Mobile Photographers: Is the 6 camera worth an upgrade from my 5C?

[shifomu]

It'll still be an imperfect test--iPhone 5 versus iPhone 6, which means different cameras. Isn't the 6 camera basically the same as the 5s according to the teardowns? Unfortunately, I don't have a 5s to try.

Noticed out something else last night though in informal testing; the 6 seems to blow out highlights when set to the same ISO/shutter speed as the 5 that's still on 7.1.2. Since being able to do most manual adjustments came with iOS 8, I used Pure Shot on both cams, let the 5/7.1.2 pick it's own settings, then matched those in full manual mode on the 6. Result was the 6 image was noticeably brighter overall, all whites in the image blown out. And yes, the Monet effect didn't seem present on the 5, though it was a low light ISO 800 crappy handheld shot. Plenty of noise, of course, but details were present and less smoothed.

Need to wait for a dry day, since I'll do this outside during daylight. But if I can manage it this week, I'll post it. It should be interesting, anyway, even if it's not perfectly matched because it's with a 5 instead of a 5s.

I think the purpose of the testing is mainly to find out how far backwards the iPhone 6 has gone in terms of camera performance right? So it shouldn't really matter if the cameras between each phone are different as we want to find which one is best?

Also I always had a sneaky suspicion that the 6 had less dynamic range than the 5/5s but wasn't completely sure so it's reassuring you've noticed it as well (even if the overall image is brighter)

 

[IrishVixen]

I think the purpose of the testing is mainly to find out how far backwards the iPhone 6 has gone in terms of camera performance right? So it shouldn't really matter if the cameras between each phone are different as we want to find which one is best?

Also I always had a sneaky suspicion that the 6 had less dynamic range than the 5/5s but wasn't completely sure so it's reassuring you've noticed it as well (even if the overall image is brighter)

Personally, my preferred goal would be to see if we could determine whether this is strictly an iOS 8 issue versus a hardware issue. