iPhone 4's Camera Capabilities Evaluated

[MacRumors]

At the iPhone 4's introduction at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple made significant mention of the device's capabilities, noting that while the device carries only 5 megapixels in comparison to the 8-megapixel cameras that are becoming standard on the latest smartphones, the new iPhone offers a great deal beyond simple pixel count that contributes to superior performance.

With iPhone 4 now on the market, and samples of Motorola's new Droid X, introduced on Wednesday, coming available, objective camera tests for both still and video imaging have become possible using the latest devices.

Macworld performed a series of tests comparing iPhone 4 with its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS, as well as the Droid X, HTC EVO 4G, Samsung Galaxy and HZ35W, as well as basic Samsung and Sony point-and-shoot cameras. For video tests, the publication also threw in the Flip Video M2120. A series of images and videos was taken with the devices, and a blind evaluation of their quality was performed.

Macworld's camera quality rankings
In still image testing, the two point-and-shoot took top honors, with Apple's iPhone 4 right behind, leading the pack of smartphones, supporting Apple's claim that pure megapixel count is not a sufficient measure of image quality.

The iPhone 4 had, by a healthy margin, the best exposure and color scores of the entire bunch, beating out even the point-and-shoot cameras. It did run into trouble in the sharpness and distortion categories, performing much lower than the pocket cameras and similarly to the Droid.

For video quality, iPhone 4 topped all other smartphones, as well as the point-and-shoot camera, losing out only to the dedicated Flip Video camera.

While its image quality was impressive, it was the iPhone 4's video capabilities that really stole the show in our lab tests. Of the eight devices we rated for video, only the Flip Video M2120 scored higher. The Flip, which also records 720p, 30fps video, had just slightly better video quality than the iPhone 4, even in low-light.

Audio was a bit less impressive on iPhone 4, only matching the Droid X while the Samsung Galaxy took the top spot for smartphones behind the Flip camera.

Boy Genius Report has also performed a comparison of iPhone 4's HD video capabilities to those of Droid X, which both shoot in 720p. The report awarded top honors to Apple's iPhone 4, in part due to its superior framerate of 30 fps versus 24 fps for the Droid X.

iPhone 4's use of the H.264 format also allowed it to achieve the better performance with file sizes less than half that of Droid X. Despite iPhone 4's overall victory, however, the study found that Droid X beat out iPhone 4 in both color accuracy and audio quality, somewhat disagreeing with Macworld's assessment on those aspects.

Article Link: iPhone 4's Camera Capabilities Evaluated

 

[TheOrioles33]

I'm very impressed so far with the quality of my images taken with the iPhone 4. Especially in low light.

 

[0098386]

That's pretty useful to hear. I'd consider getting a Droid X after this report and the recent iPhone 4 problems (a manufacturing problem that the CEO turns down as "a non-issue" doesn't ring well with me).

 

[amusiccale]

Regardless of the quality, I'm just glad that basic optics and image quality for once took precedent over a megapixel numbers war...

 

[ouimetnick]

I'm still impressed with my 3GS's camera. Can't wait to use an iPhone 4 tonight.

 

[amac4me]

I'm very impressed so far with the quality of my images taken with the iPhone 4. Especially in low light.

I agree. Got my phone yesterday and haven't been able to put it down. Ran a number of video tests (different situations and lighting conditions) and the results are indeed impressive.

Overall, I'm more than happy with the video quality.

 

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

I've really been impressed with the quality of the pictures and video from the iPhone 4. For essentially an all-in-one device that goes everywhere with you it does a good job. I'm not getting rid of my DSLR anytime soon though.

 

[bbplayer5]

Color me impressed.... wow!

 

[XciteMe]

Looking at the 720p recordings, the iPhone 4's video is MUCH smoother, and the color isn't oversaturated.

 

[marksman]

Poor EVO owners.

 

[FFArchitect]

Agreed. Both photos and video capabilities are extremely impressive.

Given the convenience of having this much power in your pocket all the time, we think this may truly signal the beginning of the end for low-end consumer camcorders.

 

[splashnader]

Wasn't this the one area where all the pundits on the Internet were claiming that Andriod phones, like the EVO, really put the iphone 4 to shame. I mean I think one reviewer even said that Apple should be ashamed that they were using only a 5 MP camera while other phones, like the EVO, were using 8 MP.

Looks like MP aren't the end all be all.

 

[SPUY767]

Watching the second video, it's quite obvious that the 4G has a much better lens. The iPhone can focus on the Droid in the picture, but the Droid is unable to focus clearly on the iPhone.

