Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Long overdue for a cell phone upgrade I ordered the iPhone 7 Plus after watching the promotion video, and several youtube reviews. My ship date was way out Nov. 7-11th. Sigh. Oh boy, this phone is popular I thought.
To my delight I received an email saying my new iPhone 7 Plus was shipped I’d have it the following day! I received it Thursday late afternoon, and began the process of updating my iTunes, backing up my iPhone 5’s data, images, etc., then followed the steps to get my new phone up and running. It took a long time, and it wasn’t without a few glitches, but I was able to take it with me to the Eastern Sierras for the week-end to try it out while I was photographing Fall Colors with a group of photographers, and friends.
I was really excited to try out the dual lenses in the new iPhone.
Here are three images I made using it.
Mono (moh-noh) Lake South Tufa Area Daybreak. Tufa is pronounced (too-fah).
On the top two images I used Adobe Camera Raw after uploading the images to my computer. I applied my standard settings: I opened up the shadows, and tweaked the blacks, and highlights. Then I added a bit of contrast, vibrance, and cropped off bits that didn’t add anything to the image or to strengthen the composition. I added sharpening for the web and resized them for web viewing.
Conway Summit Alpine Glow (Sunrise)
North Lake: This image is SOC = Straight out of the camera aside from resizing for the web, and cropping off a bit at the top. 
+1 MORE: I packed lite, really I DID!
The camera won’t replace my DSLR, but I’m impressed with it and will probably start using my phone camera more than I have been. I wonder if my FZ200 will be the camera that gets shelved for this camera though?
I have oodles of images I made over the week-end made with my trusty Df. I’ll be sharing those soon.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus| Adobe Camera Raw| PS CC 2015.5
More to come…
Circadianreflections Blog 
Beautiful!
Great boots and hat!
👒
Thank you! I’ve still got both those boots and hat. It’s my favorite field hat. 😀
I’m so glad your camera (phone) came in early. Stunning photos. 🙂
Me too! Thank you so much Amy!
I really appreciate your explaining your “tweaking” process! I’ve heard that the best camera is the one that you have with you, and I always have my phone, so that’s what I use. Most of my pictures are pretty raggedy; I can learn a lot from you! It’s very kind and generous of you to share your experience and expertise. Great pictures!
Thank you so much Marian!
I work to get it right in camera so I don’t need to do too much to my images in post development, but I do run them all through Adobe Camera RAW since I shoot RAW. Most digital negatives if you will look a bit flat when shot in RAW. The tweaks put the zing and pop in them. 🙂
Beautiful set, Deborah! I gotta admit the the photos from my Samsung phone have impressed me. With the younger set relying on cell phone photography and Instagram, the trend is probably worrying Canon, Nikon and the like. I still love my DSLR (because I’m old and old-school) and look forward to what Nikon has in store for their DF/D810 lines.
Thanks Wayne! The likes of Nikon and Canon must be worried since this new cell phone boasts two cameras and both have 12mp. You remember our D700 has 12.3 mp! I still have the D700. My Df has 16mp. I imagine in a few short years cell phone cameras will be 16-24mp!
I know good things will be coming down the pipe for the D8xx line, but have doubts they’ll even be a version II of the Df. If there is I hope they don’t cripple it by taking away some of the top of line features like they did with the first version. I like it a lot, but wish it had the more robust features of the D8xx line.
I just got an SE. I take a lot of photos with my phone. These are lovely!
Thank you so much Cheryl! I don’t really use my cell phone camera too much…honestly I forget about it most the time. I think this new phone with dual camera might change that though.
It will I imagine. I’d be lost without mine or have to lug around my Nikon everywhere. Its bad enough I carry it most places. 😏
I do carry my phone most everywhere, and I have been taking my bridge camera the FZ200 too, but when I got this phone I took it out of my purse. So, far I haven’t missed the FZ200.
That’s great.
This was an area where my family camped nearly 50 years ago. That trip had as much to do in the formation of who I am as the redwoods we had in our backyard. Your glorious pictures brought it all back for me. Thank you!
That’s such a wonderful compliment Melissa! Thank you so much!
I love the Eastern Sierras. When I’m there there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to leave.
When I was a girl we camped in the Sierras almost every week-end in late Spring through the Summer months. Those years formed my love for the mountains, and forests so I have a pretty good idea of what you mean. xx
Wow, it is neat that we share that experience! xo
It is! xx
Wow gorgeous!
Thank you so much Lynn!
most welcome always amazing
Great photos, and as much as we all love our ‘cameras’ the smart phones keep getting better and better and are so convenient because you always have them with you. 🙂 Thanks for the review.
Thank you Judy! My purse is probably going to get a lot lighter b/c I’m going to take out my FZ200 and only carry my iPhone 7+ and see how it goes.
I wonder what neat and advanced features my next upgrade cell phone will have in 2-3 years?
Wow, that’s impressive Deborah! I have been wondering about the new dual cameras. Beautiful photos!
Thank you so much Antonia! My Baby Girl upgraded her iPhone to the 7 Plus and hers arrived yesterday much earlier than originally estimated. YEAH!
I can’t wait to see what she does with her dual camera phone. She’s a lot more adept and savvy with iphoneography than I am!
I hope she has fun with it! I think you have convinced me to get one too. Does it shoot RAW?
It does, but in a round about way. You have to use a 3rd party camera app that shoots RAW. I use Pro Camera (the version with HDR and Low Light). It lets me shoot manually controlling exposure, ISO/Shutter Speed, white balance, burst mode, it has a histogram, and I can shoot TIFF, JPEG or TIFF + JPEG. It’s a bit pricey for an app at $4.99 but it’s my favorite phone camera.
If I figure out how to change the stock camera’s settings to shoot RAW I’ll let you know.
It’s amazing how far phone cameras have come. Thank you so much for the information! I can’t wait to get one now. Have a wonderful day!
Thank you! Hope your day is wonderful too!
Thank you!
Wow, fantastic pics; it’s amazing what phones can do these days.
This version has a 12MPs f/1.8 wide angle lens, and 12mp f/2.8 telephoto lens! That’s pretty close to my D700 & D300s which have 12.3MPs each.
Wow they really improved the camera. I have the 6+ and while it is good it’s not this good. I love the photos by the way! I’m miffed about the new iphones not having a headjack. I prefer wired earbuds and don’t like having to charge yet another device just to listen to music. I love the 6+ and will stay with it until it takes its last breath. Maybe by then they’ll bring back the headjack. 🙂
Thank you Laura! I don’t use the earbuds too often, but wonder now what I’ll do when flying somewhere b/c that’s really the only time I use them?
You’re welcome! I also use them when I go for walks. I hope they change their minds about that next iteration.
Beautiful photos, Deborah. My daughter also bought that phone, primarily for the camera. I think it’s too big for me. I like a phone I can easily slip in my shirt pocket. But, I have to say, those are very nice photos.
It is a big phone! It won’t fit in the cargo pockets of my favorite field pants, but it will in my old favorite pair by Triple Aught. Those pockets are Commando big. The phone fit with plenty of room to spare.
I may have to purchase another pair of Triple Aughts now. 🙂
Oh, I meant to say Thank you for the comment, and compliment too! THANK YOU!
Beautiful photos Deborah! You must be very pleased.
Thank you Susan! I’m happy so far.
I like where you placed your watermark in your last pic!
Thanks! 🙂 I was thinking LOGO!
Nice ones.
Thank you so much!
Wonderful photos
Thank you so much!