....And Apps Can Make Smartphones More Like A "Real" Camera

Following up on my last post, accessories alone will not make your smartphone your best camera. There are also a number of apps which take the camera features built into your smartphone to the next level, give you the functions and creative control of something much more akin to a “real” camera. 

Choices vary with operating system, and most are targeted at iOS or Android. None will set you back more than $5, so you can and should experiment with several before deciding which offers the best user interface and features for your real estate photos and/or video.

For many of you, with the right app, and a few accessory attachments, your smartphone may be as much camera as you need for capturing video or photos for your online tours. It’s at least good enough to give viewer enough idea of what a home offers to get them to make a call.

If you, or certain properties, demand optimum image quality, and you’re shopping a new camera,check out the latest buyer’s guide to digital cameras at Realtor magazine online  for an idea of this year’s class. But look at your smartphone, too: as their imaging features and optics improve, as more accessories and apps are added, it’s only a matter of time before the camera in your smartphone will do, for most of you.

Now, about those apps. For an idea of how much is available in camera apps for your iPhone, start here. Some standouts include ProCamera, $4.99, as the name implies, geared more to the professional or serious amateur who looks on the iPhone as the camera always in hand; Camera Plus Pro, $1.99, relatively simple to use, rich with features.; and the free Camera Awesome which gives a solid mix of camera control, creative and easy sharing options.

For Android, the choices in camera apps are just as diverse. ProCapture, $3.99, adds enhanced camera controls, and you can sample its features for free with a limited version; SLR enthusiasts will appreciate how Camera FV-5, $3.95, delivers comparable control over image capturing on your smartphone; and the highly rated Camera Zoom FX, $2.99, provides a suite of tools and options, from photo or video capture through editing.

Add-ons Make Smartphone A Better Camera

Just wrapped up an updated guide to digital cameras for  Realtor magazine online. Since digital cameras remain such a critical tool for marketing properties, , and the technology improves and advances at such a relentless pace, we take a renewed look at the category every year or so. Once again, the guide highlights a representative sampling of all that’s currently available, at all tiers of the market. 

Across the board, today’s selection offer a dazzling g array of power, performance and features, whatever your budget. Because the focus is on “cameras,” per se, there’s passing reference passing reference to an emerging trend, in the latest smartphones, and their potential value as a photo/video solution for real estate needs. 

While newer smartphones like the iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 920 , Blackberry Z10 and Samsung Galaxy S3  all advance the case for the smartphone as camera, smartphone optics still trail the lens performance of even the most basic of today’s digital cameras. That will change , over time. In the interim, there’s a whole class of accessorie— lenses, adapters, cases, tripods, , mounts , etc — to make your smartphone a more functional camera.

To give you some idea of the many options, here’s some sources with a good selection: Photojojo    Precision Camera  and Amazon 

There’s no debate there’s already tools out there to make your smartphone a serviceable camera. The issue is whether the results are good enough to speak for you and your listings. If not now,...well just wait. And while you do, you won’t break your bank by investing in many of the digital featured in this years guide.

A Sampling from CES

CES is showcase for the new, so much it can get overwhelming. Here’s a glimpse of a few introductions, and coming technologies from this  tech-year’s kick-off event which should interest mobile real estate pros. 

Sony's Experia Z

You need some sort of multifunction mobile device for all you do in the field. Some prefer a smartphone, some a tablet, and some carry both. Maybe not for long: enter the phablet.

A new class of devices is emerging which fall,  screen size-wise, between these extremes without surrendering functionality. Variations include the Sony Experia Z with 5-inch screen; Samsung Galaxy Note, 5.3 inch; Lenovo K900, with 5.5 inch screen; Huwai Ascend Mate with  6.1-inch HD screen.

Larger screens don’t necessarily you’ll have a bigger brick in your pocket. Vendors also showed off flexible screen technologies for future devices. Samsung calls its “Youm,”(check out CNET’s Youm gallery from CES for an idea of the possibilities while Corning calls its variation Willow Glass. 

There's an iPhone within the foot.sosho case.

As many real estate agents already know, smartphone cameras are good enough for basic video or photo tours. Reinforcing that trend are a growing assortment of accessories to upgrade optics and make them more of a camera. For example, Olloclip  is a 3-in-1 adapter that snaps on the iPhone to equip it with a macro, fish eye and wide-angle lens. The foto.sosho case, offered in three versions, actually outfits an iPhone to look and function like a compact camera, with flash and lens options

       Serious shooters are migrating to cameras with interchangeable lens systems. The Polaroid name has been licensed for an innovative new approach, the iM1836 smart camera. It runs Android, is Wi Fi compatible and the image sensor is built into its interchangeable lens.. Incidentally, WiFi seems destined to become the next standard convenience in a true digital camera, as evident in Sony’s WX180, its smallest camera to boast this feature yet, and at $199, its cheapest.

      Mobile productivity can be totally dependent on battery life. ChargeDr  from Digital Innovations makes it possible to charge a tablet or smartphone in the field rom a laptop USB port. Fulton 

Tactus brings raised keys
to touch screens

Innovation, demonstrated its eCoupled technology  for sharing power between devices, wirelessly. Based on the Qi standard for wireless power transfer,  it will one day allow users to transfer stored power from one device to the other by placing two Qi-enabled devices back-to-back.

       While we’re talking upcoming cool, Tactus Technology( has a way to equip future touchscreen devices with tactile keyboards with raised keys.. Pull up the "keyboard" on your device, liquid inside it pools to produce raised keys. When through typing, the keyboard slips back into the screen.

What next?