7 ms·

IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

138 points by mrpollo 15y ago

codenerdz 15y ago
Both iPhone and iPhone 4S have great cameras, but I have recently tested 4S camera vs Sprints Epic Touch 4G(Samsung Galaxy S 2) and couldnt find discernible quality differences that would make iPhone 4S stand out. Furthermore I loved the fact that Samsung's Camera software allows you to specify the ISO and focus mode(spot/center/etc) whereas neither Camera+ nor iPhones Camera app provides for ISO manipulation(I dont recall if Camera+ allows specifying focus modes) -- this could be a limitation of iOS SDK.
- bkorte 15y ago
  Manual controls would be great. Camera+ lets you separately control focus point and metering point, that's most likely what you're looking for in "focus modes".
bprater 15y ago
I think we've finally came to the place where consumer-grade digital cameras will quickly begin to fade out. The images and video coming from the 4S are mind-blowing -- I'm still dumbfounded such a small lens array can produce such clear photos. (Check Vimeo's iPhone video channel.) The only thing my 4S lacks that my point-and-shoot has is an optical zoom. Beyond that, the phone's ecosystem of photo apps plus the ability to drop photos into Facebook in seconds makes warehousing my old digital a no-brainer.
- roc 15y ago
  As for still shooting, you may want to take an inventory of the places that people use their point-and-shoots. In my surveying, they're almost only used in places where macro, low-light, flash, speed (image stabilization) and zoom performance are very important: birthdays, landmarks, weddings, kids events, zoos. And those are features where the known solutions just do not fit into the physical constraints of smartphones. It seems to me that there's still a place for a well-designed point-and-shoot. And certainly a place for one with better software and integration.
  - ericb 15y ago
    You're right on the high end. On the low end, I went into a store 8 months ago and compared time to photo-snap from finger-press as well as blur on non-steady targets and none of the sub 500 dollar digitals stood up well. My iPhone 3g consistently captures better images than our 2 year old Cannon Powershot.
    - Splines 15y ago
      You must be exaggerating. I have a SD960 and it kicked the crap out of my 3G, and I'm no photographer to speak of. I can set a custom white balance, aperture and focus off-center if I want. With my 3G there isn't much control at all. My 3G was handy if I forgot my P&S at home, but it was just a fallback, nothing more. I don't know if I'll replace my Canon with my 4S, but we'll see.
      - ericb 15y ago
        I'm not. My criteria are different. I'm not looking for control. I'm looking for non-posed shots of my children to be 1-captured in time before the moment is over and what I'm photographing is gone, and 2-not blurry. With most low end digitals, you can take a nap between when you press the button and the actual picture is snapped.
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Don't forget drunken photos. The iPhone is relatively unforgiving when it comes to mashing what I think is the button - with my camera, I know where to put my finger and press, and I get tactile feedback.
    - geoffpado 15y ago
      As of iOS 5, you can now use the volume-up button as a way to take pictures, so you get that tactile feedback.
- sehugg 15y ago
  One thing smartphone cameras still don't do for me is minimize the time between wanting to take a shot and taking a shot. This is one area I think consumer cameras could also be improved. Ideally I'd like one button for pictures, one for video -- mash it down, the camera powers on and figures out what to do as fast as possible.
  - alastairpat 15y ago
    Compact cameras are still terrible in that regard; you can only get that 'off to photo taken in 0.3 seconds' with SLRs today. It's thus not really a valid argument for compact digital cameras still having relevance.
    - pavel_lishin 15y ago
      Imagine that your customer is drunk. Digital cameras win hands down. Slam the power button, slam the photo button, and you have at least a blurry blackmail-worthy shot of your friend dancing with a hobo. With a mobile phone, by the time I get the app up and running, the hobo is gone and my friend is left with nothing but hobo sweat.
      - jtreminio 15y ago
        On my Galaxy II, whenever I want to have the camera functionality ready, I open the camera app and press the power button. The screen turns off, and I simply need to wake the phone back on to be immediately ready to take a blackmail picture. This is even quicker with the "NoLock" app that disables the lock screen.
        ghshephard 15y ago
