The iPad 2's Rear Camera Mostly Going Unused: Report

The iPad 2's Rear Camera Mostly Going Unused: Report

Sunday, May 15, 2011 - by Michael Santo
For a time, there were rumors that the iPad 2 would have a front-facing camera, but no rear-facing camera. After all, the thought was, who'd really want to lift up a tablet to take an image? That thought appears to have been correct.

We can extrapolate that fact by using Flickr's stats on the average number of daily users uploading images to the online image site. Among the iDevices, here are the averages for daily users:
  • iPhone 4 - 4402
  • iPhone 3G - 3314
  • iPhone 3GS - 1948
  • iPod touch - 446
  • iPad 2 - 23
Of course, there are many more iPhones than iPad 2s, right? There is also another possible reason: the iPad 2s rear-facing camera is only 0.7 megapixel, ridiculous when compared with the cameras on the Motorola Xoom or even a smartphone like the Droid X or Apple's own iPhone 4.

In addition, it's a lot easier to whip out your smartphone for an impromptu picture.

Additionally, it would seem that the most compelling use for the rear-facing camera is probably not imagery but FaceTime, as in "Hey, look what's going on around me." How about it readers? Do you use your iPad 2's (or any other tablet's) rear-facing camera for still images?
Via: Electric Pig | News Archive | Tags: camera, Flickr, ipad, iPad 2
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By OSunday on May 15, 2011

The ipad is cumbersome and its quality is low compared to most digital camera's or even smartphone cameras like most higher end android phones mentioned.

That compared to the high res pictures and ease of use/portability that come with a smartphone or digital camera make it quite obvious that the Ipad 2's camera use is a fraction of its iCompetitors and non apple devices that can take pictures

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By Inspector on May 16, 2011

Its kinda hard to hold up a ipad to take a picture... :)

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By HHGrrl on May 16, 2011

Other than the "hey look what I'm seeing right now" videos while chatting, I don't see the point of having a rear-facing cam on a tablet. I'd much rather use my dedicated cam or smartphone cam to take a real picture, especially considering the iPad 2's low-res rear camera.

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By CKaye on May 16, 2011

I'm on an iPad 2 right now, and I know that the cam on here really sucks. so I'm not surprised to see this article.

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