By Mike Wendland, F426141
June 2017
If there’s one thing pretty much all RVers have these days, regardless of the type of vehicle they travel in, it’s a smartphone. Besides being an RV travel reporter, I am also a technology journalist for NBC-TV. But even I am surprised by how smartphones and the marvelous apps available for them have changed our lives during the past few years. The last stats I saw, from January 2017, showed that 77 percent — more than three quarters — of all Americans now own a smartphone. I wouldn’t be surprised if that number has already increased to 80 percent.
For RVers, this ubiquitous technology has enhanced our travel lifestyle in ways that just a few years ago would have seemed unbelievable. Take, for example, a hobby that has been part of our mobile lifestyle since the very first road trip: photography.
Now, instead of a separate camera, we can do it all on the smartphone. We can generate not just high-resolution, quality photography but video as well.
When Jennifer and I began RVing in 2012, I used to take along a giant, professional news-grade video camera; a heavy tripod; a big battery charger; and more. Now, except on very rare occasions, I shoot everything on my smartphone. In fact, the quality of the video that my current Samsung Galaxy 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones produce actually is superior to what my professional electronic news-gathering (ENG) camcorder captures. Five years ago, I never would have believed that would ever be possible.
Nor would I ever have believed that with that smartphone, I could instantly go live on Facebook and have 32,000 people tune in to see Jennifer and me do a video report, with the only promotion for this event being a short notice on our Facebook page that we were going live in an hour. The audience not only saw and heard us live but was able to interact with us in real time as well, posting comments and questions.
We plan to do lots more of those live reports during our travels this year, especially next month when we’re in Indianapolis at FMCA’s 96th International Convention and RV Expo July 12 through 15.
Because our smartphones can do so much with the help of apps — the little programs they use for various functions — I thought I’d devote this month’s column to sharing some of my favorites that deal with the camera feature on our devices. From sunsets to travelogue-style movies, the latest smartphones and tablets allow us to capture more video than ever in our RV adventures. Apps for video editing are getting better, and the videos you take during your RV trips can now look very slick and professional.
On the iPhone, Apple’s iMovie is the first app of choice. It is very simple to operate and for most RVers is the only tool they need. With iMovie, you can share your video to Facebook, send it as a text message, and send it as an email. This app is available as a free download in the iTunes store.
Most Android users will do just fine with Adobe Premiere Clip (search the Google Play Store for it by name), the light smartphone version of the very powerful desktop video editor Adobe Premiere Pro, used by many video professionals. Adobe Premiere Clip is quick and easy and, best of all, free. It also is available for iOs.
For those looking for full-featured video editing tools, following are three video editing apps I sometimes use for more involved projects:
- Mavis (www.shootmavis.com) is for iPhones and iPads only. It shows virtual knobs and dials like the pros use in-studio. The Mavis app makes it possible to manipulate just about every aspect of a video, from light balance to exposure. Sound too complicated? With the tap of one button, users can hide many of the knobs and instead focus on basic controls. The app — referred to by its developers as a “professional film-making camera and film production tool” — costs $16.99.
- LumaFX (luma-touch.com/lumafx) is another Apple-only (iPhone and iPad) editor that allows for extensive manipulation of video and audio. Videos can be resized, reframed, reversed, rotated, and mirrored, while clips can be sped up or slowed down. Audio levels also can be adjusted. LumaFX offers great color and effects features. This app costs $2.99.
- Android or Windows Mobile users may want to look at PowerDirector (search PowerDirector in the Google Play Store). The app uses timeline video editing, slow motion, and more. Take advantage of the app’s numerous video effects, transitions, and even the ability to record audio over existing video. The PowerDirector app is free in the Google Play Store.
For smartphone photography, and for some elementary video capabilities, I am totally sold on Google Photos. This free photos and video storage solution works with Apple and Android devices and, in my view, is superior to using the standard photography gallery apps that come with either platform.
I have my smartphones set up to save all the images and video I take to the Google Photos app. Google stores them in the cloud, and I can use them on any device or on my laptop or desktop computers. Best of all, I don’t have to worry about losing my photos or videos, as my library is instantly backed up in the cloud.
If you want to tweak and fine-tune the photos you take on your smartphone, following are three apps that can turn those travel pics into works of art. Well, sort of.
- PhotoPills (photopills.com) is ideal for landscape photography. It has the ability to tell users the best times of the day to shoot based on location — perfect if you want the brightest part of the day or the warm glow of a setting sun. The app also offers a slew of other options, giving users the opportunity to do things such as calculating exposures, depth of field, and more. The iOS app costs $9.99. A beta version for Android is available in the Google Play Store.
- Photogene (www.mobile-pond.com/MobilePond) is a full-featured photo editor for the iPhone and iPad. Users can do so much with the app: crop, straighten, adjust color, sharpen, retouch, and more. You also can store photos easily to cloud-based storage such as Dropbox, or post them to Facebook, Twitter, and more. And if you don’t want to mess with adjustments, just use one of the many presets. The app costs $2.99.
- For Android devices, the Perfectly Clear app (search Perfectly Clear in the Google Play Store) makes up for what a phone camera lacks by applying up to 20 so-called automatic corrections to photos. The developers of Perfectly Clear say it’s like having a top-level digital camera in your pocket all the time, making it perfect for times when you encounter the unexpected, such as a beautiful display of fall colors in just the right sunlight. Perfectly Clear offers features such as panorama and the ability to brighten up photos. The app costs $2.99.
There are two essentials and one luxury gizmo I recommend for those who use their smartphones to document their travels. The essentials are as follows:
- A selfie stick, which lets you position the smartphone a little farther back or a little higher and thus capture more detail.
- A smartphone tripod, which helps to achieve nonjerky video and lets you take time-delay photos so you can jump into the frame before the shutter clicks.
The luxury item? The DJI Osmo Mobile (www.dji.com/osmo-mobile), a handheld device that holds your smartphone and turns it into a sort of “steady cam,” meaning you can talk and move around and still capture smooth video that looks like it was shot by a Hollywood cinematographer. At $299 (including tax and free shipping), it’s overkill for all but the most serious RV video fans. But if you want your smartphone videos to look truly professional, this gadget will really help.
See you next month in Indianapolis!