        My Finger DNA has already memorized "Double Click + Camera Icon" from the lock screen, and then hit the shutter release/+ button on the iPhone like mad. Even on the relatively poor shutter speed iPhone 4, I'm usually taking pictures within 2-3 seconds. Supposedly the 4S has significantly reduced the shutter-lag to first picture - looking forward to seeing the truth of that.
- beej71 15y ago
  Agreed. A place standard PnS cameras might still be desirable is in conditions where you don't want to risk destroying your phone, e.g. in water, caving, etc. But that's gotta be something like 5% of the size of the original market.
- vilya 15y ago
  Either that or the consumer-grade digital cameras will start to evolve in new directions. I think we're already seeing the beginnings of this with Lytro's light-field camera, for example. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing light-field cameras from the major manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, et al) in a few years time. And given the physical constraints of the microlens array, it'll before you get one of those in a mobile phone!
- jayfuerstenberg 15y ago
  I agree. I am the furthest thing from a pro photographer and always take blurry shots. But with the 4S they're all focused and crystal clear.
  - gcb 15y ago
    learn to leave the dial on 'automatic' on your camera. and take the 2nd pic with the manual settings.
TheIronYuppie 15y ago
This is an outstanding comparison. Roughly speaking, are there configuration settings required? Or is this just click?
- TeeOff 15y ago
  No, it's a crap comparison... Focus varies, exposure varies and I'm shure the stability of the person taking those pictures varies too. It tells nothing about the quality of the camera (hardware) or the software (in phone post processing). Meh.
  - tdoggette 15y ago
    "Nothing," really? This seems like a very real-world sort of test that gives a fairly decent indication of the kind of pictures that you're likely to get in the conditions indicated. It's not scientific, and there are lots of uncontrolled variables, but it's still useful.
  - tdoggette 15y ago
    "Nothing," really? This seems like a very real-world sort of test that gives a fairly decent indication of the kind of pictures that you're likely to get in the conditions indicated. It's not scientific, and there are lots of uncontrolled variables, but it's still useful.
joejohnson 15y ago
Can anyone explain (simply) what the Camera+ app does that might be different than the integrated iOS camera app?
- codenerdz 15y ago
  Camera+ provides several functions that I would consider super useful: 1) Timer mode -- allows me to minimize the shake in the less-than-ideal light situation. 2) Separate focus/exposure locks It also adds a number of post-processing filters, but these are a dime a dozen in this post-Instagram world
  - gcb 15y ago
    > 2) Separate focus/exposure locks in hardware? or software post processing?
    - alanfalcon 15y ago
      In hardware. It's not post-processing, it's real camera control.
- bprater 15y ago
  Camera+ has solid post-processing image functionality. You can go from 'meh' photo to 'wow!' in just a few clicks. Often, I'll show my girlfriend the before and after and she is surprised that a pleasing photo can come from something marginal. It's a fun photo app -- Instagram is great, too.
mixmastamyk 15y ago
I wish they had used a mini tripod to minimize blurriness. It also doesn't sound like they were able to use Camera+ on the earlier models, therefore the shots had different settings. The photos for the models pre-iphone 4 aren't really comparable then, though I appreciate the effort.
- artursapek 15y ago
  Using a tripod would have made this article irrelevant, nobody ever actually uses a mini-tripod when shooting with their phone.
  - newhouseb 15y ago
    Not true, as per the scientific method you only want to test typically along one dimension (in this case sensor quality). If the cameras are subject a random motion which causes blur greater than the blur caused by low-light conditions then the results are meaningless as the random motion is independent of the variable being tested.
    - suivix 15y ago
      I disagree because you want to test photographs from a human holding it, not a tripod holding it. Perhaps you could take dozens of shots with each phone and compare.
      - wtvanhest 15y ago
        suivix nailed it. Photography is not one dimensional. A great photograph with a camera phone must be handheld. Suivix's point about taking a great number of photos then comparing the results with a huge sample then making a quantitative assessment would be the only correct way to test it. This post wasn't about the quality of the sensor it was about the quality of the photograph.
        newhouseb 15y ago
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
zobzu 15y ago
Impressive how this site always have shacky blurred pics and claims to make a comparison. WTF is this seriously? Oh i know. Bullshit that's what. They don't even care.

