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How does the iPhone 6s camera compare to other iPhone generations?
- idbehold 11y agoIt looks like the 4S had the biggest improvement over its predecessors. Each modal before and after the 4S look like they only slightly improved upon the previous model.
- josephpmay 11y agoTo my eyes, the 3Gs was the biggest improvement
- macintux 11y ago3Gs was the first generation that seemed to take the camera seriously, speaking as a 3G owner who looked on enviously at the time.
- mikeash 11y agoThe original iPhone's camera (and thus the iPhone 3G's, since the 3G changed almost nothing besides the case and the cell radio) seemed to exist mostly to tick the "has a camera" checkbox. It was pretty awful at doing much beyond existing. It didn't even have the ability to change focus!
- notahacker 11y agoI still use a 3Gs and the camera certainly isn't horrible, but the biggest issue with it and other early iPhones - which this review doesn't cover - is that it lacks any flash. That's a bigger deal than megapixels since it rendered earlier iPhones inadequate for spontaneous photography in many of the social situations people wouldn't consider bringing a proper camera to.
- alanh 11y ago4S was indeed a big leap. When I broke my 4S, I temporarily downgraded to a 4 but missed the faster, better camera so much that I once again upgraded to the 4S.
- jayflux 11y agoReally? Looks to me like the 3G to the 3GS is the biggest jump, the improvement there is ridiculous
- quicklyfrozen 11y agoI'd agree, but the 4S is probably the first one to really compete with a good point-and-shoot, and it also seems better then the 5 and/or 5S in several of the shots.
- dzhiurgis 11y agoAgree, 4 was a good improvement, but 4S made it it really usable one. I've updated from 4S to 6S and this weekend had a chance to capture some scenic ocean cliffs. The difference is definitely noticeable and I've got some very nice shots, but nothing to rage about. I would have happily kept using 4S if not lack of RAM made it's use hellishly slow.
- stinos 11y agoThe comparisions in this article are really nicely done, but even better would be to have a shot from a decent DSLR next to it just to get an idea of how a phone image compares to that.
- hammock 11y agoAnd shots from the best Android phone cameras as well. An iPhone-only comparison is like saying "compare the writing scores of this 8-year-old child vs. when she was 7, 6 and 5 years old!"
- urda 11y ago> "compare the writing scores of this 8-year-old child vs. when she was 7, 6 and 5 years old!" Which would be useful to see how the scores have improved or not improved, much like how this article is demonstrating the progress of the iPhone camera. It's 100% valid and perfectly clear to not include "the best Android phone cameras" as that is not the goal.
- jlarocco 11y agoI think it'd be more useful comparing with a "decent" point and shoot, because that's the market being eroded by camera phones. The only people moving from DSLRs to camera phones probably didn't really need the power of a DSLR in the first place.
- rcthompson 11y agoYes, a comparison with a decent point-and-shoot camera would be good, but the purpose of including a high-quality DSLR shot in the comparison would be as a reference point for "this is the best that the shot can possibly look", in order to put things on an absolute scale rather than just a relative one. (Obviously, the article text should make this purpose clear.)
- jrockway 11y agoThe best camera is the one you have with you. Once the moment has passed, having a better camera isn't going to recreate that moment. The iPhone pretty much wins this every time. It's always with you. If you're in the studio creating scenes, you aren't going to use your iPhone, so it doesn't really matter. If you're going to buy a camera to carry everywhere, you're still not going to use your iPhone. So it's really an academic theoretical issue, in my opinion.
- Amorymeltzer 11y agoI know it's not new, but there is still something quite powerful about the fact that a photograph taken by a pocket-sized device has enough quality to clearly show the outline of the photographer in the subject's eye.
- jakobegger 11y agoYup. And these photos are all gorgeous. I think we're at a point were the limiting factor is not the camera, but the photographers' skill.
- blt 11y agoTrue in bright conditions, but smartphone cameras still suck in low light.
- saturdaysaint 11y agoI'm on a 5S. This might sound like melodramatic consumerist envy, but I've been struck over the last year by how many emotionally stirring pictures I've seen amateurs take with the iPhone 6. My phone can take a pretty sharp photo of a baby/puppy/landscape, but there's something about the 6 generation that almost triggers that sense of "presence" people bring up in regard to VR. I think you can see this pretty vividly in the jump from 5S to 6 in the author's self portrait - I can call the improvements incremental on a lot of levels, but somehow she's "there" looking me in the eyes on the 6.
