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Is the 4S camera really that good?

NewAnger said:
All of this. I have a Sony digital camera that I bought in 2001 with a Carl Zeiss lens and is 3.2MP that blows the iPhones camera away. For everyday picture taking though, the 4S camera is excellent.
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Yup.

Megapixels aren't everything. In fact, much above 3 megapixels doesn't really matter for most people - only if you're doing high end photo work and need massive images to scale up for posters, etc.

I had a 10 megapixel camera years ago - but it was unfortunately crap. It had similar limitations to the 4s camera, only much more so. It had horribly slow shutter speed, and photos often speckled badly due to the ISO required. Because the lens was far too small to get adequate light to the high resolution sensor. But "10 megapixels" looks good on the box, right?

Its all in the lens, and having a suitably matched sensor.

And there is no way a phone camera is EVER going to compete with a professional camera on that front, there simply is not enough space for a comparable lens.

You can see the limitations on the iphone camera in low light quite clearly. Without using the flash (which is crap and will just reflect off things and wash them out anyway), you'll see the images start to get speckled due to ISO noise and the shutter speed will slow way down and you'll find it hard to get a non-blurry shot without being very still. A proper camera can capture a lot more light and will be able to shoot in much darker lighting before things get as bad.


But again. Phone camera - limited cost and limited space. Considering the restrictions apple did an awesome job on it.


And of course, the best camera is the one you have with you. It doesn't matter how good your $x,000 camera is if it is sitting in its bag at home, does it? :D
 
throAU said:
Yup.

Megapixels aren't everything. In fact, much above 3 megapixels doesn't really matter for most people - only if you're doing high end photo work and need massive images to scale up for posters, etc.

I had a 10 megapixel camera years ago - but it was unfortunately crap. It had similar limitations to the 4s camera, only much more so. It had horribly slow shutter speed, and photos often speckled badly due to the ISO required. Because the lens was far too small to get adequate light to the high resolution sensor. But "10 megapixels" looks good on the box, right?

Its all in the lens, and having a suitably matched sensor.

And there is no way a phone camera is EVER going to compete with a professional camera on that front, there simply is not enough space for a comparable lens.

You can see the limitations on the iphone camera in low light quite clearly. Without using the flash (which is crap and will just reflect off things and wash them out anyway), you'll see the images start to get speckled due to ISO noise and the shutter speed will slow way down and you'll find it hard to get a non-blurry shot without being very still. A proper camera can capture a lot more light and will be able to shoot in much darker lighting before things get as bad.


But again. Phone camera - limited cost and limited space. Considering the restrictions apple did an awesome job on it.


And of course, the best camera is the one you have with you. It doesn't matter how good your $x,000 camera is if it is sitting in its bag at home, does it? :D
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Excellent post, thanks!
 
My new Iphone 4S taken picture with flash will over exposure my pictures... My old iphone 4 did not have this problem! I have tested many time and still all the pictures with flash is not acceptable!
 
After having two HTC's phones and now an 4S, I am sure it is safe to say the camera is really good. My friend has an iPhone 4, and while the photos are good, the photos on the 4S are excellent.

But just remember, people can edit their photos before posting on Instagram, I mean there are apps such as 'Snapspeed' which can edit the photo, and if you do it correctly it actually looks like it hasn't even been edited (it is that good.)
 
I think the camera in the 4S is better than most mobile phones, but it is no substitute for a proper camera. Photography is all about light, and then lens and the sensor on any mobile phone is going to be so small that it will be a struggle to take decent photographs in anything but the best light (in which case, even a pinhole camera would do).

LOL - I used to think the 4S camera was cr*p until I realized that the external part of the lens fogs up when I take it out of my pocket.
 
Minhthien said:
My new Iphone 4S taken picture with flash will over exposure my pictures... My old iphone 4 did not have this problem! I have tested many time and still all the pictures with flash is not acceptable!
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See, my iPhone 4 does this. Just washes out everything unless its extremely close. And then everything is too bright. But my wife's 4S works perfectly. So I don't think its the type of phone, but more so that exact phone itself.
 
