I've escaped with my dog who hates fireworks, and we are out in Pt. Reyes, testing Google Glass as a camera vs the iPhone. A local friend of mine asked what is the difference... so I am going to try to shed some light on this question.
First of all the, the Glass camera is definitely not made for macro or close up images and it does not zoom. You have to physically move your head in as close as possible to something to get it close in the photo, or you can snap the entire, wide angle shot and crop out the desired image later.
Secondly, you can't actually focus where you want to take the photo at all. When you ask Glass to take a photo(or used the button on the arm to take a photo with out speaking), it takes it with a wide angle, wherever you are looking. There is no way to get specific about what you are photographing-- it takes everything it sees within the frame.
With that said, I am still getting amazing reactions when I post photos to Facebook and Twitter. People are stunned with the quality of the Glass images. There is an auto enhancement feature that happens with Google Glass which really helps improve a standard image. I believe this is part of Google+ auto enhancements to images. It's not just an HDR but it also corrects for saturation and really seems to do great things to most images. You can turn off auto-enhancement on any photo once you are seeing it in Google+. Have a look... below. Click the images to see them larger. Then read my personal comments at the bottom of this post.
iPhone Photo - Unprocessed:
Google Glass Photo: Unprocessed (but using automatic enhancement)
iPhone Photo: Unprocessed
| Location | 38.098, -122.851 |
| Date taken | 7/3/13, 3:54 PM |
| Dimensions | 2048 x 1536 |
| File name | IMG_3824.JPG |
| File size | 1005.16K |
| Camera | iPhone 4S |
| Focal Length | 4.28mm |
| Exposure | 1/1151 |
| F Number | f/2.4 |
| ISO | 50 |
| Camera make | Apple |
| Flash | Not used |
Google Glass Photo: Unprocessed (uses Google + autoenhancement)
| Location | Add a location |
| Date taken | 7/3/13, 3:54 PM |
| Dimensions | 2528 x 1856 |
| File name | 20130703_155409_214.jpg |
| File size | 1.64M |
| Camera | Glass 1 |
| Focal Length | 2.95mm |
| Exposure | 1/1112 |
| F Number | f/2.48 |
| ISO | 60 |
| Camera make | |
| Flash | Not used |
My personal opinion on the question is that the difference is that instead of looking through a camera when you take a video or take a photo, you are actually just doing what you want to do and seeing what you would see if you were "being present" in the moment. This is HUGE for parents watching a child's dance recital or something in which you personally want to be present and witness the dance but not be seeing it through a view finder. I really like wearing Glass and having the hands free experience for many reasons. I love that it auto uploads to Google + and I never have to plug in my camera to get the photos off of it. I am still not happy with the fact that the caption for Twitter is not working from my Glass(meaning, the photos post with no information from me and they just say, "I just shared a photo #throughglass), but alas... this is a Google and an Android world right now. iPhone app is taking a backseat in this new technology right now, but I know it is coming. Update: Google tells me 7/5/2013 today that Twitter needs to update their app so it will work with Glass. Hmm.... Can't we all just work together on this new technology, folks? ;)
I will also say that if I really need something taken and tweeted that instant, or sent via email to my family right away, I am definitely going to use my iPhone. However, if I just want to be out enjoying the day and the scenery with my dog, and not having to pull out the camera every five seconds, I love having a button on my "glasses" that will snap a photo whenever I want one. It's not the speaking part I love so much right now, but being able to take videos, photos and let them auto-upload and I don't have to think about them until I want to. If I do want to look at them, I can see them through Glass, but I don't have to. My other favorite thing is hearing the NYTimes breaking news "Read Aloud" to me via Glass. That is absolutely amazing. I only wish it could read longer news articles as well. Eventually, I imagine, right...?
Now, I'm off to the beach. Happy Fourth of July, all! Oh... ps... If you want to buy a print of my 2008 painting of this boat, please click here. I will have to paint it again. It's a lot of fun to paint and has so much texture and color. Find it behind the Inverness Grocery Store, in Inverness, California.
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