Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Photographer Tests iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Iceland, Demos Focus Pixels, Other Camera Improvements

Moonlight

Moonlight

macrumors 65816
Jul 9, 2002
1,131
2,356
Los Angeles
All of these shot look great, but I can still see heavy noise reduction. What I REALLY want is the ability to reduce the noise reduction on my iPhone!!!!
 
Moonlight

Moonlight

macrumors 65816
Jul 9, 2002
1,131
2,356
Los Angeles
brdeveloper said:
Yes, I agree in some sense. For most casual users, focusing fast (and focusing without pre-focusing) is more important than IQ. I'm waiting for Panasonic CM1. It will probably be the best choice to me. It's big for a smartphone, but smaller than a premium compact camera.
Click to expand...

The Panasonic CM1 seems nice, but on a day to day basis, who wants to lug that around?
 
3

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
megfilmworks said:
The iPhone 6+'s OIS is a gyroscopic physical solution to camera shake.
The iPhone 6 has a software solution.
There is a significant difference between the two systems
when capturing low light pics...

How many times have you taken a low light pic
and it looks great on the iPhone screen,
but then you get it up on your laptop and it's soft or distorted?
OIS is a big help for these low light shots!
Click to expand...

Keirasplace said:
Reduces the shake of a hand held shot so you can shoot in much darker situation without blur (since in those situation the camera needs to increase the exposure time, which normall means your hand movements would show).

Also reduces the shake in situations where you youself are moving even in normal light like putting the camera on a bike to take video or taking a shot while moving (say to follow a quick action).

Its ability to stabilize video vastly improves video (though sometimes you can stabilize your video in post processing after the fact even without IOS (but its better to do it at the source)).
Click to expand...

Thanks, makes perfect sense. First I thought OIS was necessary for holding a larger device, but now I realize it's much more. While I have a Canon DSLR for serious shots, still want a better mobile camera for everyday use and the moments in life that surprise you. I just don't need a "phablet"; bet my iPad Air and nMac Pro and Mac Mini HTPC I need a smaller phone.

Thanks so much for the help, greatly appreciate it :)
 
macs4nw

macs4nw

macrumors 601
Sep 21, 2010
4,336
1,933
Next-door from the little old lady from Pasadena..
ioioos said:
Improvements looks good. If they could just double the mega pixels to allow larger viewing and cropping, it would be killer.
Click to expand...

Or even better than that, keep increasing the size of those pixels, ie larger sensors. Cell phone cameras have come a long way in the last 6-7 years. Camera performance improvements are amongst the major features I most look forward to at each new unveiling and subsequent field tests.
 
rGiskard

rGiskard

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2012
1,800
955
brdeveloper said:
I'm not saying that the other phones are way better, although a Nokia N8 (2010, crappy Symbian) still produces better still pictures than the latest iPhone or Galaxy S5. I'm just saying that I'd expect a phone capable of outperforming a 4yr old Nokia camera.
Click to expand...

Those Nokia's outperform the iPhone in certain conditions, at least with respect to sharpness and detail. But the iPhone is an all around better performer that far surpasses the Nokia in low-light conditions, which happen to be the times when the best photos are usually taken. Even in good light, the iPhone has better color rendition. Granted, you could probably fix the Nokia images' color in post processing, but it's better if you don't have to.

Apple have the right approach imo: strive to create a balanced phone camera that performs well in ALL conditions.

ioioos said:
Improvements looks good. If they could just double the mega pixels to allow larger viewing and cropping, it would be killer.
Click to expand...

You'd actually get better results by using the iPhone 6 with a long lens attachment. Even an Olloclip would do it. I wonder if lens attachments will work better on the new protruding lens design?
 
D

DVDxR

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2009
179
27
SVTmaniac said:
The grass up front and the hills in the back are blurred. It is a tilt shift blur filter applied in photoshop. Unless the phone is laying in the grass you will not get blur on the foreground. I'm not knocking the camera I'm just stating facts that you can't get low depth of field from a cell phone camera, the sensor is just too small as is the "glass" if you can call it that. I love the camera on my 5s but I know it will never match my real gear.
Click to expand...

The perspective makes the size hard to gauge but those are not grass covered hills, they are moss covered rocks. I don't doubt that the phone was pretty much on the ground to take that shot. As for the background take a look here: http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/18/6339583/iphone-6-and-6-plus-camera-test-iceland
 
J

joejoejoe

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2006
1,428
110
megfilmworks said:
Really? Judgmental much?
I'm a cinematographer with 65 feature films to my credit...
I own a couple of the industry leading 4k Digital cinema cams
and edit in 4k every day on my Mac Trash Cans...
And I think it's amazing.
It's a phone for God's sake.
Click to expand...

amen.

----------
megfilmworks said:
The iPhone 6+'s OIS is a gyroscopic physical solution to camera shake.
The iPhone 6 has a software solution.
There is a significant difference between the two systems
when capturing low light pics...

How many times have you taken a low light pic
and it looks great on the iPhone screen,
but then you get it up on your laptop and it's soft or distorted?
OIS is a big help for these low light shots!
Click to expand...

this is why i'm truly sad OIS isn't in the standard 6.

I don't think i'd be happy with a phone as large as the plus, but boy oh boy would I be taking advantage of the OIS.
 
msandersen

msandersen

macrumors regular
Jan 7, 2003
217
31
Sydney, Australia
Mac2133 said:
No, you're not a photographer. If you were, you would not be exclaiming " freakin amazing!" at a picture that was obviously not shot with anything less than a DSLR and some good glass (read lens). And with curves, highlights, shadows, adjusted.
Click to expand...
Help me out here. Is this an attempt at sarcasm, or is he just being a dick having a dig at photographers?
Much as I love shooting Raw with my Canon 60D with a good lens (or if you wanna be pretentious, "glass"), and tweak all my picks, I also occasionally shoot things in my iPhone, esp for a quick panorama (the iphone panos are Freaking Amazing). True, you can easily tell the difference in post, but that's usually to do with JPEG vs Raw, irrespective of whether out of a phone or DSLR.
 