138 points by mrpollo 15y ago

Both iPhone and iPhone 4S have great cameras, but I have recently tested 4S camera vs Sprints Epic Touch 4G(Samsung Galaxy S 2) and couldnt find discernible quality differences that would make iPhone 4S stand out. Furthermore I loved the fact that Samsung's Camera software allows you to specify the ISO and focus mode(spot/center/etc) whereas neither Camera+ nor iPhones Camera app provides for ISO manipulation(I dont recall if Camera+ allows specifying focus modes) -- this could be a limitation of iOS SDK.

bkorte 15y ago
Manual controls would be great. Camera+ lets you separately control focus point and metering point, that's most likely what you're looking for in "focus modes".

bprater 15y ago

I think we've finally came to the place where consumer-grade digital cameras will quickly begin to fade out. The images and video coming from the 4S are mind-blowing -- I'm still dumbfounded such a small lens array can produce such clear photos. (Check Vimeo's iPhone video channel.) The only thing my 4S lacks that my point-and-shoot has is an optical zoom. Beyond that, the phone's ecosystem of photo apps plus the ability to drop photos into Facebook in seconds makes warehousing my old digital a no-brainer.

roc 15y ago
As for still shooting, you may want to take an inventory of the places that people use their point-and-shoots. In my surveying, they're almost only used in places where macro, low-light, flash, speed (image stabilization) and zoom performance are very important: birthdays, landmarks, weddings, kids events, zoos. And those are features where the known solutions just do not fit into the physical constraints of smartphones. It seems to me that there's still a place for a well-designed point-and-shoot. And certainly a place for one with better software and integration.
- ericb 15y ago
  You're right on the high end. On the low end, I went into a store 8 months ago and compared time to photo-snap from finger-press as well as blur on non-steady targets and none of the sub 500 dollar digitals stood up well. My iPhone 3g consistently captures better images than our 2 year old Cannon Powershot.
  - Splines 15y ago
    You must be exaggerating. I have a SD960 and it kicked the crap out of my 3G, and I'm no photographer to speak of. I can set a custom white balance, aperture and focus off-center if I want. With my 3G there isn't much control at all. My 3G was handy if I forgot my P&S at home, but it was just a fallback, nothing more. I don't know if I'll replace my Canon with my 4S, but we'll see.
    - ericb 15y ago
      I'm not. My criteria are different. I'm not looking for control. I'm looking for non-posed shots of my children to be 1-captured in time before the moment is over and what I'm photographing is gone, and 2-not blurry. With most low end digitals, you can take a nap between when you press the button and the actual picture is snapped.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Don't forget drunken photos. The iPhone is relatively unforgiving when it comes to mashing what I think is the button - with my camera, I know where to put my finger and press, and I get tactile feedback.
  - geoffpado 15y ago
    As of iOS 5, you can now use the volume-up button as a way to take pictures, so you get that tactile feedback.
sehugg 15y ago
One thing smartphone cameras still don't do for me is minimize the time between wanting to take a shot and taking a shot. This is one area I think consumer cameras could also be improved. Ideally I'd like one button for pictures, one for video -- mash it down, the camera powers on and figures out what to do as fast as possible.
- alastairpat 15y ago
  Compact cameras are still terrible in that regard; you can only get that 'off to photo taken in 0.3 seconds' with SLRs today. It's thus not really a valid argument for compact digital cameras still having relevance.
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Imagine that your customer is drunk. Digital cameras win hands down. Slam the power button, slam the photo button, and you have at least a blurry blackmail-worthy shot of your friend dancing with a hobo. With a mobile phone, by the time I get the app up and running, the hobo is gone and my friend is left with nothing but hobo sweat.
    - jtreminio 15y ago
      On my Galaxy II, whenever I want to have the camera functionality ready, I open the camera app and press the power button. The screen turns off, and I simply need to wake the phone back on to be immediately ready to take a blackmail picture. This is even quicker with the "NoLock" app that disables the lock screen.
      - ghshephard 15y ago
        My Finger DNA has already memorized "Double Click + Camera Icon" from the lock screen, and then hit the shutter release/+ button on the iPhone like mad. Even on the relatively poor shutter speed iPhone 4, I'm usually taking pictures within 2-3 seconds. Supposedly the 4S has significantly reduced the shutter-lag to first picture - looking forward to seeing the truth of that.
beej71 15y ago
Agreed. A place standard PnS cameras might still be desirable is in conditions where you don't want to risk destroying your phone, e.g. in water, caving, etc. But that's gotta be something like 5% of the size of the original market.
vilya 15y ago
Either that or the consumer-grade digital cameras will start to evolve in new directions. I think we're already seeing the beginnings of this with Lytro's light-field camera, for example. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing light-field cameras from the major manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, et al) in a few years time. And given the physical constraints of the microlens array, it'll before you get one of those in a mobile phone!
jayfuerstenberg 15y ago
I agree. I am the furthest thing from a pro photographer and always take blurry shots. But with the 4S they're all focused and crystal clear.
- gcb 15y ago
  learn to leave the dial on 'automatic' on your camera. and take the 2nd pic with the manual settings.

