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Disappointed in 6+ camera

H

hausjam

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 8, 2011
51
13
Granted, I am a lousy photographer. However, hype has led me to believe the 6+ has a completely automatic, idiot-proof camera that takes phenomenal pictures in all conditions. Well it doesn't for me. Like all my other recent phones (iphone5s, one plus one, Xperia z ultra, moto x, Galaxy s4, lumia 1520) it takes great photos in well lit environments. In low light conditions, the photos are grainy, lots of noise, motion blur, etc. flash won't come on at all in auto. Have to set it on manually. Then, most photos are way too bright. Overexposed? Whatever they call it. Truth be told, my lumia 1520 took much better photos than this 6+.

I like this phone otherwise. I am just tired of all phone manufacturers hyping the new cameras and making me think, just maybe, this one will take good photos for me.
 
hausjam said:
Granted, I am a lousy photographer. However, hype has led me to believe the 6+ has a completely automatic, idiot-proof camera that takes phenomenal pictures in all conditions. Well it doesn't for me. Like all my other recent phones (iphone5s, one plus one, Xperia z ultra, moto x, Galaxy s4, lumia 1520) it takes great photos in well lit environments. In low light conditions, the photos are grainy, lots of noise, motion blur, etc. flash won't come on at all in auto. Have to set it on manually. Then, most photos are way too bright. Overexposed? Whatever they call it. Truth be told, my lumia 1520 took much better photos than this 6+.

I like this phone otherwise. I am just tired of all phone manufacturers hyping the new cameras and making me think, just maybe, this one will take good photos for me.
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leave it on auto everything it does a good job in most situations.

granted, you cant take a shot in complete darkness and expect good results.
 
I wasn't expecting great photos. It was a restaurant with, I suppose, romantic lighting. I was just expecting to get some decent pictures I could use/keep. Almost all of them were blurry, grainy, or washed out.
 
hausjam said:
Granted, I am a lousy photographer. However, hype has led me to believe the 6+ has a completely automatic, idiot-proof camera that takes phenomenal pictures in all conditions. Well it doesn't for me...
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Cameras don't take bad pictures, people do. There's no camera made, no matter how much money you spend, that can compensate for a "lousy photographer" (as you described yourself). Without a basic understanding of the principles of exposure, composition and light, even the best camera in the world is going to turn out nothing but third-rate snapshots at best.

This is the flip side of the "compliment" most photographers hate - "You take great pictures, you must have a really nice camera". People say it innocently enough without realizing the implied insult - that all your study and practice isn't what makes your photos good, it's just a "good camera".

With that said, I don't think the 6+ has a spectacularly great camera, but I don't think it's spectacularly bad either. I think if you understand how it works, understand basic principles of photography and recognize its limitations, you can take photos which are more than good enough for the vast majority of non-professionals (pixel peepers not included). Look through the iPhone 6 / 6+ photos thread - there are some good photos in there (including some in low light), along with some craptacular snapshots.
 
No matter the marvel that Apple marketing makes out the camera in each new iPhone iteration, there are no controls to conveniently set parameters that effectively wrest control from the camera to that of the photographer. You essentially get your JPEG, warts and all, and are given a few paltry adjustments to make after the fact, to your image qualitie's ultimate detriment.
 
You're not alone, OP. I'm a professional photographer and I feel that the 5S took better photos than the 6.

It's not that the camera specs got worse, but rather that Apple aggressively tweaked that photo-processing chip they built in to avoid ISO noise at all costs.

And, unfortunately, "at all costs" is usually a phrase that gets you in trouble, in my experience.

There are 3rd party camera apps that do slightly better (I'm liking 645 Pro at the moment) but none of them really solve the issue completely. The problem is built in to the camera's electronics itself.
 
hausjam said:
I wasn't expecting great photos. It was a restaurant with, I suppose, romantic lighting. I was just expecting to get some decent pictures I could use/keep. Almost all of them were blurry, grainy, or washed out.
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Its you, i can take incredible low light shots and make them come out great with HDR/ and even some post processing and adjusting exposure accordingly

6+ defitnetly takes better photos then the 1520
 
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Small White Car said:
You're not alone, OP. I'm a professional photographer and I feel that the 5S took better photos than the 6.

It's not that the camera specs got worse, but rather that Apple aggressively tweaked that photo-processing chip they built in to avoid ISO noise at all costs.

And, unfortunately, "at all costs" is usually a phrase that gets you in trouble, in my experience.

