I've been taking some sample pictures and video with my new 3GS and I'm impressed with the video quality for a camera phone. Photos on the other hand are a let-down. I was expecting a big improvement from the previous and I'm just not seeing it. The camera app functionality is much improved but the actual photo quality is still mediocre.
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3GS video is impressive, camera still lame
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Have you seen this thread? https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/725914/ The photos are pretty impressive...
lol
people crack me up it's a cell phone that has a camera yes some cells have good camera but they lack something else everything is plus and minus. if you really need a good camera by all means buy one. but then don't go on a rampage because you can't make a call with your camera. the too me the Camera is sort of like the apps, it's nice to have a camera handy but I wouldn't use it for major photography. forgot your camera at a event better then nothing or somebody hits my car I know I will be real happy I have it.
people crack me up it's a cell phone that has a camera yes some cells have good camera but they lack something else everything is plus and minus. if you really need a good camera by all means buy one. but then don't go on a rampage because you can't make a call with your camera. the too me the Camera is sort of like the apps, it's nice to have a camera handy but I wouldn't use it for major photography. forgot your camera at a event better then nothing or somebody hits my car I know I will be real happy I have it.
I agree with the OP... the video is impressive, and the audio and video in the videos taken is superior to my old beater Canon A620's videos (7.1 MP). Camera though... still not even half as good as my old Olympus 2.1 MP camera. Outdoors, with bright sunlight, seems to be the only way to get reasonable photos with the iPhone. Indoors, or outdoors with moderate lighting gave pretty grainy photos that lacked detail and if there was any movement by the subjects they were blurred. So I'll still be lugging around my Canon Rebel XSi 
That said, it's good for a phone camera for sure, and the auto white balance is a great feature. You'll always have it on you to snap shots of the unexpected, at ok quality (when you shrink the photo to 1/2 the size), which is a nice thing to have. But we didn't buy the iPhone for the camera...
That said, it's good for a phone camera for sure, and the auto white balance is a great feature. You'll always have it on you to snap shots of the unexpected, at ok quality (when you shrink the photo to 1/2 the size), which is a nice thing to have. But we didn't buy the iPhone for the camera...