Apple New iPad 3 and iPhoto App Overview

Apple announced the launch of the new iPad last month and it is now available to purchase in the shops. Rather than calling it the iPad 3, expected by most, Apple have simply called it the new iPad. The most exciting feature for many is the new Retina Display which has a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels in a 9.7 inch display. This equates to a million more pixels than a HDTV, making it ideal for viewing your pictures on.


Of course, here at ePHOTOzine, we are particularly keen to see how the new 5 megapixel iSight camera performs. It has a back-illuminated sensor to help take the best pictures possible in low-light as well as tap focus and built-in face detection. To improve image quality, the camera has an f/2.4 aperture, five-element lens and hybrid infrared filter. The new iPad also offers full 1080p HD video recording with automatic video stabilisation.



Where is the iPad is a great size for carrying around so you can edit images and upload on the go, it is feels strange when using it to take pictures. With the ability to share photos via iOS devices using iCloud, it is possible to shoot on your iPhone, then edit on your new iPad.

New iPad Key Features

• 2048 x 1536 pixel 9.7 inch screen
• 5 megapixel iSight camera
• Full 1080p HD movie recording
• 4G compatability
• A5X chip with quad-core graphics
• 10 hours of battery life

As we found with the iPhone 4, images have punchy and saturated colours with pretty good detail and good white-balance performance. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review and product ratings.

Thoresby Hall | 1/1439 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm | ISO 80		Portrait | 1/15 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm | ISO 125
Macro | 1/15 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm | ISO 80		Daffodils | 1/3788 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm | ISO 80

ISO80 | 1/50 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm

AWB fluorescent lighting | 1/17 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm | ISO 320

AWB incandescent lighting | 1/100 sec | f/2.4 | 4.3 mm | ISO 125

Here is a video shot at full 1080p HD.



At the same time of the new iPad launch, Apple also released the new iPhoto app, designed for viewing and sharing photos and apply effects in a single tap. It works on iPad 2 or later and iPhone 4 or later, available from the App Store for £2.99.

iPhoto Key Features

• Scrollable thumbnail grid in portrait or landscape
• Compare similar photos side-by-side
• Multi-touch editing
• Crop and straighten
• Adjust exposure, contrast, saturation and more
• Photo effects
• Brushes
• Photo Journals
• Share photos via Facebook, Flickr or Twitter

The app takes a little getting used to, but if you get stuck there is always the ? which tells you what each option does. With all the editing options available, the app is a useful tool to give your images a quick fix. The brush options include repair, red-eye, saturate, desaturate, lighten, darken, sharpen and soften, you can choose to perform them on the whole image or just selected parts. The effects available are artistic, vintage, aura, black and white, duotone and warm and cool. There are further options within each one where you can add a vignette, for example. Each effect has a number of options, which can be adjusted via a sliding scale. A few examples are below.

Duotone

Aura

Sepia

Photo Journals is an interesting feature, this allows to select a number of selection of photos and put them together like a collage. When you have picked your photos you then choose your preferred background and give your journal a name. The next screen allows you to move around and resize images. There are widgets to add more to your journal including a header, text, note, page, food, quote, memory, space, map, day and weather. Your finished journal can be shared via iCloud or iTunes. This is where things get a bit strange, when sharing via iCloud it takes ages (the example below took half and hour) to be ready (edit: this issue has been updated in version 1.0.1), where you can send a link via email or view in safari.

iPad and iPhoto App Verdict

Overall, the iPad is a fantastic tablet to view and edit your pictures. The camera is a handy extra if you find yourself without a camera, but it is more awkward than a compact camera or iPhone. The iPhoto app brings more to the standard apps than previously, but if you already have a number of photo editing apps it doesn't bring anything particulary unique. Apple need to address the issue with exporting the photo journals, as many users will give in before they have even seen their first creation (edit: this issue has been updated in version 1.0.1).