We see it all the time. People holding up their iPads and taking pictures. Thanks to the smaller size of the iPad mini, this endeavor doesn't look quite as awkward as with the full sized version.

But can you capture quality images from an iPad mini? Thanks to software optimization from independent developers, my answer is yes.

Here is a four shot comparison to help you draw your own conclusion. I captured three images using the iPad mini with Digital Negative HD in Tiff mode, Pro Camera HD in high quality Jpeg mode, and the Camera app that comes with iOS 6. I also shot a reference photo with the Fujifilm X20 12 MP digital camera in Jpeg mode.

Here's how the comparisons shook out. (Click on images for larger versions.)

Digital Negative HD app for iOS in Tiff capture mode

Pro Camera HD app for iOS in high quality Jpeg mode

Camera app that comes with iOS 6

Fujifilm X-20 digital camera in Jpeg mode

Conclusion

The iPad mini doesn't produce images as detailed as a dedicated compact camera, but it's not bad either. And thanks to clever software apps such as Digital Negative HD and Pro Camera HD, you can squeeze every drop of quality out of that tiny sensor.

iPad for Digital Photographers

This is the kind of stuff I write about in iPad for Digital Photographers-- now available in print, Kindle, and iBooks format.

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This week on The Digital Story: The groundbreaking Canon PowerShot N; the versatile, affordable Sigma 17mm-70mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens for APS-C DSLRs; and a visit to Carpinteria. All of this and more on The Digital Story podcast.

Story #1 - The Canon PowerShot N is a 12MP super compact camera featuring a DIGIC 5 processor, 1080p HD video, built-in WiFi, and a ton of creative features. I've been putting this little wonder through its paces and have a report to share.

Story #2 - The impressive Sigma 17-70 2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM for Canon (Black) that's part of the new Creative line of Sigma zooms. The lens has a nice weight that balances perfectly on my Canon 60D, 72mm front filter ring, 1:2.8 macro, IS and AF switches on the side of the barrel, and very impressive performance. And the frosting on the cake: less than $499.

Story #3 - Carpinteria. I spent last week updating my Flickr Essential Training for lynda.com. In addition to refreshing movies that were out of date, I recorded over 20 movies on the new Flickr Mobile app for iOS and for Android. The title should be out in late June.

Story #4 - iPad for Digital Photographers is off to a great start, in large part thanks to the support of our virtual camera club. For those of you who have purchased the book and posted a review, a hearty thank you. I love the support you're giving. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, I encourage you to do so. I think you'll very much enjoy the book.

Reminder! - If you're going to purchase gear through Amazon or B&H Photo, please stop by the TDS home page first. Look for the "Products" box about half way down the page in the second column. There you will see display tiles for Amazon, lynda.com, and B&H Photo, in that order. By entering those sites through those display tiles, you help support The Digital Story.

Listen to the Podcast

You can also download the podcast here (31 minutes). Or better yet, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

Monthly Photo Assignment

The May 2013 photo assignment is Food.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

iPad for Digital Photographers

If you love mobile photography like I do, then you'll enjoy iPad for Digital Photographers-- now available in print, Kindle, and iBooks versions.

Podcast Sponsors

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

Make Your Photos Sizzle with Color! -- SizzlPix is like High Definition TV for your photography.

Need a New Photo Bag? Check out the Lowepro Specialty Store on The Digital Story and use discount code LP20 to save 20% at check out.

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Two very desirable prime lenses in the Olympus Micro Four Thirds lineup are now available with a black finish. Both the 75mm f/1.8 and the the 17mm f/1.8 are listed on B&H for preorder.

Why is this a big deal? For those of us who have the black Olympus OM-D E-M5 body, the silver lenses appear mismatched. I know it sounds funny, but I don't shoot as much with my silver 45mm f/1.8 as I should because I don't like the way it looks on the black OM-D. So I use it when I need it, but not much more.

I'm now considering the 75mm f/1.8 with the black finish, which has garnered excellent reviews. I'll keep you posted if I get it.

Take a look at the Olympus Micro Four Thirds Gear Guide for an overview of cameras, lenses, and accessories.

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If you're looking for a compact camera that works seamlessly with your iPad (or iPhone) for on-the-fly processing and sharing of images, you may want to investigate the just-released Canon PowerShot Nwith built-in WiFi. When paired with Canon's Camera Window app for iOS, you have an ultra compact "capture - edit - publish" duo.

