Welcome and Introduction

Hi all,

I've set up this blog to document my experience researching, testing and ultimately using the camera on my new Samsung Galaxy S2. I basically opted to buy a good fully featured phone for, music, videos, camera, apps and internet instead of splashing out on a new dedicated camera. I will be going travelling next month, so I opted for a Samsung S2 because it was an all in one solution for what I wanted whilst travelling:

1. To be able to quickly access wireless internet and check emails on the go.
2. To be able to store and access a large volume of my favourite music.
3. To be able to use my phone as a wifi hotspot for my laptop.
4. To have a high resolution camera with a flash
5. To have quick access to a camera for shooting pictures and video
6. To have access to gps and mapping software for hiking, travelling, navigating.
7. To have quick access to language translation tools.
8. Be able to convert currency quickly
9. Be able to access plenty of reading material

These were my main needs whilst travelling. To access offline maps when hiking or exploring, I've downloaded 'Lotus' from the app store and downloaded the areas I will mainly be travelling. When travelling, it is not possible to have with you a large collection of books, so I've also downloaded plenty of ebooks to read from my phone. There are plenty of apps available that will allow you to translate and speak common local language phrases offline without an internet connection. Similarly, there are apps available that will let you check currency conversation whilst offline, such as 'Exchange Rates' by Russell Wilson.

Ultimately I found that a high spec smartphone was the best way to fill them. Having been impressed with the quality of photos from my Samsung Galaxy S, I opted to sell my Galaxy S for a good price and update to the Galaxy S2 because it now has a;

1. LED Flash
2. 8 mega-pixal resolution (3264x4268)
3. 1083@30fps Video
4. Geo-tagging, face & smile detection, red-eye reduction, image stabilisation
5. 16gb of internal memory with additional 32gb additional MicroSD expansion
6. Duel core processor and 1GB of ram, for multi-tasking and smooth lag free use.
7. More battery power, and better power management with the Super-amoled plus screen
8. Larger 4.3 inch super-amoled plus screen

Hopefully I will be able to document how I've learned to make the best use of the Camera and it's features on my phone. This blog will document what the different features on the Galaxy S2 Camera do, and how to tweak them for different results. I'll post picture comparisons to demonstrate this. I'll test Market apps that can extend the features on the phone, such as 'HDR Camera+', which allows you to take high range colour images by combining 3 shots into one. And of course, I will look at the many camera filter apps available. Finally, I hope to document my experience learning how to take more interesting and better photos.

Shane