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iPhone 6 camera good enough or wait for 6S?

R

rvleurin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2013
10
1
Belgium
It's about time to retire my iPhone 4, so I was thinking about upgrading to the 6. My concern is that the 8MP camera seems like a little improvement over the 5MP camera in the 4. Yes the picture quality is impressive, but the pictures are still quite small. Do you think the 6S will have a camera with significant higher mp? I would like to use my next iphone for at least 3 years (I'm buying off contract) and chances are the iphone 6s is going to have a larger mp camera.

Some thought on waiting or buying?

#firstWorldProblems
 
I think the OIS will come to the standard iPhone 6s (being only part of the IP6+) I don't think there will be too much more improvements to the camera other then that. Just my guess though.

You may be better off waiting on another topic, nailing down the new design, apple will most likely tweak the internal design to strengthen the phone a bit more.

Slightly off topic, I wonder what they'll call the iPhone 6 plus? Will it be the iPhone 6s plus?
 
When the next model comes out, people are going to be saying the same thing... Is the camera good enough or wait for the iPhone 7... either get one now or you'll be waiting for next year's model for 10 years.
 
rvleurin said:
It's about time to retire my iPhone 4, so I was thinking about upgrading to the 6. My concern is that the 8MP camera seems like a little improvement over the 5MP camera in the 4. Yes the picture quality is impressive, but the pictures are still quite small. Do you think the 6S will have a camera with significant higher mp? I would like to use my next iphone for at least 3 years (I'm buying off contract) and chances are the iphone 6s is going to have a larger mp camera.

Some thought on waiting or buying?

#firstWorldProblems
Click to expand...

8 MP is not small? Unless you are printing, the picture quality will be fine. If you want to take good photo's buy a DSLR. The next iPhone will always have a better camera or other feature. You just have to decide if it's time for you to upgrade or not.
 
Will a Years worth of pictures wait around for you you take them with a better camera ?
 
To print an 8x10 picture 300ppi you need 7.2mp. Anything over 300ppi is overkill and would not get picked up by a human eye. Ask yourself...how often do you print 11x14 or larger...

----------

BTW the quality of the camera is incredible on the plus.
 
rvleurin said:
My concern is that the 8MP camera seems like a little improvement over the 5MP camera in the 4. Yes the picture quality is impressive, but the pictures are still quite small.
Click to expand...

Actually, you could've upgraded to the 4S and seen a huge difference in camera quality. The 4 camera is totally primitive compared to its successors.

The problem is that you're focusing on pixel count. Above 7 megapixels or so, it's less about the pixel count and more about sensor quality, of which the sensor has gotten better and better with each release.

Also, "just" three megapixels more doesn't sound impressive, but percentage wise it's actually a pretty big leap.

Do you think the 6S will have a camera with significant higher mp?
Click to expand...

Maybe, but it might come at the expense of sensor noise. I tink they're waiting for sensors to get less noisy before increasing resolution, which is a smart thing to do. Yeah, you can get a 20MP camera sensor, but it's of little use if the picture is grainy and noisy.

Some thought on waiting or buying?

#firstWorldProblems
Click to expand...

You WILL see a huge difference in quality if you upgrade now.

By the way, if you want to see the difference for yourself:
http://snapsnapsnap.photos/how-does-the-iphone-6-camera-compare-to-previous-iphone-cameras/
 
The upgrade from the 4 to the 6 camera will be huge. Don't wait.
 
rvleurin said:
It's about time to retire my iPhone 4, so I was thinking about upgrading to the 6. My concern is that the 8MP camera seems like a little improvement over the 5MP camera in the 4. Yes the picture quality is impressive, but the pictures are still quite small. Do you think the 6S will have a camera with significant higher mp? I would like to use my next iphone for at least 3 years (I'm buying off contract) and chances are the iphone 6s is going to have a larger mp camera.
Click to expand...
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but you should read up on the importance of "Megapixels" to photography. Getting 20MP on a crappy camera in no way indicates that you have superior photos to 8MP on an amazing camera.
 
sk1wbw said:
When the next model comes out, people are going to be saying the same thing... Is the camera good enough or wait for the iPhone 7... either get one now or you'll be waiting for next year's model for 10 years.
Click to expand...