PowerShot N with an iPad mini.

Why not just use the camera on your iPad or iPhone instead? Of course you can (we all do). But the PowerShot N gives you these additional features.

• Sharp 28mm - 224mm optical zoom (8X) with additional 4X digital zoom available.
• High quality 12 MP sensor that is remarkably noise-free at higher ISOs.
• True Program mode with exposure compensation and metering patterns.
• Plenty of creative tools to create interesting images.

Connecting to the iPad

You can communicate with your iOS device over an existing network or have the camera establish its own access point. You can also set up a preferred device, such as an iPad, that connects with a single push of a button on the right side of the camera.

But you can add additional devices too, such as an iPhone and computer, that can be selected using the WiFi menu. Once you become familiar with navigating these menus, you can switch from one device to another in just a few seconds.

Communication between the iPad and PowerShot N was flawless while at home or at my studio when I had control over the network. But what about in public? I packed my tandem and traveled to Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA to watch the Golden State Warriors battle the San Antonio Spurs with 19,000 of my closest friends. The networks are often quite busy at Oracle. So how would the PowerShot N fare there?

Right away it decided to create its own access network. It presented a network name and password on its LCD that I was to enter in the Settings app on my iPad. I did. And it worked.

While at Oracle, I published four images that I had just captured to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr -- all from my iPad mini after transferring from the PowerShot N. This shot of Klay Thompson, for example, required all of 224 mm optical zoom on the Canon (ISO 1600). This is the actual shot I published to Flickr from Oracle Arena from the iPad mini.

Ultimate iPad Companion?

So is the $299 Canon PowerShot Nthe ultimate iPad companion? Well, in terms of communication and transferring photos, I would say that it's top drawer. But I'm still learning about this camera, and will file another report once I have a bit more experience with its other features. For the moment, however, I give it a very high nimbleosity rating.

iPad for Digital Photographers

This is the kind of stuff I write about in iPad for Digital Photographers-- now available in print, Kindle, and iBooks format.

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The latest flagship Olympus PEN E-P5 has all the goodies you would expect in a premium Micro Four Thirds camera. But it also has some cool new features. Here are my favorites.

Built-in WiFi that connects to the excellent Olympus I. O. Share app. WiFi is good, we see that more and more these days. But pairing it with an excellent mobile app is even better.

QR Code Connection - Take a shot of the QR code on the camera's LCD monitor with your smartphone and your camera and smartphone are sync'd instantly using the OI.Share's private connection.

Interval Shooting with Time Lapse Video - Interval shooting allows 1-99 shots, from 1 second to 24-hour time interval to record a series of pictures. The E-P5 can also convert a series of pictures taken using interval shooting into a time-lapse movie (Max 10 seconds movie at 99 shots).

Focus Peaking that makes manual focusing much easier. And with so many lens adapters available for Micro Four Thirds, you can put just about any type of glass on the E-P5.

Live Bulb with Histogram that allows you to see the progression of exposure with the live histogram shows you how exposure is distributed across all points of the image.

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Take a look at the Olympus Micro Four Thirds Gear Guide for an overview of cameras, lenses, and accessories.

Creating a portfolio on your iPad says that you have reached a certain point in your photography. It makes the statement, "Not only do I know how to make a photograph, I know how to present it as well."

Here are five tips from my latest book, iPad for Digital Photographers that will help you build your mobile portfolio.

• Don't add too many images. Limit your portfolio to 12-28 photographs.
• When in doubt, leave it out. If you're debating whether or not to include a certain photo, you probably shouldn't.
• When sharing your portfolio, avoid pointing out aspects of an image you don't like. Once you point out a "flaw," that's all the viewer will see.
• Hand the iPad to the viewer and let them navigate. This allows them to enjoy your work at their own pace.
• Listen to what viewers say. Comments about your photos are gifts. Accept them with an open mind.

Assemble your portfolio now and have it ready to go. Nothing kills the moment like fishing around for shots on a mobile device.

There's plenty more about this topic in Chapter 6 of iPad for Digital Photographers, titled, Presenting Your Mobile Portfolio.

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Adobe's announcement that it will cease perpetual license sales of Photoshop and move to a subscription only offering for the application will force many photographers to look elsewhere. Shooters who haven't already moved their workflow to Lightroom or Aperture will be revisiting these applications to handle their everyday post production tasks.

And to be honest, I think that's the way it should go anyway.