- jakobegger 11y agoIt seems to me like the 6/6s does something to the skin tones. Less details, but warmer.
- exhilaration 11y agoAre you sure it's not just postprocessing? Many of my friends and I all have DSLRs but my photos are always the best because I know how to use Lightroom.
- eecks 11y agoAs a very amateur photographer, do you use lightroom on every photo? What sort of photo enhancements do you do?
- micampe 11y agoVery often you just need to adjust levels and white balance to see a significant improvement on many photos. You don’t even need Lightroom for that, even more basic photo editors like OS X Photos work fine.
- matwood 11y agoOn my DSLR taken photos I white balance/color correct, level, and crop all photos I'm going to keep. Photos that have particularly good subjects, I may get artistic and play with other settings until I see something I like.
- mtgx 11y agoAnd how it compares to other Android flagships: http://androidcommunity.com/android-flagships-may-have-marginally-better-cameras-than-the-iphone-6s-20150928/ http://androidcommunity.com/android-flagships-may-have-margi... tl;dr first time it doesn't beat them.
- emsy 11y agoUpvoted you because I think it's relevant. My initial knowledge was that iPhones beat even flagship Androids when it comes to photography, but I was surprised to learn the difference only recently.
- heartbreak 11y agoOdd that the header image displays an iPhone 6 rather than an iPhone 6S.
- chaostheory 11y agoIt would be nice to see how the 6s Plus compares as well since it has better image stabilization hardware.
- jakobegger 11y agoOne thing I miss from that comparison are indoor moving subjects (ie. kids). My iPhone 5 seems to go for pretty long exposure times (1/15s). Of course, that makes for great stills, but many of the photos I take of my kids end up blurred. I'd prefer grainy but sharp.
- hcurtiss 11y agoTotally agreed. I wish camera reviews would compare average exposure times between phones for the same shots. I'm a guy who would prefer my phone get me the best shot it can at 1/60th, rather than a low ISO shot that's blurry.
- noinput 11y agoOur team (RYOT) got the opportunity to film a documentary short in Haiti with the new 6S+, results were lovely. Feel free to check out the film in 4K: http://www.ryot.org/watch-the-first-documentary-filmed-on-an-iphone-6s-the-painter-of-jalouza/943581 http://www.ryot.org/watch-the-first-documentary-filmed-on-an... also for fun there's a behind the scenes on the same link that shows how the shots came together.
- photoJ 11y agoHow did mounting canon lenses on the front work for your needs? I would be very keen on that if its practical.
- noinput 11y agoFrom what I heard, it's still pretty rough but gets the job done. Lots of 3d printing and trying new hardware that's coming out in the filming circles (that I'm not part of, heh).
- Renaud 11y agoThis is really impressive, and the result is beautiful. How is the lens attached to the iPhone? How is the focus controlled?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- noinput 11y agoA lot of the equipment is 3d printed in house since most all of this tech is still so new. The directors really like manual focus for much of their work, so I'm pretty confident there's no auto-focus ability. Similar to when you add a conversion between manufacturers with rigs and lenses. Hoping we can post more soon on the fun stuff the team is creating!
- twsted 11y agoJust a quick glance, but it seems to me from these sequences that the 3GS and the 4 series were very good, even in respect to the next versions. What do you think?
- dharma1 11y agodoes iOS let you shoot raw yet?
- S_A_P 11y agoWhat really blows my mind is the difference between the iPhone 3 and 3GS. I think that it may even have the most eye pleasing camera of the lot. The other generations are marginal compared to 3->3GS
- bonaldi 11y agoSad to see they still have the cranked noise reduction, which really ruins faces. If you look at the enlarged portait pics and compare the 4s and 6s you'll see what I mean: the 4s has details in the skin, the 6s has a near-impressionist blurred mess.
- an4rchy 11y agoVery nicely laid out. I love that you can compare small pieces side by side and then expand the relevant ones. (smooth animations too)
- kalleboo 11y ago> smooth animations too Thanks, this was my first crack at doing something with Canvas! For last year's we did it in CSS animations but with it never had great performance.
- emadmokhtar 11y agoI can't find big difference between iPhone 6 and 6S.
- wanderfowl 11y agoYeah, the moral of this story was "Well, there goes one reason to upgrade"
- wichlyc 11y agoGreat article, and the comparison of the different models cameras are perfect examples of how far Apple have come to be reckoned as one of the leading brands. In overall, I think the price for the iPhone 6s is outrageous...