iPad Camera

[Macdude2010]

I have been thinking about something today and wanted to get other peoples opinions on it:

If Apple is using the same optics in the new iPad as they are in the 4S, but using a 5MP sensor vs an 8MP one, wouldn't that allow more light to enter the pixels then they would using 4S, translating into better lighting (and maybe picture quality)? What does everyone else think about that?

 

[drb1992]

I know MP isn't everything, but your saying 5MP is better than 8MP...wait what?

 

[sekazi]

I know MP isn't everything, but your saying 5MP is better than 8MP...wait what?

The more light that makes it to the sensor the better the image quality.

You know all of those cheap 10MP cameras out there that have a picture quality of a VGA camera? Those have poor sensors that cannot capture light properly. MP means nothing if you cannot capture the light.

 

[drb1992]

The more light that makes it to the sensor the better the image quality.

You know all of those cheap 10MP cameras out there that have a picture quality of a VGA camera? Those have poor sensors that cannot capture light properly. MP means nothing if you cannot capture the light.

I don't know much about cameras, but if im not mistaken, its the optics that brings the light to the sensor. The new iPad and 4S have the same optics, so the better sensor on the 4S should make pictures taken with the 4S better than the new iPad.

 

[fullmanfullninj]

I know MP isn't everything, but your saying 5MP is better than 8MP...wait what?

The more light that makes it to the sensor the better the image quality.

You know all of those cheap 10MP cameras out there that have a picture quality of a VGA camera? Those have poor sensors that cannot capture light properly. MP means nothing if you cannot capture the light.

Exactly correct. I dunno if you've heard, but Nokia showed off a 41mp phone recently. It's impressive and it certainly has better guts than most phones do (in terms of camera), but it still won't outdo an 18.1 MP Canon EOS 1dx or a 22.3 MP 5d mkiii. It's all about the sensor.

 

[sekazi]

I don't know much about cameras, but if im not mistaken, its the optics that brings the light to the sensor. The new iPad and 4S have the same optics, so the better sensor on the 4S should make pictures taken with the 4S better than the new iPad.

By using the same optics they would have to increase the size of the sensor to fit. So it will have larger pixels which in turn capture more light resulting in a better image.

 

[Macdude2010]

By using the same optics they would have to increase the size of the sensor to fit. So it will have larger pixels which in turn capture more light resulting in a better image.

that is what i was saying, so my theory was correct?

 

[Stetrain]

I know MP isn't everything, but your saying 5MP is better than 8MP...wait what?

If the sensor is the same physical size and otherwise the same, yes.

 

[Macdude2010]

If the sensor is the same physical size and otherwise the same, yes.

ill be sure to compare my 4S camera to my New iPad when i get it on friday, it would be nice to see if my theory pans out, my neighbor is a professional photographer and we were talking today, he says megapixels mean nothing unless you are going to resize it to a giant dimension (normally he doesn't use more then 2MP unless resizing), so if the sensor is the same size, the new iPad's camera should be better

 

[Stetrain]

ill be sure to compare my 4S camera to my New iPad when i get it on friday, it would be nice to see if my theory pans out, my neighbor is a professional photographer and we were talking today, he says megapixels mean nothing unless you are going to resize it to a giant dimension (normally he doesn't use more then 2MP unless resizing), so if the sensor is the same size, the new iPad's camera should be better

Another possibility is that it's basically the same as the 8MP sensor in the 4S but cropped down, with the same sensor 'PPI' basically but fewer 'pixels'.

 

[Macdude2010]

Another possibility is that it's basically the same as the 8MP sensor in the 4S but cropped down, with the same sensor 'PPI' basically but fewer 'pixels'.

hoping this isn't the case, anyways, ill test it when i get my new iPad

 

[macbook123]

You're over-simplifying things, OP. The most important variable, assuming the optics is the same, is the physical size of the sensor. The more pixels, the more noise per pixel. Assuming the same sensor size, in a high-light situation the iPhone 4S sensor is preferable, because it has higher resolution, IF you look at your pictures in enough detail (i.e. print a large format, or zoom in on your display to see details). In a low-light situation, each of the iPhone 4S pixels will be noisier, however pixels can be grouped together (averaging out the noise) so that a down-graded 4S picture should still be pretty much as good as a iPad 3 picture at 5 Megapixel resolution. There are limits to this for ultra-high resolution sensors since the down-gridding is never perfect and pixels have boundaries, etc.