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houssein31

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2013
147
0
I was looking at the specs for iPad Air and noticed it is thinner than iPhone 6. IPad Air is 6.1 mm, while iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm.

How come does the iPhone who is thicker has a protruding camera and the thinner iPad doesn't.... They both have the a 8MP. Why does iPhone has a protruding camera then?????
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
I was looking at the specs for iPad Air and noticed it is thinner than iPhone 6. IPad Air is 6.1 mm, while iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm.



How come does the iPhone who is thicker has a protruding camera and the thinner iPad doesn't.... They both have the a 8MP. Why does iPhone has a protruding camera then?????


Because Apple put it in one and not the other.
 

gtstricky

macrumors regular
Apr 19, 2012
121
5
There is not anything behind the camera. On the phone you have to squeeze some electronics behind the camera to get everything to fit. iPad has more real estate to fit everything.
 

TommyA6

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2013
1,056
516
I was looking at the specs for iPad Air and noticed it is thinner than iPhone 6. IPad Air is 6.1 mm, while iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm.

How come does the iPhone who is thicker has a protruding camera and the thinner iPad doesn't.... They both have the a 8MP. Why does iPhone has a protruding camera then?????

iPad's camera (even air 2) isn't nearly as good as an iPhone 6 (+) camera, that's why. :)
 

Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,117
4,016
There is not anything behind the camera. On the phone you have to squeeze some electronics behind the camera to get everything to fit. iPad has more real estate to fit everything.

But not enough real estate to fit the Flash unit from an iPhone it seems.

Funny that :(
 

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
It has nothing to do with stabilization. The 6 camera also protrudes and does not have optical stabilization like the 6+. The Air's camera likely has a smaller max aperture and/or less elements, meaning it can fit into a smaller housing. And yes, it probably is basically the 5S camera.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,139
19,672
Because the iPad Air 2 has an aperture of f/2.4, and the iPhone has an aperture of f/2.2. This makes the iPhone camera brighter and ideal for lower light conditions, but it also changes the focal length to the image sensor. The image sensor itself on the iPad Air 2 is also inferior, as it is smaller with a pixel pitch of 1.12 microns, and the iPhone 6 has a pixel pitch of 1.5 microns. This makes the iPhone have a cleaner sensor with less noise and I believe higher dynamic range and sharpness. Therefore you have different optical math going on between the relationship of the maximum aperture, and the size of the image sensor, which on the iPhone 6 necessitates a further distance to achieve focus. It's the same reason not all dSLR lenses are the same length, although telephoto capabilities do come into play and kind of ruin that comparison to a certain extent. For example, I shot the Mizzou football game against UCF and Indiana a few weeks ago. My Canon 400mm f/4L is much smaller than my coworker's rented Canon 400mm f/2.8L. But his backgrounds were a lot creamier than mine and I was jealous!
 

TechGod

macrumors 68040
Feb 25, 2014
3,268
1,121
New Zealand
No optical image stabelization.

Heh. I see what you did there.

The iPhone 6+ has an image stabilized camera. It requires a bit more thickness than other iDevice cameras.

Because Apple put it in one and not the other.

There is not anything behind the camera. On the phone you have to squeeze some electronics behind the camera to get everything to fit. iPad has more real estate to fit everything.

Wrong! The iPhone 6 camera also protrudes and it has no OIS. Macdukke gave the correct answer.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,139
19,672
Wrong! The iPhone 6 camera also protrudes and it has no OIS. Macdukke gave the correct answer.

Can't blame them. Not all of us are professional photographers. I don't even understand all the math behind optics and occasionally get confused or mix up certain terminology. I just know enough to understand what is happening and how I can exploit it to get the photo I want. Being an optical scientist would be pretty badass through! Not sure, but probably lots of lasers.
 

TechGod

macrumors 68040
Feb 25, 2014
3,268
1,121
New Zealand
Can't blame them. Not all of us are professional photographers. I don't even understand all the math behind optics and occasionally get confused or mix up certain terminology. I just know enough to understand what is happening and how I can exploit it to get the photo I want. Being an optical scientist would be pretty badass through! Not sure, but probably lots of lasers.

Yeah I myself am not going on, on much knowledge, just from what I know, your answer was the correct one:p
 

ElectronGuru

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2013
1,656
489
Oregon, USA
Can't blame them. Not all of us are professional photographers. I don't even understand all the math behind optics and occasionally get confused or mix up certain terminology.

These lens values are apertures, the size of the lens opening. Values are ratios, length / width. A lens as wide as it is long would be 1.0. A few very expensive lenses are 0.95 etc, but many are over 1, most are over 2.

The confusing part is that these numbers are relative, so a tiny camera can have a big aperture (small ratio value) and still be smaller than a big camera with a small aperture (large ratio value).

In practice, you want a big sensor (overall sensor size is more important than number of pixels) combined with big glass. Big sensor + big glass = best picture.


Perhaps a sign Iphone 6S might go back to a flat camera at the back then?

The only that will be 'fixed' is if apple thickens the body or shrinks the lens, reducing image quality. Unless they got really clever and mounted the entire assembly transactionally with a mirror to 'periscope' the light in from the back.
 

marmiteturkey

macrumors 6502a
Aug 27, 2005
910
1,013
London
Because the iPad Air 2 has an aperture of f/2.4, and the iPhone has an aperture of f/2.2. This makes the iPhone camera brighter and ideal for lower light conditions, but it also changes the focal length to the image sensor.
Unless I'm mistaken, aperture and focal length are not related. Focal length and distance from lens to sensor ARE related. Happy to be corrected, very much an amateur photographer.
 

jon1987

macrumors regular
Jan 27, 2011
151
10
I'm probably wrong but I'm thinking it could be more to do with what camera the 6S will have. Next years phones might have a serious camera update that requires quite a bit of extra space. The protrusion on this model is to prevent a backwards design step on the 6s. There might have been more complains if the 6 had a flat design and then the 6s suddenly has a protrusion.
 

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
I was looking at the specs for iPad Air and noticed it is thinner than iPhone 6. IPad Air is 6.1 mm, while iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm.



How come does the iPhone who is thicker has a protruding camera and the thinner iPad doesn't.... They both have the a 8MP. Why does iPhone has a protruding camera then?????


Not as many lens elements?
A much smaller sensor, merely 1.5μm pixels, vs 1.5μm
 

samiznaetekto

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,016
24
iPhone engineers used iPhone for communication between the teams... "Six point wha?! I can't hear you! Wha?!!" And so, the camera team delivered the camera that was thicker than the case, and it was too late...

iPad engineers used iPad (email) for communication and had the specs in writing.

So, here we go.
 

addictzz

macrumors 6502
Jun 11, 2012
392
30
I am happy enough that Apple decided to pump up iPad's camera quite substantially. It's been 5MP for far too long. It only makes me happier that the camera doesn't protrude out like iphone 6's. That protruding camera looks ugly somehow.
 

scupking

macrumors 6502a
Dec 14, 2010
770
358
Because it's not the same camera that's in the 6 or 6 plus. It's more like the one in the 5s.
 

TommyA6

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2013
1,056
516
It's basically the 5s camera. Yes?

Not really. It's probably significantly worse than iPhone 5s (much smaller sensor, f/2.4 aperture compared to f/2.2 on iPhone 5s etc.). It's maybe around iPhone 5 level (or slightly worse).
 
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