Except for those times you need to composite an image, Lightroom and Aperture are better suited for general photography workflow. Both applications provide organization, nondestructive editing, and output of Raw and Jpeg files. They use the natural language of photographers and are much easier to learn than Photoshop. And both are a better value.

Many of us will miss Adobe Camera Raw, however. Its evolution will now move to the Cloud alongside its older brother, Photoshop. But for the moment, Lightroom remains both a standalone product that doesn't require a subscription, and is available in the Cloud. If Adobe is smart, it will maintain that dual citizenship.

Meanwhile Aperture continues its leisurely stroll with timely Raw updates, but sporadic feature enhancements. For $79, Aperture is certainly the best value in the bunch. And for the majority of enthusiast photographers, and many pros, it has everything they need for the bulk of their work. Aperture may receive additional attention as a result of this move by Adobe.

As for me, I will, as needed, roundtrip to Photoshop CS6 when I require one of its unique features that isn't available in Aperture or Lightroom. But I won't be subscribing to Creative Cloud. It's just not a good match for this photographer.

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This week on The Digital Story: Photography Mashup, "Tools or Toys," joined by the hosts from Improve Photography and the Digital Photo Experience.

This week I lead the conversation with Jim and Dustin from Improve Photography and Rick and Juan from Digital Photo Experience for a podcast mashup where we tackle the burning question: Are these tools or toys that we desire?

Listen to the Podcast

You can also download the podcast here (48 minutes). Or better yet, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

Monthly Photo Assignment

The May 2013 photo assignment is "Food".

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

Make Your Photos Sizzle with Color! -- SizzlPix is like High Definition TV for your photography.

Need a New Photo Bag? Check out the Lowepro Specialty Store on The Digital Story and use discount code LP20 to save 20% at check out.

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Wouldn't it be great to clean up your iPhoto library so that you have all the good stuff, but none of the cruft? Well, with the help of Aperture, you can. (This approach works for tidying an Aperture library too!)

In this 3-minute movie that I created for my latest lynda.com title, Using iPhoto and Aperture Together, I demonstrate how to use the organizational tools in Aperture to clean an iPhoto or Aperture library. And it's not difficult (the movie is only 3 minutes...)

Take a look, then tidy up your photo workspace.

More Aperture/iPhoto Tips and Techniques

To learn more about using Aperture and iPhoto together, visit my Using iPhoto and Aperture Together on lynda.com. Also, take a look at our Aperture 3 Learning Center. Tons of free content about how to get the most out of Aperture.

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The Waka Waka Solar Charger combines two functions I often need when working in the field: unlimited portable light and the ability to recharge my iPhone.

Even though it's only about 4" long, the Waka Waka houses 8 high efficiency solar cells, a battery, two LED lights, USB charging out, and mini USB charging in (for when you don't have solar available). The dual lamps have three brightness settings: 100 percent output that runs for 20 hours off a full charge, 50 percent for 40 hours, and 25 percent brightness that's good for 100 hours. Even at 25 percent output, you can read a book. Impressive.

The Waka Waka is very compact and extremely light.

The light can be positioned using the built-in stand, mounted on a bottle for elevated light, or hung via a string. I've used it in my tent and on a camping table. And thanks to the multi-positionable stand, I can angle the light exactly how I need it.

To fully charge the Waka Waka via solar takes about 8 hours. But most of the time I only depleted 25 or 50 percent, requiring just a few hours to charge it back up. There are four green LEDs on the top of the unit that display its current amount of charge.

Recharging the Waka Waka. The solar cells are on its back side.

I devised a holder for my backpack that's made of mesh and allows me to charge the Waka Waka during the day while I'm hiking. Depending on the brightness and angle of the sun, I've replenished up to 50 percent while on the trail.

I can charge the Waka Waka while hiking by using this DIY mesh pouch.

I've also recharged my iPad mini and iPhone using this device. It drains the battery faster than using the lights, but adding 50 percent more service to my iPhone while backpacking is wonderful! In fact, I recommend carrying two units: one for lighting and the other for recharging mobile devices. The Waka Wakas are available in two colors: black and yellow. I have one of each, which makes it easy to tell them apart.

Charging my iPhone with the Waka Waka.

The devices cost $79 each with free shipping in the US. They fit easily in a camera bag, backpack, or glovebox. The solar cells are surprisingly efficient, and the output is impressive. If you're looking for nimble solar power station, I would definitely investigate the Waka Waka. I never leave home without mine.

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