It's here and it's even better than I thought.

The camera on the new iPhone 4S is proving to be pretty amazing if the crop of videos which have sprang up on Vimeo are anything to go by – and judging by the huge amounts of comments (mostly positive) most of the viewers are impressed as well.
 
Two videos have caught my attention. The first is by Australian film maker  Benjamin Dowie 

Here are his first impressions “Got an iPhone 4S yesterday and got up this morning to go for a surf. No surf, so thought I'd shoot some stuff to see what the new camera is like on the 4S. Got home, looked at the footage, and couldn't believe it came out of a phone. Was so excited so thought I'd quickly cut a vid to share the goodness.

It's actually amazing. The automatic stabilisation seems to work wonders, and gets rid of most the jello. Depth of field is flipping awesome. Colours are really good straight out the camera, but I did give this footage a slight grade.”

Now it is possible – just to get some depth of field using the FilmicPro app with an iPhone 4 but to get this from the native camera is stunning.

The second film out on video is a direct comparison between the iPhone 4S and a Canon 5D MK II by Robino Films. It's only when you see comparisons like this that you realise what great quality the new iPhone camera is. 

Impressive though they are remember these videos were made by professional film makers so if you are going to shoot video with the iPhone 4S remember

1/ Use a tripod please, please, please
2/ Shoot landscape
3/ Use airplane mode
4/ Invest in a quality microphone for interviews
5/ Use an app like Movie Camera or FilmicPro where you can set white balance, exposure and focus 

Our new 'QuickShoot' iPhone course is being updated - really looking forward to getting used to the iPhone's amazing new camera after seeing these videos.

In the multi-media world the audio slide show is often seen as the poor relation in comparison with videos and podcasts.  Audio Slideshows can be an invaluable resource and a stunning way to showcase some stories.

Here are some of our top tips:

1/ Take the photos like you would a video with a variety of shots – audio slide shows are particularly good for close-up studies.

2/ Do the interview first – listen and make note of what you need to shoot. It sounds obvious but then you can match the photo and the audio in the edit.

3/ Make use of NatSot – or natural sound. Record at least a minute if not more and use it to cover natural breaks in the interview. Use NatSot at the beginning of your Audio Slideshow as a way of adding atmosphere and a sense of place. This stunning Audio Slideshow about a snake safari in India makes fabulous use of NatSot: http://gu.com/p/3v3pe

4/ Don't have the interviewee introducing themselves. Use your written lead-in to introduce your interviewee, include introductions in your voice over or use titles like this  http://gu.com/p/32575

 5/ Audio matters – use your headphones every time you record, use fades and monitor your levels during editing to make sure multi-layers tracks are balanced.

6/ Use care if you use the Ken Burns effect in iMovie or pan and zoom effects in windows based editing systems. The effects are a great way to add movement into your photos but don't use it to try and recreate video

7/ Don't make your Audio S too long especially if you have limited photographs – I only lasted 4 minutes into this 12 minute monologue by Tracy Chevalier on Rubens painting The Family. http://gu.com/p/32e9q

I'm not sure I can listen to anyone talking solidly for so long, the photos do not change enough, there is no NatSot to add atmosphere and because of this the recording sounds tinny. It sounds like it was recorded in a echoing gallery, which of course it was, but without the NatSot to introduce us to the fact that it was recorded in a gallery it just sounds dreadful.