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That Handy Camera in Your Pocket
4 December 2025
Yesterday we were having dim sum with some friends when one of the tikes complained to their host, "You have the wrong batteries!"
Battery. Captured with the iPhone 15 Pro Max back camera at 2.2mm, f2.2, 1/30 second and ISO 200.
The child had found a 25-year-old talking book (retrieved from an older generation's collection) and was disappointed that she heard nothing when she opened the book.
Nothing lasts forever, especially batteries.
Opapa, which is what she calls her grandfather, took it upon himself to replace them during nap time. But there was a little problem.
And that was being able to read the battery designation on the tiny cell.
Having dealt with this before, he was not unprepared. He had an elaborate floor-based magnifier and light source, a bit top heavy, with which he inspected the battery.
But he needed to convey that discovery to the store to find a compatible model.
So we offered to take a macro shot for him.
Yes, he could have taken a photo with his own phone but, oddly enough, the antique model he had (reverse inherited from his own daughter when she upgraded) did not offer a macro mode. So he tried digital zoom, which wasn't as much help as it should have been.
We knew our best macro mode was with Adobe's Indigo app on our iPhone 15 Pro Max. Especially since we had to handhold the phone. But Indigo doesn't support his older phone. So we picked a telephoto focal length on our phone and took the shot for him in macro mode, careful to angle the image so there wouldn't be any glare on the top of the cell.
Then we texted the photo to him so he could take confirm his purchase at the store.
But there was one more thing.
We suggested he shop online to see if the nearby OSH, CVS or Walgreens carried that battery. And who sold it for the best price.
"I guess I'd better buy a bunch of them," he concluded wisely.