All that is Photo

The iPhone has evolved in leaps and bounds since the smartphone first burst onto the scene in 2007, and one of the most impressive ways it has evolved is in its capability to take pictures. In the original iPhone, a camera was something of an afterthought; the current model has entire commercials dedicated to the camera.

But knowing intuitively that the camera has improved exponentially is a far sight from seeing it with your own eyes. And so, just like they did in 2011, the folks behind the popular iPhone app Camera+ got every model of the iPhone together took a set of comparison shots for your perusing pleasure.

They ran the phones through their paces in three separate situations: a macro shot, a skyline shot and a low-light macro shot. The difference is striking. Sure, there’s not as much difference between, say, the 4S and the 5 (although, even there, the difference is noticeable), but from the original iPhone to now, it’s clear Apple has put a lot of work into making the camera great.

The biggest improvement by far came between the 3G and the 3GS. There was still no front-facing camera or flash to speak of, but that’s when we started seeing iPhone photography that actually caught our attention. Since then, the improvements have been incremental, but noticeable — even the addition of the scratch-resistant sapphire crystal surface between the 4S and the 5 seems to have helped.

Keep in mind, these are just the overall comparisons. For a more in-depth look at each camera in the series and how it performed in each situation, head over to the Camera+ blog and scroll through the evolution of the iPhone camera for yourself.

We reported last August that Kodak was looking to sell its camera film business along with a number of other core businesses. Well, the company has now succeeded.

Kodak announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell off its two remaining imaging divisions — which includes its photographic film business — in a major deal worth $2.8 billion.

The company is handing over control of its Personal Imaging and Document Imaging divisions to the United Kingdom’s Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), which is the bankrupt firm’s largest creditor.

In addition to settling $2.8 billion in obligations with KPP, Kodak will be receiving $650 million in cash and other assets in exchange for the divisions.

Kodak first began selling film, chemicals, and paper in 1889

The Personal Imaging division includes over 100,000 Kodak kiosks located around the world, photographic paper, photographic film, and souvenir photo products. The Document Imaging division includes things like scanners and related software/services.

Kodak CEO Antonio Perez says that this deal will allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy as it transforms into a commercial printing company.

There’s no word yet on what the future holds for Kodak’s film and paper lines, which are still used by countless photographers around the world. The company does say that the deal will provide financial stability for the businesses that will be “beneficial to those businesses’ employees, customers and partners.” That’s a silver lining for film photographers who don’t want to see Kodak films disappear.

On the same day that Kodak announced the sale of its camera film business, Hasselblad had big “ending” news of its own. The company today announced that it will no longer be producing the 503CW medium format camera. This teams the V System line is officially coming to an end.

Hasselblad says that he decision, which is effective immediately, ends “over a half century of evolution” for the company’s original camera line.

The Hasselblad V System was first introduced in 1948 through founder Victor Hasselblad’s wishes to see a camera that’s as holdable as a Leica, but which shoots medium format film.

The 503CW has been popular among professional and amateur photographers since it was launched seventeen years ago, but Hasselblad says that demand for the camera has been plummeting over the past half decade. “The time has now come for us to reluctantly consign the V System to history,” the company says.

With the demise of the V System, Hasselblad is now directing the photography world’s attention to its H System of digital medium format cameras, which it calls “the world’s most advanced camera system.”

Oh, that and its Lunar mirrorless cameras.

P.S. Hasselblad didn’t come up with the name “V System” until the “H System” was announced. It was at that time that the company decided to create a name for the old system to distinguish it from the new one.