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I-Phone holder

jlm

Workshop Member
first photos as prototyping is done (will be anodized black); a shot of my new product, the I-phone holder. Front view in landscape mode on my Cambo
Details
1. Screw clamp holds the phone;
2. Phone rotates on the phone lens axis from portrait to landscape (click stops), so the image stays centered;
3. Fitted with hot shoe adapter; Alpa base an option
4. Base has parallax adjustment for close framing up to 3' (adjustment wheel is numbered)
5. precision machined from aluminum and stainless steel

These will be going into production very soon; every part is made in my shop and there are about 15 custom made parts plus numerous springs and fasteners. will sell for $750 with either hot shoe base or Alpa base (will make an Arca base once I see one!)



 
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Professional

Active member
Good idea, but how long my iPhone battery can handle shooting outdoor? if it will be longer than the camera itself then this will not be an issue, but if one day my iPhone is not recharged enough[forgot to recharge], what i have to do?
 

lance_schad

Workshop Member
Good idea, but how long my iPhone battery can handle shooting outdoor? if it will be longer than the camera itself then this will not be an issue, but if one day my iPhone is not recharged enough[forgot to recharge], what i have to do?
I had a chance to see it and handle it first hand. John has done a very nice job with this adapter, it is brilliant how the iPhone rotates around the lens.

Its funny you mention iPhone battery life, I noticed that John had one of those big wave battery packs to power his H3D, it had both firewire and usb ports, so you could just recharge your iPhone from that pack as well.

Lance
 

Professional

Active member
I had a chance to see it and handle it first hand. John has done a very nice job with this adapter, it is brilliant how the iPhone rotates around the lens.

Its funny you mention iPhone battery life, I noticed that John had one of those big wave battery packs to power his H3D, it had both firewire and usb ports, so you could just recharge your iPhone from that pack as well.

Lance
I would like to know about that battery pack [where and what], and do you mean to recharge in fields?
 

lance_schad

Workshop Member
I would like to know about that battery pack [where and what], and do you mean to recharge in fields?
This is what the device looks like. It is an external power source to be used to power firewire and usb devices.

Provides power over:

FireWire 1394 6-pin port (9V)
USB 2.0 port (5V)
30 minutes of use when powering the Hasselblad digital back (not on Hasselblad H-body)
400% increase of Li-Ion battery grip for H3D/H4D
Specification:

Input Power 5v @ 1.0A (Max)
Output 5v and 9v (1A Max)
Charging Time Via AC Adapter 4-6 hours/Via USB Port 6-7 hours
Battery Capacity 3.7V 3800mAH Lithium Ion Battery
Weight 4.8oz
Size 104 x 61.2 x 17 mm (L x W x H)
Operating Temp 32deg F – 149 deg F



Lance
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
John - looks like a nice job. Not quite as small and elegant as the Alpa mount but you have added a lot of extra stability and functionality with the rotation & parallax correction - both nice additions.

With respect to iPhone battery life, based on using an iPhone exclusively as my Alpa VF now, you need to remember that you don't need the VF on all the time, only when framing etc. In between, put the iPhone to sleep. VIewfinder Pro will kill the battery if you leave the camera live for a long time.

The are a few solutions for full day shooting:
1) turn off iPhone between shots - once youre composed, you don't need it on!
2) use a battery case for the iPhone - these provide much much more battery life and it looks like you can fit one of these with John's adapter (a challenge on the current Alpa mount).
3) as Lance mentioned, use an external battery pack with USB to keep the iPhone charged when you need to. There are many of these solutions available and they work well.

Very nice, John. Now if I can just find a WA lens for my I-Phone 3GS.
Sigh ... Ditto for iPhone 4. I have one but it's far from elegant.

Hmm, maybe John could find a wide angle converter to screw into front of his adapter - I'd buy one for that solution!
 

Professional

Active member
OK, i will look at one of those battery packs power devices, not sure when but i may get one of those tech cameras in the future, hope by next year or after, and i have iPhone 4, so i have to find a way to keep its battery life longer, and using live view as you said will decrease battery power level significantly, i don't know why, even that tech camera with DB is a great solution for outdoors but i feel i didn't like it much, I tried it once with Mr. Bryan, it was really a guess work and using math more often, i hate to use my mind for calculations and math while i am shooting, i mean for focusing and composing and distances, not for exposure values.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Tareq,

I wouldn't worry about the fact that you don't like using a tech camera - it's definitely not for everyone. In fact, most of the reasons why you don't like using one are probably the reasons why some of us DO like using them. However, if you've got a job to get done or speed is part of the way you shoot then definitely shooting a DSLR based system is quicker than messing with viewfinders, measuring distances, manual shutter recocking, aperture setting, LCC shooting etc etc.