Agreed. All of the reviews I've seen so far say that the cameras on the 6/6+ are very good. If you upgrade now, I'm sure you won't regret it.
 
maflynn said:
I think the OIS will come to the standard iPhone 6s (being only part of the IP6+) I don't think there will be too much more improvements to the camera other then that. Just my guess though.

You may be better off waiting on another topic, nailing down the new design, apple will most likely tweak the internal design to strengthen the phone a bit more.

Slightly off topic, I wonder what they'll call the iPhone 6 plus? Will it be the iPhone 6s plus?
Click to expand...

I know it's off topic, but ive thought about this too and I believe only iphone 6s plus makes sense as iPhone 6 Plus S makes no sense

Reason I believe this is... The 6 Plus is still the 6 in a "Plus" size which led to iphone 6 Plus. Whereas the next phone will be the iPhone 6s in a plus size leading to iPhone 6s Plus ... Only makes sense right?

Lol too much thinking already
 
iPhone pictures are so good partly because they haven't overinflated the pixel count for sensor size.

OP, how often do you print larger tha 8x10 or crop extensively?
 
If picture quality and megapixels are really that important to you, you should be buying a camera. MP is a numbers game that really doesn't mean a whole lot for most people - they think the higher the number the better the camera, which is completely untrue. Seems to me if you care about camera quality so much, you should be focusing on buying a good camera, not a phone with a "decent" camera.
 
The camera on the 6s has a noticeable improvement, rumors are saying that the front camera is a 5mp camera and the back camera is 12mp but I think that you should get the iPhone 6 as it is slimmer than the 6s (by 3mm). And it's also projected to be $50-100 cheaper than the 6s.
 
Lambert Kober said:
The camera on the 6s has a noticeable improvement, rumors are saying that the front camera is a 5mp camera and the back camera is 12mp but I think that you should get the iPhone 6 as it is slimmer than the 6s (by 3mm). And it's also projected to be $50-100 cheaper than the 6s.
Click to expand...

I'm sure OP appreciates your update after a year! ;)
 
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The iPhone 6S is supposed to have a 12 megapixel camera at least that's the rumor anyway. So if you rather have 12 megapixels like myself, I will be upgrading as well even though I already have a 6+.

And by the way people, having more megapixels does not necessarily mean that you have to print everything. Having more wiggle room in your sensor allows you to crop more and have a better picture to share. Nobody prints anything anymore, it's all online. It has been a long time since I've had any of my images printed from my professional digital SLR. I rather just look at them on the computer.
 
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Every model brings upgrades OP, the camera is one area iPhones are consistently excellent in, but the S models have brought some big(ger) camera features

- 3gs was a big improvement in 2009 over the 3g/original iPhone, and brought video recording
- 4s brought probably the largest camera leap from generation to generation...an incredible camera update all around
- 5s brought improved low-level-light pics so much that it still holds up to the 6 and other recent flagship android phones today

6s is reported to bring a big leap, but it remains to be seen.

Personally, I think the 6 camera is "good enough" and will hold up with flagship phones for years. But it depends, do you want the latest and best camera for another year? Or are you content with getting a 6 now and using that camera for the next year

I also think that since we are so close to the next iPhone reveal, it would not be worth getting the 6 just yet, if you're signing a 2 year contract. Wait to see if the 6s suits your needs in another month - and if not, then you can get a 6 on contract then, and it will be cheaper than right now (unless you can find a good deal right now).

The 4S camera is still very, very solid to this day so I'm sure the 6 camera will still be great years from now.

edit - OP check out this link, its a nice comparison of every iPhone camera
http://snapsnapsnap.photos/how-does-the-iphone-6-camera-compare-to-previous-iphone-cameras/
 
rvleurin said:
It's about time to retire my iPhone 4, so I was thinking about upgrading to the 6. My concern is that the 8MP camera seems like a little improvement over the 5MP camera in the 4. Yes the picture quality is impressive, but the pictures are still quite small. Do you think the 6S will have a camera with significant higher mp? I would like to use my next iphone for at least 3 years (I'm buying off contract) and chances are the iphone 6s is going to have a larger mp camera.

Some thought on waiting or buying?

#firstWorldProblems
Click to expand...

You are so close to the "S" models dropping, ask your iPhone 4 if it could hold on just a little longer! If you are wanting a better camera, I hear the new iPhone will please you from the rumors!
 
Guys it's been almost an entire year since OP started this thread, and he/she already said they ordered the 6 11 months ago. Stop commenting lol
 
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