Among all of the rumors with the next iPhone coming out this fall (lets not get into the name or date), I'm very concerned that the camera will be step backwards. For a camera phone, the iPhone 4 is pretty decent. If the sensor size remains about the same in the next camera and they up it to 8MP, the low light noise level will probably increase. I'm either hoping they keep it the same or have some magic pixie dust to keep the noise down on small sensor while bumping the MP's.
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iPhone 4s or 5 camera a step backwards?
- Thread starter bobt
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I'm sure Apple won't use an 8mp camera just because it has three more megapixels.
Most consumers don't even know what a megapixel is or why they want it.
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Yet all many consumers care about is the megapixels. And than they complain when their 12 megapixel camera is rubbish.
res1233 said:I'm sure Apple won't use an 8mp camera just because it has three more megapixels.
Most consumers don't even know what a megapixel is or why they want it.
Yet all many consumers care about is the megapixels. And than they complain when their 12 megapixel camera is rubbish.
It's because the market has made people think megapixels are all that matters when in reality there are other factors too.
As for the original question; I hope that the camera doesn't take a step back. The iPhone 4 camera is one of my favourite parts of the device.
It's because the 12 Megapixels is always the largest text on the camera/camera packaging. Next to maybe the logo.
Camera developers think they can fool the average consumer into thinking it's better quality, when in reality megapixels only deal with image size.
Camera developers think they can fool the average consumer into thinking it's better quality, when in reality megapixels only deal with image size.
My concern is Apple will let the market department win and go for a higher megapixel count because too many consumers think that is how you judge the quality of digital camera. Only time will tell but hopefully the next one will be truly a better camera or at least on par with the iPhone 4.
There is zero reason for a phone to have a 8mp camera. Most people don't even use a 5mp picture to its fullest extent, a 8mp would be a total waste of technology and space.
Ask anyone around you and 99.9% of people don't know how large a 5mp picture is at its normal resolution (it's huge by the way).
From what's been presented by Jobs I don't think their marketing department "wins" anything. Jobs has the final say and he won't do anything he doesn't want to.
I'd disagree. I think you are highly underestimating "most consumers" that it's almost rude. Most people just run after something that has more megapixels but wonder why their 14.1 MP Kodak still take photos like garbage. Give them the option between a 8MP camera with a big sensor for $300 and a 14.1MP camera for $300 ... they'll get the 14.1MP one.
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Because many think more = better.
macingman said:Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A5288d Safari/7534.48.3)
res1233 said:I'm sure Apple won't use an 8mp camera just because it has three more megapixels.
Most consumers don't even know what a megapixel is or why they want it.
Yet all many consumers care about is the megapixels. And than they complain when their 12 megapixel camera is rubbish.
Because many think more = better.
Larger pixel density usually results in increased noise, but not always. Take the iPad camera for example - it absolutely blows in comparison with even the original iPhone, let alone the iPhone 4, even though the iPad's sensor is so low res that it cannot possibly be as dense as any of the iPhone cameras. Similarly, the Canon EOS 7D has by far the best performance of any APS-C camera despite having 3+MP more than its predecessors.
Apple will not put an inferior camera in the iPhone. They know people give apple products so much scrutiny that if the camera ends up performing worse in any way, itll be all over the blogosphere. I suspect the low noise performance will be improved, and apple may put in a lense that allows more light in to further improve the low light performance. With rumors of a Carl Zeis lens, I'm thinking the iPhone 5 camera may be able to replace discreet point and shoots. (honestly, if iPhone 4 had optical zoom, even it would've been good enough)
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Because many think more = better.
Exactly.... Things more consumers don't really understand but go crazy for:
3D
Megapixels
HD
3/4G
broadband speed
HDD capacity
Come on guys! This is Apple we're talking about, not HTC or RIM. The next phone will be better than the current one. That's the apple way. There's no way SJ is going to stand up on stage and present the new iPhone with it's worse image quality but higher mp count.
+1. Most sales people don't even know what a megapixel is though, or what it means for a potential consumer.
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...which is why it ticks me off when a sales rep says something like "but oh, these Android phones have WAY better cameras. Just look how many more megapixels they have!"
djdover said:
...which is why it ticks me off when a sales rep says something like "but oh, these Android phones have WAY better cameras. Just look how many more megapixels they have!"
I hope you (and the other posters that agree with you) are right about that. I want the camera to be even better than the already great iPhone 4 camera.
The obsession with 3D technology and 4G tech bother me the most. 3D in the state it's being used right now just plain sucks. It's more of a gimmick. Same with supposed 4G. So what if "4G" makes your Facebook page open half a second faster? Most people don't need that when 3G is plenty fast enough for now. Maybe when "4G" technology actually becomes fast enough to matter then we'll talk.
Anybody else see the incongruity there?
Apple has proven time and again that they are not above screwing up.
They just have the PR clout to sweep it under the rug a lot better than others.
Until they increase the size of the CCD, increasing the number of MP is pretty worthless but like others have said, the average consumer will take a 8MP phone over a 5MP in a heartbeat without ever knowing why they should or shouldn't want it.