Posted: December 10, 2011
A few days ago, I received a very nice little package from my friends across the Atlantic at Beep Industries. A kind fellow by the name of Brendan Dawes passed on his latest creation to me - the much anticipated POPA, the big red button for the iPhone 4 and 4s.
Now for those of you who know my style of shooting, I’ve never been a huge user of accessories, not even to mention apps. I stick to my routine of shooting with the native camera, and post process religiously with my two go-to apps.
So when the POPA arrived, my first thought was, “well, I’ll see what it does, but probably set it on the shelf or give it to my budding-photographer niece to play with.”
Boy was I wrong. Completely wrong. So my apologies to you, Brendan, for judging that book by the cover.
The very first thing I noticed with the POPA, before I even opened the box, was that Mr. Dawes clearly cut no corners in the packaging or marketing of this little wonder. The imagery, printing and even the typography was right on. The packaging was solidly constructed with great bits of information on every side and corner. (Don’t miss the wonderful Godard quote on the inner sleeve!)
But if you’re reading this, I’m sure your not here to find out how pretty the packaging was … so I’ll dive right in.
I found the POPA itself to be a solidly constructed piece of hardware, made of real metal and real leather. Yes…I said ‘real’. The button is big and bold and will surely fit under anyone’s thumb. The leather is grippy and feels good in the hand. The shape of the POPA is ergonomic and forms to the natural wrap of one’s fingers.
Attaching the POPA for the first time was trickey, but after only my second attempt, it became a no-brainer. Just slide the door open and attach the iPhone.
Once I got it connected, the device quickly read my iPhone system and prompted me to download the POPA app (for FREE) which you must use if you want to use the handle attachment. On a sidenote, one can still use the app itself without the handle, but not vice versa. But I found in my first POPA street photography outing that this is actually a win-win situation. You see, the POPA is designed to work with a naked iPhone (no case), so if your battery runs low, you can simply remove the POPA, and in my situation, slip on my Mophie Juice Pack and keep on shooting … with the POPA app.
(above: just back from the slaughterhouse by greg schmigel)
Ok …so what’s the buzz with the POPA app? Another homerun hit from Brendan and his team at Beep. One of the things that has frustrated me lately, as a street photographer, is the amount of shutter lag and ‘focus’ lag that has started to appear since my upgrade to iOS5. Yes, I’m still shooting with the iPhone 4, but the amount of time it takes for the camera to focus, un-focus, focus and then finally lock focus has been killing me. As a street photographer, speed is everything. Capturing moments that might exist for a split second simply cannot be accomplished with a great deal of shutter lag.
Enter the POPA app.
What Brendan and his team did with the POPA app is put the camera on a sort of ‘shutter release’ priority as opposed to a ‘focus’ priority. Which, in turn means … you guessed it … no shutter or focus lag. When you press that big red POPA button, or tap the red POPA button on the screen, the camera fires. Regardless of whether your in full focus or not, it’s going to fire for you. I was instantly taken back to the quickness of the 3Gs and the pre-iOS5 days. And boy is it nice to be back! Thanks to the POPA app.
The interface of the app is very intuitive, allowing one to share to a wealth of social networks, including: Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and e-mail. As well, it interacts with a variety of other well-known apps such as Camera+, Magic Hour, PhotoStudio, Filterstorm and Instagram, if you’re a user of those apps.
Lastly, the POPA app stores your photos in a contact-sheet style fashion within the app until YOU select which photos you’d like to serve to your regular photostream. This feature I also liked, keeping the many shots out of my stream that I wasn’t happy with in the field.
The two additional treats Brendan included are a real leather wrist strap which screws into the tripod hole on the bottom of the POPA handle and a microfiber-ish sack to store your POPA or even your iPhone itself in. Both, very nice touches from the gang at Beep.
Bottom line, as you might have already guessed, is that I’ve become an instant fan, supporter and user of the POPA. And when a camera app icon gets moved to my first screen of apps on my iPhone, well … I’ve cleary been sold.
But with all products, don’t just take my word for it. Jump on over to www.thisispopa.com and see for yourself. Hey, it may no be for you. But if you’re in the mood for a new, innovative addition to the iPhone and the mobile photography movement, I can almost guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
From this side of the pond — if you’re reading this Brendan — a huge thanks for sending the POPA to me. You’ve instantly gained a loyal user!
Cheers,
Greg
(POPA product photos courtesy of Brendan Dawes, Beep Industries)
