Archivos de Diario para marzo 2017

lunes, 13 de marzo de 2017

iNaturalist app

So, if you're reading this, you've probably noticed that I've been uploading quite a few more recent observations than normal (many of them poorer quality than usual). This is primarily because I got a new phone that I could put the iNaturalist app on. This has sped up my ability to put photos online tremendously. So, I figured I'd do a quick review of the pros and cons. Just so you know, this isn't really a review of the app but more a breakdown of shooting with my camera vs. shooting with my phone.

With my camera, I don't have the ability to get GPS coordinates, I have to download to my computer before uploading, the photos are large (so I typically have to downsize them before uploading, at least, if I want it to go quickly), and I typically try to rename my photos before uploading. With the phone, the photos have GPS coordinates, I can upload directly from my phone, the photos are small enough to upload easily, and I can do this before they even get to my computer.

Even if I bypassed the renaming and resizing steps, I would have to georeference every observation, which is quite tedious and takes time. Uploading to the computer also takes some time, especially when I shoot in RAW. What is probably worst though is the break in workflow as I usually move on to something else while I'm waiting for my images to download from my camera to my computer.

The downside is lower quality observations. Don't get me wrong, the photos aren't bad. They're quite good all things considered, but they do lack the flexibility of a manual focus, and the ability to control exposure (I typically shoot in full manual). Also, the zoom function is just a digital zoom, so full zoom makes for a bad image. If it's something that I want good photos of, I try to get one with my phone for the GPS and the rest with my camera. Because of this, some of my observations will probably get additional, better photos in the future once I have the pictures from my camera on my computer (and renamed, and resized).

But these are pretty much complaints for the phone camera and not the actual app. As for the app itself, I really like it. The only thing that I can think to improve would be the ability to search other people's observations, though it's not too big an issue. Other than that, I haven't really found anything I don't like yet.

Publicado el lunes, 13 de marzo de 2017 a las 06:42 PM por nathantaylor nathantaylor | 6 comentarios | Deja un comentario