5s vs 6s Plus camera and size

[jakja83]

My 5S has to be replaced and I have a new 5S on order. I love the design and performance of the phone. I am a very casual user and it easily lasts me more than a day on a full charge.

The only major improvement for me on the 6S-line is perhaps the camera. I watched some videos online showing the great results the OIS from the latest Plus-model and that got me thinking. I have small children and would love to shoot some more live footage of them to have for when they grow up. Is the 6S Plus that much better than the 5S? I compared the 5S to the regular 6S of a friend and the main difference to me was the focus-speed, images looked pretty much the same.

Is the bump in camera performance Worth lugging that large phone in my Pocket and looking a bit ridiculous putting it to my face when making a Call?

(And why does the autocorrect feature on the forum capitalize many Words?????)

 

[x34]

Is the 6S Plus that much better than the 5S?
Is the bump in camera performance Worth lugging that large phone in my Pocket and looking a bit ridiculous putting it to my face when making a Call?

to both questions my answer is: NO.

but, i would not ever buy a new 5s again! get a 6s instead and take advantage of the better specs like bigger display, 2 GB ram etc.

but just for a better cam? no, don't buy.

 

[jakja83]

Ok. I feel the performance of the 5S is not that far behind, but perhaps you are right. Problem is that the 6s would cost me twice as much as the 5s here.

 

[Merkie]

The camera hasn't improved much since the 4s. There are some improvements (especially in low light), but honestly, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in a blind test.

 

[I7guy]

The 6s has 4K recording; which is the biggest differentiation. Only you can determine the other points: size, price etc.

 

[cynics]

I feel the 6S/+ photos are a little on the dark side compared to the 5S. Maybe the 5S is just overly bright. I don't think I'd upgrade if the only thing I wanted was a better camera without testing it for yourself. You can snap pics at the Apple Store with the floor models.

 

[jakja83]

No apple store in my country, no apple retailer nearby that has them on display. Otherwise I wouldn't have started the thread.

 

[MacDevil7334]

I agree with what has been said so far regarding still image performance. You will see some improvement in low light on the 6S+ compared to the 5S and the camera will focus faster thanks to the phase detection autofocus. But those are about the only two differences when it comes to still images.

However, it looks like from your original post that your are mainly interested in shooting videos. In this area, the cinematic video stabilization and OIS make the 6S+ a more substantial upgrade over the 5S. Videos shot on the 6S+ are buttery smooth, even when walking. It's almost like you are using a mini steady cam. I had a friend show me a video of her walking around her new apartment that she shot on her 5S the other day. I couldn't believe how much camera shake there was. I had never really noticed that sort of thing before because that has always been the norm with cell phone cameras. But, now that I have a 6S+, the difference is very noticeable.

With all that being said, you still really have to ask yourself if you are ok with the size of the plus. It's a big phone and there's no getting around that. It doesn't matter how good the camera is if you find the phone uncomfortable to use overall. I would suggest trying one in store at least before you buy it and you may need to use it for up to a week to really see if you can adjust to the bigger size (that's about how long it took me). One last note if you end up deciding the plus is too big: the regular 6S also has the software-based cinematic video stabilization feature for 1080p videos. This makes them almost as smooth as videos from the 6S+ and an improvement over the 5S. However it's not available when shooting in 4K and the camera shake is pretty bad. If you are really planning to shoot in 4K, get the plus and don't get the 16GB model under any circumstances.

Hope this helps!

 

[techspin]

Well worth the upgrade if you're trying to capture important moments of your kids.