T

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
neat :)

I wouldn't believe it if i didn't see it, but Iceland ? I gather this is not Winter.

I hate it when they compare it to a previous model .. "Look how bad u are now" :p

Camera shake, that's what it was.
 
Djentleman

Djentleman

macrumors 6502
Mar 8, 2012
374
59
UK
Gotta say, with the teardown and now these absolutely gorgeous pictures, I am truly happy I set my heart on the Plus. I'm not a photographer, but with a camera that great, it sure makes me feel like taking it up as a hobby.
 
O

ozkart

macrumors newbie
Apr 9, 2009
3
0
Continuous Exposure

Hey all, I was lucky enough to get my Optus (Australian) Pre Order today and as an iPhone 5 user I was looking forward to the continuous exposure feature when taking Panos.

A mate of mine has the 5s and I noticed that it was a feature on his phone. Great for when you start taking the pano away from the sun then end up facing it.

Anyway, I've tested taking panos on the iPhone 6 and its not updating the exposure during the capture.

Can anyone else with an iPhone 6 test this and confirm if the issue exists for them too?

I've attached an image that I took moving from left (correctly exposed) to right

sample.jpg
 
Last edited:
G

Gmcube

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2009
229
36
ozkart said:
Hey all, I was lucky enough to get my Optus (Australian) Pre Order today and as an iPhone 5 user I was looking forward to the continuous exposure feature when taking Panos.

A mate of mine has the 5s and I noticed that it was a feature on his phone. Great for when you start taking the pano away from the sun then end up facing it.

Anyway, I've tested taking panos on the iPhone 6 and its not updating the exposure during the capture.

Can anyone else with an iPhone 6 test this and confirm if the issue exists for them too?

I've attached an image that I took moving from left (correctly exposed) to right

Image
Click to expand...
I cant imagine continuous exposure being something you'd want in a pano. Isn't it best to expose for the brightest part of the scene first, lock it, then do your pano? Having different exposures for different parts of the pano would give you seams.
 
Max(IT)

Max(IT)

Suspended
Dec 8, 2009
8,551
1,662
Italy
kenroberts83 said:
Right. It's like judging the quality of a car based on how many wheels it has. The problem with spec-obsession is that it encourages purchasing based on often-irrelevant numbers. Like using the clock speed of a processor to judge its performance.

Just to note, a 1080p screen can only display 2.07 megapixels. Think about that. So additional megapixels are nice, but they're hardly the most important quality in a camera.
Click to expand...

Android world is all about specs, so it's quite natural for them to judge the iPhone on the same basis
 
Max(IT)

Max(IT)

Suspended
Dec 8, 2009
8,551
1,662
Italy
brdeveloper said:
I have a 2008 Panasonic LX3, 10MP. Pretty small, 6year technology. This camera still outperforms iPhone by far.

Other "fair" competitors: Lumia 1020, Nokia 808 Pureview, Nokia N8, to not say other models which performs at least the same, like Galaxy Note 3, S4 and S5. No, not impressive, at least if you prefer still pictures over videos.
Click to expand...

Not a single Samsung galaxy can perform the same...

----------
MacDarcy said:
I think Apple is doing it right. Higher megapixel counts on such a small sensor would be absolutely horrible, especially in low light. I'd much rather Apple do what they are doing. Improving other aspects of the camera.
Click to expand...

12 megapixel aren't an high number.
I'm not speaking about an insanely high 16-20 megapixel, just something a little higher than 8 to help me with the crops when I need some zoom in capabilities.
Overall I'm pleased with the results.

----------
brdeveloper said:
The only sites I trust when reviewing phones are DPReview Connect and GSMArena. GSMArena has a standard procedure almost as good as DPReview, so it's pretty good for comparing phones.

I also have a 2005 6MP DSLR, a few film SLRs, a Nikon Coolscan V film scanner and a bunch of manual and AF lenses. I develop B&W at home. I don't have the latest tech, but I have some critical sense, I guess. I'm not an Android fanboy.

Traditionally, iPhones and Galaxies aren't impressive cameras. Actually only Nokia made impressive cameraphones until now. A good camera capable of replacing a premium compact camera (like N8 and N808 did in the past) would make me move to the iOS world. Unfortunately it won't be this time.

----------



Just saying that the photographer did it well and the location is exotic which contributes to the "wow factor". An old Nokia N8 could do probably best in still picture IQ.
Click to expand...
GSMArena? Do you mean "SamsungArena", right?
C'mon, they do have good standard benchmarks, but the whole website is biased towards Samsung in an almost silly way....

----------
ozkart said:
Hey all, I was lucky enough to get my Optus (Australian) Pre Order today and as an iPhone 5 user I was looking forward to the continuous exposure feature when taking Panos.

A mate of mine has the 5s and I noticed that it was a feature on his phone. Great for when you start taking the pano away from the sun then end up facing it.

Anyway, I've tested taking panos on the iPhone 6 and its not updating the exposure during the capture.

Can anyone else with an iPhone 6 test this and confirm if the issue exists for them too?

I've attached an image that I took moving from left (correctly exposed) to right

Image
Click to expand...
Nice house, mate :D
 
phoenixsan

phoenixsan

macrumors 65816
Oct 19, 2012
1,342
2
The photos shown....

a welcome improvement, now that smartphone cameras are needed not only for hobbyist, but some people doing serious stuff.Well done Apple....:D


:):apple:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom