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Megapixels are not predominant factor, there are many other factors. I'm satisfied with the quality of the pictures that I took with my iphone :D :)
 
Sorry sir, but you're flat out wrong. Lumina 1020 holds the cellphone camera crown and it does so firmly.

Though it's a massive complement that the iPhone is even up there in comparison to it. If the iPhone 5 held up that well against it, I'm excited to see how the 5S holds up. That is until Nokia releases the successor to the 1020.

It's a moot point really.

Do you want the best smart phone in the world with a pretty good camera - iPhone.
Or do you want a terrible smart phone an even better camera (but still worse then a good cheaper P&S)?

If you want a good camera go buy a camera. If you want the best smartphone that just happens to take pretty good photos too buy an iPhone. Even though the Lumina is better I don't see a reason to get it. If you are buying it for the camera only, bad purchase, get a proper P&S camera instead.
 
SENSOR SIZE has and always will be the biggest factor in image quality.

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Sensors do not mean squat if the quality of the lens is low. Also, sensors vary in how susceptible they are to noise, cross talk, and other properties, not just their sensitivity. This whole MP thing reminds me of:

Image

true, quality of lens is also a huge determining factor... Really it is quality of glass, then sensor size/quality... but in the end all that matters is the person clicking the shutter button. My iphone 5 images destroyed half of the dslr photographers at a recent car event covering it. I only stuck to my iphone with a wide lens attachment because I was drunk LOL.
 
I was hoping that Apple would take the direction they did. Actually, they did more than I expected. I would rather have a stellar 8mp that poorer 12. I'm not posting full res images anyway. Apple made the right call, much to my surprise.
 
This is true and smart if you are not using the additional things a DSLR can do. You can't put a ND filter on a phone and get a 30 second exposure of a shoreline or clouds in broad daylight. You can't take long exposures at night and force a low ISO. You can't open up the aperture and get shallow depth of field images (and video.) You can't TOUCH the low light indoor performance.

That said, you can take amazing shots of family and friends while you are out and about without lugging all the gear with you. You can take amazing landscapes when the lighting is right. These cover 90% of the shots a lot of people take. You don't need crazy high MP to do it, and Apple is giving people exactly what they need in a smartphone camera.

I do wish Apple would offer an "advanced" mode for the camera for those of us who want to shoot in some creative modes or full manual. It would be nice to force it to keep the ISO speed low. I think some of the software tricks they are using to merge shots to get a sharp image in lower light could be spectacular if they work as well as the sample they showed.

I concur with everything said. I've got a Nikon D600 which is a $2000 DSLR. That said, you know what they say. "The best camera is the one that's with you"
 
Megapixels were never the predominant factor in image quality.

Sensor size is the biggest issue, and this is the first time Apple has increased it since the iPhone 4.

That and the matrix metering will give a much bigger IQ advancement than simply stuffing more receptors on the same size sensor.
 
It's a moot point really.

Do you want the best smart phone in the world with a pretty good camera - iPhone.
Or do you want a terrible smart phone an even better camera (but still worse then a good cheaper P&S)?

If you want a good camera go buy a camera. If you want the best smartphone that just happens to take pretty good photos too buy an iPhone. Even though the Lumina is better I don't see a reason to get it. If you are buying it for the camera only, bad purchase, get a proper P&S camera instead.

Sorry sir, nobody said anything about the other features. They simply made a false statement about the iPhone being the best cell phone camera. That sir is patently false regardless of the other factors that you mentioned (though I agree with them).
 
I'd rather have more megapixels.

It's embarrassing having a cell phone with an 8 mp camera on it. It's 2013 geez.
 
I was extremely disappointed in the 5S still having 8mp. With digital cameras now averaging almost twice as much it's impossible not to be.

They have nothing to do with image quality.
 
more megapixels make the photos bigger.


people nowadays want to share their photos on FB, or with others, and despite LTE and what not sharing 100MB photos is just not as practical.

the image quality of top smartphones today is incredibly good - and will probably get better in time but they are still meant to take photos on the go and to share with others. anything more than that you should really think about purchasing a proper camera.
 
Pixel Size

I'd rather have more megapixels.

It's embarrassing having a cell phone with an 8 mp camera on it. It's 2013 geez.


The Galaxy S4 has a 12 megapixel camera. The pixels are 1.1 microns in size. The iPhone 5s has an 8 megapixel camera at 1.5 microns per pixel.