Now what John has produced here is something to make the shot framing easier using tools for the iPhone like Viewfinder Pro vs the even greater rigmarole of approximation using optical finders with proportionally marked masks and/or ground glass viewing.
 

archivue

Active member
the ARCA viewfinder is not so bad... i like the idea of using the iphone for framing, but in bright light... and one more battery to deal with...

by the way, on the RM3D the base is the same shape as the arca rail... really nice design...
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
the ARCA viewfinder is not so bad... i like the idea of using the iphone for framing, but in bright light... and one more battery to deal with...
.
Oh don't get me wrong regarding optical VF's - the Alpa one is great too but the real advantage of the iPhone (or any digital VF in this regard) is that you can zoom to make the image fill the VF screen, regardless of focal length. For wide angles this is no big deal because the optical finders handle this very well. If you have longer lenses then the advantage of filling the VF screen is much greater vs composing against a small etched mask in the middle of a large VF optimized for super wide lenses like 23 or 24mm. That's what I really like as it makes composing with my 90mm or 150mm lenses better. IMHO.

For the Arca no doubt the vario-zoom is managing all this for you. For everyone else John's solution with the iPhone is an alternative.
 

jlm

Workshop Member
i am going to try and get out there today for some shooting, but here is my thinking.
i always have the iphone in my pocket; recently having installed viewfinder pro, i can use it like a superb director's finder. it will zoom to full screen and will match framelines to your exact back and exact lens. I was amazed to find the 43 and 70mm choices and the H39 back on the VP menu.

mounting the phone to the camera takes it to the next step, but that has to be quick and accurate, work for portrait and landscape, and in my opinion, be of very high quality. So far, from what i have seen, the phone image and the camera image are virtually identical, speaking of framing, of course.

Alpa makes one for about the same money, however, but phone rotation is by unhooking and re-hooking and the phone lens axis shifts, there is no provision at all for parallax, and if you want to use it with a hot shoe, alpa will sell you a hot shoe adapter for $250 more

What I have now is much better than an optical viewfinder, for about half the price. The main disadvantage is shading the phone in bright light, but this is no worse than viewing any lcd, even the new IQ


When I looked at the phase IQ180 and saw the "i-phone quality" lcd, a bit smaller, it seemed like this might be a good pairing. after all, once you get hooked by pinch-zooming, how do you go back? curiously, with the phone viewfinder, you compose and then shoot; with the IQ you shoot and then compose. seems like they could work together
 
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jlm

Workshop Member
after a bit of fiddling around with this unit, i decided to add a couple more features:

1. the parallax adjustment wheel has ten numbered divisions, with each division adding another .006", .062 per revolution, up to about .187 total movement. I added an index which records how many revolutions. My rough calculation is that .140" will tilt down about 6 degrees, so that would be 2.2 revolutions. 6 degrees is about right for a 36" subject distance. once you test this out with your own camera, you can reproduce the tilt needed for the subject distance. I'll probably include a chart.

2. the phone holder can be user tweaked in terms of left-right to match the phone capture to the camera capture. So for slight mis-alignment of your hot shoe, you can easily achieve registration and it will stay that way

3. this holder is made for a phone with the thin protective cover, but will be supplied with a spacer so you can use your phone naked

finally i am patent pending
 

cmb_

Subscriber & Workshop Member
3. this holder is made for a phone with the thin protective cover, but will be supplied with a spacer so you can use your phone naked
Nice John. What about fitting for the iPod Touch?
 

jlm

Workshop Member
have not tried the touch, will try that out. i don't think it has as wide angle a lens as the 4

by the way, i just got a wide angle lens for the phone and will definitely be able to fit it! tiny little thing
 

cng

New member
i just got a wide angle lens for the phone and will definitely be able to fit it! tiny little thing
What wide angle adapter did you get? There are a few available, but hit and miss in terms of fit.
 
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