July 4th and iPhone 3GS Video Review

July 4th, 2009

by Amy Stevens Adams

Happy 4th of July! John and I are spending it this year in his hometown of Cleveland, OH. Tonight we attended a fireworks display in Shaker Heights, OH with John’s sister, brother-in-law and new niece (who is now 7 weeks old and did a great job staying calm during the fireworks!).

I used it as my first real opportunity to try out the video feature on my new Apple iPhone 3GS (other than taking a couple random videos of the cats at home, that is). Here are my initial thoughts on the iPhone video feature;

1. No ability to zoom. While you can focus, the lost option to zoom makes it less than ideal if you’re planning to use the iPhone for important videos, such as vacations and holidays, etc.

2. Steady picture. I was impressed that my outdoor-fireworks-watching-atmosphere didn’t result in a shakier, blurry mess of a video- but it didn’t. Good job Apple!

3. Good sound quality. As it should be since this is an iPod and a cell phone, I would expect nothing less than clear sound and Apple delivers.

4. Battery life was good. I recorded a total of 6 clips, totaling 4:10 minutes. This was AFTER my phone told me I had only 10% of battery life remaining. It never died and I still got to make a phone call afterward.

All in all the video feature was great to use, although a zoom feature would have been a welcome addition. Below you can see a 22 second sample of my video from this evening. You’ll see we had an ‘Awesome’ spot right behind a tall tree for the fireworks display.

For more reviews on the new iPhone 3GS, refer to my previous article; “Apple iPhone 3GS-First Impressions”. On Monday I’ll be posting a quick how-to for adding a YouTube video to your WordPress blog. Enjoy the remainder of your Independence Weekend!

-Amy Stevens Adams of Cape Cod Branding