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Camera shootout! 60d vs. iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy S2

M

masciam

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 15, 2011
166
326
Hey everyone! I had some free time today so I decided to compare the iphone 4S and galaxy S2 cameras and included the 60d for reference.

The settings on the S2 are all default and images are unedited. You can click to see them full size on flickr. I also resized 60d images to 8mp to make it easier to compare the cropped samples. The lens I'm using is a Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 with IS.

Here we go:

Canon 60d

foto160d by maum1, on Flickr

Galaxy S2

foto1s2 by maum1, on Flickr

iPhone 4S

foto1iphone by maum1, on Flickr


100% crop Canon 60d

crop160d by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop Galaxy S2

crop1s2 by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop iPhone 4S

crop1iphone by maum1, on Flickr


100% crop Canon 60d

crop260d by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop Galaxy S2

crop2s2 by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop iPhone 4S

crop2iphone by maum1, on Flickr


100% crop Canon 60d

crop360d by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop Galaxy S2

crop3s2 by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop iPhone 4S

crop3iphone by maum1, on Flickr


Canon 60d

foto360d by maum1, on Flickr

Galaxy S2

2011-12-17 12.19.01 by maum1, on Flickr

iPhone 4S

IMG_0646 by maum1, on Flickr


100% crop Canon 60d

crop460d by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop Galaxy S2

crop4s2 by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop iPhone 4S

crop4iphone by maum1, on Flickr

to be continued..
 
100% crop Canon 60d

crop560d by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop Galaxy S2

crop5s2 by maum1, on Flickr

100% crop iPhone 4S

crop5iphone by maum1, on Flickr


Canon 60d

foto4 by maum1, on Flickr

Galaxy S2

galaxy s2 by maum1, on Flickr

iPhone 4S

iphone 4s by maum1, on Flickr


Canon 60d

crop560d by maum1, on Flickr

Galaxy S2

crop5s2 by maum1, on Flickr

iPhone 4S

crop5iphone by maum1, on Flickr


Canon 60d

canon 60d by maum1, on Flickr

Galaxy S2

2011-12-17 12.27.33 by maum1, on Flickr

iPhone 4S

iphone by maum1, on Flickr
 
I can hardly believe it but looks like the SG2 is better than the Canon AND the iPhone!:eek:
 
Your eyes must be on backwards. I think the iPhone 4S is the closer match to the cannon.
 
Ok, this is just a home made comparison and I don't want to start another iphone vs. galaxy thread, so I'll just give my opinion from personal experience.

Both phones have great cameras and I since I don't carry the 60d around all the time (not exactly portable) I've used them quite a lot.

You can notice that the pictures don't look exactly the same, and that's because the iPhone 4s camera doesn't have the same focal length as the s2. It's probably 35mm for the IP and 28mm for the S2. This can either be a good or a bad thing.. for landscapes the extra space is good, but for people the 35mm will look better.

Personally I'm liking the 4s better and here's why:

- Color saturation: The galaxy seems to over saturate all the greens and blues, something similar to landscape mode that is available in many cameras. Some people enjoy the bright colors, but personally I think it just makes it clear that the picture was taken with a phone. The iphone 4 did this as well but the 4s handles colors much better.

- Dynamic Range: In really difficult situations with a lot of contrast both phones struggle to take good pictures, but the HDR mode in the iphone can really save some pictures.

- Low light: As you probably noticed in the Santa picture, the iphone does a much better job taking pictures in low light. Not that you'd want to print it, but for facebook it's good enough.
In this specific picture the galaxy looks really bad.. usually the difference between them would not be that big but the washed out colors are always there.

Hope you enjoyed it!
 
I would also agree that the iPhone photos look to be the better of the phone captures in the majority of cases. As mentioned better saturation, better dynamic range, and I think it generally resolved detail better. That actually surprised me, as I thought the opposite might be true. I don't think either are really on par with the 60D when viewing at 100%, but for a small sensor camera that you always have with you, it does a nice job.
 
With the exception of the close up santa shot, both phone cameras seem to be very close to the canon, especially when considering they are PHONES! The iPhone seem the clear winner in lower light situations, too.
 
Yeh their both excellent for phone cameras', especially if your out and about snapping pics or for facebook or even a vacation etc. But if your one of the ones that's totally into the fine details of a picture or like to zoom and crop, neither are a replacement for a good camera.
 
I would agree with the OP that both smart phones took very good photos, and that they are very close to each other. I liked the way the iPhone handled the color more than I did the Galaxy and will give the iPhone the edge. The big edge is as the OP mentioned the iPhone's ability to handle low light situations.
 
Interesting comparisons. The iPhone not only did better in low light as others mentioned, but on the close-up photos it captured much more detail that the S2. It's especially noticeable in the lose-up of the pink flowers. Not that the S2 did poorly...they're both good considering that they're phones.
 
in broad outdoor daylight most cameras will perform at optimal levels and look very similar. However, it is in the low light picture of the Santa where we saw the difference in quality.

The canon was shot at ISO 3200 and the iPhone at ISO 800. The higher the ISO the more noise. Even at 3200 the canon noise was kept at minimum while the iPhone struggling even at ISO 800.

Still, the iPhone is an amazing camera that can easily replace point-n-shoot cameras for light day to day use. Beats carrying around a 1lb dSLR camera + lens everywhere ^_^
 
You should try some night shots. Try a moon lit park or whatnot.

You'll find the LED light useless and the iPhone camera sensor a POS.
 
Thanks for the comparison, but something isn't quite right with the 60D pics. Part of the appearance concern here is likely due to you shooting an posting Adobe RGB (1998) vs sRGB to the web. Adobe RGB (1998) will result in flat images with no-pop and should be reserved for printing at home or through a lab that will accept that profile, not for web use. The other concern is sharpness. Turn IS off on that lens if you're using a tripod. The images aren't sharp like they should be for that lens.

Just my very quick observations.
 
Last edited:
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