mm
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