 

[bruinselmann]

Does anyone know why the YouTube videos embedded in this article aren't watchable on an iPad ?

Is it a problem with the way the videos are embedded, or is the video material simply not available (yet ?) in an MPEG4 compatible format ?

 

[xfiftyfour]

Man those direct comparisons definitely show the weaknesses/strengths of each phone. I gotta say, compared to the Droid I'm a little disappointed with the color/contrast of the iPhone and its audio.. could be personal prefs (saturated vs. truer and whatnot), but just IMO. The blacks in the second vid are definitely poorer for the iPhone than the Droid though.

 

[locust76]

Poor EVO owners.

Yes... how do those poor people go on about their lives, knowing that the iPhone records 6 more frames per second than their phones?

I bet we will see a string of suicides in the next weeks, with each victim clutching their EVOs with a note explaining how they couldn't live any longer knowing that more megapixels doesn't automatically make a better image.

 

[locust76]

Does anyone know why the YouTube videos embedded in this article aren't watchable on an iPad ?

Is it a problem with the way the videos are embedded, or is the video material simply not available (yet ?) in an MPEG4 compatible format ?

It could be that they're not done converting to all formats yet.

 

[smoked]

I shot and edited a video using iMovie last night.

Transferred to my AppleTV and watched on the HDTV.

Very impressed with image quality and most importantly the ease of it all.


Just wish the Atv and MobileMe had better support if the video!

 

[MrZebra]

I'm still impressed with my 3GS's camera.

Yeah me too, nice to see the older model still in comparison with the newest hardware.

 

[aaronsullivan]

I am so impressed that no one took that bait earlier in the thread!

This info is really encouraging, but it's driving me a bit nuts that we didn't pick up an iPhone 4 before a trip we are going on next week.

Last chance is AT&T on the 29th, the day we leave.

 

[BornAgainMac]

If only quality could be measured as a number. The rating could be A thru F or a number from 1 to 100 plus the year the rating was established.

 

[rickdollar]

I've noticed that the iPhone 4 tends to overexpose a bit. It would be nice to have a slider, like the digital zoom, to adjust the exposure.

 

[till]

Looking at the 720p recordings, the iPhone 4's video is MUCH smoother, and the color isn't oversaturated.

Yeah, the green colors on the Droid X video outside are ridiculous. I've been consistently disappointed by the photo quality on my plain old Motorola Milestone (aka GSM version of Droid), despite the 5MP camera and dual LED flash.

There are plenty of Android devices that have hi-res screens (mine is 265 ppi), which look fantastic next to older iPhone models. Plenty that have good mics and do noise-cancelling. But the camera hardware is at least a generation behind. It's strange...there's nothing preventing manufacturers from making a really high-end Android phone for that market, unlike Apple who wants to sell the same model to everyone.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Does anyone know why the YouTube videos embedded in this article aren't watchable on an iPad ?

Is it a problem with the way the videos are embedded, or is the video material simply not available (yet ?) in an MPEG4 compatible format ?

YouTube takes time to encode the videos in different formats. Flash version is always done first.

Man those direct comparisons definitely show the weaknesses/strengths of each phone. I gotta say, compared to the Droid I'm a little disappointed with the color/contrast of the iPhone and its audio.

The contrast is artificial in the Droid. I doubt that's what you would see in real life. You can always fix the video's color/contrast in a video editor. Or maybe there's an app for that!

That's pretty useful to hear. I'd consider getting a Droid X after this report and the recent iPhone 4 problems (a manufacturing problem that the CEO turns down as "a non-issue" doesn't ring well with me).

It is a non issue. Other phones have this "phenomenon" as well. It's not a manufacturing problem but an engineering one. I read this thread last night with some EE major explaining the way antennas work and how skin contact affects the impedance or whatever. I'm only a 16 year old so you can be the judge of the validity of that thread.

Link: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/949326/

 

[aaronsullivan]

Man those direct comparisons definitely show the weaknesses/strengths of each phone. I gotta say, compared to the Droid I'm a little disappointed with the color/contrast of the iPhone and its audio.. could be personal prefs (saturated vs. truer and whatnot), but just IMO. The blacks in the second vid are definitely poorer for the iPhone than the Droid though.

The droid stuff looks hyper saturated to me, especially outdoors. I do agree the indoor stuff looks a little washed out, but it's obvious which video you'd rather have in that particular case! Plus, you can always add deeper blacks in post. Can't go the other way.