There are 3rd party camera apps that do slightly better (I'm liking 645 Pro at the moment) but none of them really solve the issue completely. The problem is built in to the camera's electronics itself.
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You are right. My iPhone 5S, which I gave to my wife, and she is now using, took better pictures at that restaurant than my 6+ did.


rockitdog said:
HDR Mode is your friend!
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I leave it on HDR auto. Should it be HDR on?
 
Wow. My 6+ takes spectacular pictures. Much better than my old 5S did. Most people comment on how clear and natural the photos look. I just point and shoot with little or no adjustments.
 
Attached are areas I cropped out of some of my photos. Tell me what I am doing wrong.
 

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Bahroo said:
slight movement while taking photo, didn't use HDR, also lowlight shots too which wont come out crystal clear?
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I thought OIS was supposed to compensate for slight movements. And others said to leave everything auto. HDR is set on auto. And I am not asking for crystal clear. Just something that doesn't look like a mosaic filter was applied.
 
Part of the problem is what I believe to be the jpeg compression algorithm. It just sucks and makes pictures lose a lot of detail when zoomed. I felt like my 5S took better pictures to be honest. Maybe even my 4S
 
hausjam said:
I thought OIS was supposed to compensate for slight movements. And others said to leave everything auto. HDR is set on auto. And I am not asking for crystal clear. Just something that doesn't look like a mosaic filter was applied.
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it does but it isnt 100% perfect and even a still slight movement in your hand can throw off the photo a bit, OIS really just compensates for capturing more light in low light/helps with capturing light in low light by keeping the camera module a bit still but still requires a steady hand, and i dont keep my HDR on auto, i usually always use HDR in every photo i take and it keeps both the original and HDR copy and i compare and see which one came out better, i also use the built in post processing software in the Photos app which helps alot too
 
This is what I would do

Practice!

As you have read, it does take a bit of skills to take good photos. But don't let that discourage you. Because of instant feedback (not having to wait days for film to be developed), you can spend a bit of time practicing taking photo in different conditions from different angle on different subject and improve your skills dramatically.

Set aside 15 minutes and do it. Pick some colorful subjects like fruits and work on your composition, while pay attention to the direction of the light. Try the same at night under darker condition. You may learn enough in 15 minutes to keep yourself interested and continue with your learning. If you keep asking yourself "what can I do in that situation" you will continue to be a better photographer.

There are numerous books out there if you are that type of person. Me, I just want to experiment. That's how I develop my own style. There is the technical aspect of photography that help to know so you understand the constraint, then there is the artistic aspect.

A million monkeys typing for a million years won't produce a good novel. Photography is like that.
 
5S ftmfw.
OP is right. The algorithm on the 6 blows donkey. I was just at the Apple Store and zoomed in on a pic. Sux0rs.
 

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It's also possible - that you just have a lousy / defective camera in your phone.

I know - hard to accept - but Apple has, and will continue to, sell products that are defective. Quality controls be damned, they still will squeak by.

Maybe find a friends phone, and/or swing by the store, and do some comparision shots between the two devices.
 
Disappointed in 6+ camera

Bahroo said:
slight movement while taking photo, didn't use HDR, also lowlight shots too which wont come out crystal clear?
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The 6+ has OIS so slight movement should it not matter.
 
I'm still learning how to take good pics but I've been pretty impressed with the camera on my 6 plus.

Here's some low light shots I took

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d97ab622ef8f1f0c1f513a78972a3ac1.jpg


D5DB4A54-AA10-402F-8272-DF9A9A95E2B2.jpg


But at the end of the day it's only a phone.
 
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The reality is that iPhone to iPhone, there's virtually no real blow-me-away difference in picture quality.

At the end of the day the camera on a phone is still just a crappy phone camera to take passable photos.

I say that as someone who was once bigtime into photography and used to shoot a 40D and L series glass.
 
puma1552 said:
The reality is that iPhone to iPhone, there's virtually no real blow-me-away difference in picture quality.

At the end of the day the camera on a phone is still just a crappy phone camera to take passable photos.

I say that as someone who was once bigtime into photography and used to shoot a 40D and L series glass.
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I disagree. I think the camera is good enough to take memorable photos.

Think about it this way. How many times have you seen beautiful postcards and yet they didn't move you? Photography is not merely about technically great photos; It's about capturing the moment. A blurry photos of your great moment is better than a perfect photo of someone else's vacation. Often time the phone is the only camera you have, and if you capture that moment, then the phone camera is the best camera then.

There is so much you can do with the crop of current iPhone cameras. Just shoot and learn how to shoot better. But keep in mind that content is more important than technical excelence.
 
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