TheIronYuppie 15y ago

This is an outstanding comparison. Roughly speaking, are there configuration settings required? Or is this just click?

TeeOff 15y ago
No, it's a crap comparison... Focus varies, exposure varies and I'm shure the stability of the person taking those pictures varies too. It tells nothing about the quality of the camera (hardware) or the software (in phone post processing). Meh.
- tdoggette 15y ago
  "Nothing," really? This seems like a very real-world sort of test that gives a fairly decent indication of the kind of pictures that you're likely to get in the conditions indicated. It's not scientific, and there are lots of uncontrolled variables, but it's still useful.
- tdoggette 15y ago
  "Nothing," really? This seems like a very real-world sort of test that gives a fairly decent indication of the kind of pictures that you're likely to get in the conditions indicated. It's not scientific, and there are lots of uncontrolled variables, but it's still useful.

joejohnson 15y ago

Can anyone explain (simply) what the Camera+ app does that might be different than the integrated iOS camera app?

codenerdz 15y ago
Camera+ provides several functions that I would consider super useful: 1) Timer mode -- allows me to minimize the shake in the less-than-ideal light situation. 2) Separate focus/exposure locks It also adds a number of post-processing filters, but these are a dime a dozen in this post-Instagram world
- gcb 15y ago
  > 2) Separate focus/exposure locks in hardware? or software post processing?
  - alanfalcon 15y ago
    In hardware. It's not post-processing, it's real camera control.
bprater 15y ago
Camera+ has solid post-processing image functionality. You can go from 'meh' photo to 'wow!' in just a few clicks. Often, I'll show my girlfriend the before and after and she is surprised that a pleasing photo can come from something marginal. It's a fun photo app -- Instagram is great, too.

mixmastamyk 15y ago

I wish they had used a mini tripod to minimize blurriness. It also doesn't sound like they were able to use Camera+ on the earlier models, therefore the shots had different settings. The photos for the models pre-iphone 4 aren't really comparable then, though I appreciate the effort.

artursapek 15y ago
Using a tripod would have made this article irrelevant, nobody ever actually uses a mini-tripod when shooting with their phone.
- newhouseb 15y ago
  Not true, as per the scientific method you only want to test typically along one dimension (in this case sensor quality). If the cameras are subject a random motion which causes blur greater than the blur caused by low-light conditions then the results are meaningless as the random motion is independent of the variable being tested.
  - suivix 15y ago
    I disagree because you want to test photographs from a human holding it, not a tripod holding it. Perhaps you could take dozens of shots with each phone and compare.
    - wtvanhest 15y ago
      suivix nailed it. Photography is not one dimensional. A great photograph with a camera phone must be handheld. Suivix's point about taking a great number of photos then comparing the results with a huge sample then making a quantitative assessment would be the only correct way to test it. This post wasn't about the quality of the sensor it was about the quality of the photograph.
      - newhouseb 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

zobzu 15y ago

Impressive how this site always have shacky blurred pics and claims to make a comparison. WTF is this seriously? Oh i know. Bullshit that's what. They don't even care.