Seeing as the number of megapixels effects the image size and pixel size effects image size, it stands to reason that 8MP at 1.5 microns per pixel is the equivalent of roughly 10.9 MP at 1.1 microns per pixel. Now I am aware that there is more that goes into image quality, but we shouldn't think of all megapixels as equal. The HTC One, for example, has only a 4MP camera (albeit at 2 microns per pixel).
 
Megapickles have a tiny bit to do with image quality and is not the deciding factor in photography quality. If you're looking to take better photos, there are multiple factors for photographic quality. The first factor is the glass/lens that is used to create the photo. High quality glass make for the initial processing of the image much easier. The quality of the glass will determine initial image quality, the amount of light hitting the sensor, diffraction of light across the sensor, and the depth of field. The second factor in photographic quality is the distance between the glass and the sensor. typically shorter distances between the glass and sensor allow for better transmission of light which in turn makes for better quality images. If you're too far from the sensor, light can get scattered inside of the "camera" and the image starts losing quality. The third factor in better photographic quality is the sensor. From a lot of research and development in the photography field, it seems (I say seems because things may change with newer technologies) that a larger sensors with larger pixels, with more pixels are capable of getting better photos. Megapickles refers to that deliciously sour and savory cucumber treat that defines the number of pixels on the sensor. This is what gives resolution to the image. Larger pixels on the sensor means that we can get better color rendition, less noise, and more dynamic range on the photo. The larger the sensor, the more of these larger pixels you'll be able to fit and that will translate into a better quality photo. The fourth factor in better photographic quality is processing. Digital photography requires processing of the image. In smaller electronics where we want instantly usable photos, it means that we need to convert raw camera data into a compressed JPEG. There are several ways to do this. Also if the camera is capable of capturing multiple frames at close to the same time, it can reprocess the image in several different ways to get you the best photo. Lastly, if the software and processor are capable, the camera can take multiple exposures and then combine them in what is called HDR photography. This helps to even out tones at multiple exposures. When it's overdone, the photos look very contrasty and have a dark toasty feel. The fifth factor in photographic quality is the user. The more training and better photographer the user, the better the photo will be.
 
I don't care what the picture looks like lol I just want to be able to argue with other smartphone users that I got more megapixels than they do. Hahaha!!
 
I don't care what the picture looks like lol I just want to be able to argue with other smartphone users that I got more megapixels than they do. Hahaha!!


so even after reading some insightful information about megapixels on this thread you still havent realised yours would make a pretty silly argument?


the "mine is bigger than yours" doesn't quite fly for megapixels... even if you are into that sort of debate..
 
so even after reading some insightful information about megapixels on this thread you still havent realised yours would make a pretty silly argument?


the "mine is bigger than yours" doesn't quite fly for megapixels... even if you are into that sort of debate..

I think he was being factitious.
 
I was extremely disappointed in the 5S still having 8mp. With digital cameras now averaging almost twice as much it's impossible not to be.

no they aren't and they never were.

they can give you higher resolution images, but require a bigger lens to capture more light and higher ISO (more nosie) than less megapixels with teh same light level and lens - which means worse low light performance.
 
God, please let this thread die already. I wish I had never created it.
 
And does your stereotypical Iphone buyer comprehend that? No. Your average Iphone buyer gauges the quality of a camera on the number of megapixels it has. You see cameras advertised, the megapixels is the spec that gets the most emphasis and looking at it from that angle, Apple have missed a trick. They have over-estimated the average intelligence of the Iphone buyer, they don't give care about dual flash, or sensor size, it's all about megapixels... It's like putting rear diffusers and spoilers on underpowered cars - completely useless, but that's what the idiots want, that's what we'll give em..... strange decision from Apple.. Just go to various 'gadget' websites and look at reviews of various smartphones, the reviewers, who I'm assuming are relatively intelligent people, are over themselves over the Xperia's megapixels and the 40megapixel Nokia etc etc - what hope has your typical Iphone buyer have of being jolted "out of this megapixel myth nonsense". Zero. And that's where Apple have failed. They don't understand their customers anymore, primarily because their customers have changed.



I respectfully disagree. Yes, the average consumer only sees the megapixel count, but as for apple "failing", I disagree. In fact, they did the opposite! They challenged the market, and won! Lol! I dont think that 5s sales dropped becuase they kept the same 8 MP sensor. Even if the general iPhone public is as stupid as you think, they know that Apple made "camera improvements"! They know that its still 8 MP, but they did something to it so its better than the iP5, and THAT is what people look at! :apple:
 
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