I've been using my 4S on holiday for the past 3 weeks and it really is capable of some amazing shots. It can't quite match the quality of a dedicated point and shoot (let alone DSLR....), but with decent lighting it's very good.
 
In bright conditions, I have no real complaints about my 4's camera. I remember a family shot I took by a lake, and it was such good quality that my fam blew it up to canvas size, it was superb.

In low light/distance, it is ok but embarrassing compared to the Galaxy S3. But as I said, I'm on a 4, not a 4S.

Regardless, hopefully the iPhone 5 can catch up to Samsung, especially in terms of speed.
 
JesalTV said:
In bright conditions, I have no real complaints about my 4's camera. I remember a family shot I took by a lake, and it was such good quality that my fam blew it up to canvas size, it was superb.

In low light/distance, it is ok but embarrassing compared to the Galaxy S3. But as I said, I'm on a 4, not a 4S.

Regardless, hopefully the iPhone 5 can catch up to Samsung, especially in terms of speed.
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I don't know what you guys are doing. But I own an S3 and still think the iPhone 4S is a better cell phone camera. I think the HTC One X has the best cell phone camera on the market today. (I know Nokia's got some crazy 41MP camera phone but let's get real here). If it ain't running Android/iOS or even Windows Phone OS, it doesn't have mass appeal.
 
4S has a brilliant camera, a bit of manipulation in Adobe Lightroom helps.

IMG_1686-1.jpg




IMG_1682.jpg


IMG_1681.jpg
 
^Those pictures look awesome!

For a camera phone, I am constantly, mind-numbingly blown away about how good it is. I was at a motorcycle event over the weekend, and shot a lot of video. Watched it at home on my 46" Panasonic and scratched my head again, how did I just get this great HD footage from my phone. Not professional, but 10x better than what a dedicated $800 mini dv camera did not that many years ago.

In good light, the thing takes stunning pictures. Maybe it will never get "Pro" quality, but for consumer pics, I don't even bother with a stand alone digital camera any more. Here's an interesting story of professional journalist who used nothing but an iPhone for photos.
 
Pretty good indeed. Lack of control will always make it a poor substitute for a dedicated camera (for me anyway) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of good results.
 
throAU said:
The 4s camera is good but it isn't a DSLR replacement.

It does particularly poorly (compared to a decent camera) in low light, as the lens simply can't capture as much light.

But for a cell phone camera, it is pretty awesome.
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Actually the lens capture a fair amount of light (f2.4). It's pretty good.
It's the sensor that, being very small, can't capture a lot of light
 
Coldsnow said:
Ok here I go again. Hahaha. If your deciding between the S III and the iPhone 5 get the S3.
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no one has any idea what the next gen iPhone will have. So how are you recommending the S3 over a phone that hasn't even been announced yet....also even if going by leaks there have been zero camera upgrade leaks.....

yes 4S camera is a huge upgrade over 4.
 
the 4S camera, in my opinion, is the best you will find on any phone. Add to that the mind boggling number of great apps that can make a regular photo really shine without any knowledge of photography at all and you have a good chance of taking some great pictures. It takes better pictures than my cannon point and shoot that is only a year old.

However, my best advise it to stay off instagram.
 
I owned the S III for a couple weeks and my iPhone 4S definitely takes better pictures, and I don't need to take multiple photos to get the one that I want.
 
CrAkD said:
no one has any idea what the next gen iPhone will have. So how are you recommending the S3 over a phone that hasn't even been announced yet....also even if going by leaks there have been zero camera upgrade leaks.....

yes 4S camera is a huge upgrade over 4.
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I agree!!
 
b166er said:
the 4S camera, in my opinion, is the best you will find on any phone. Add to that the mind boggling number of great apps that can make a regular photo really shine without any knowledge of photography at all and you have a good chance of taking some great pictures. It takes better pictures than my cannon point and shoot that is only a year old.

However, my best advise it to stay off instagram.
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What's wrong with instagram? :confused:
Do you not like it because pictures posted there have been manipulated or maybe privacy reason?
 
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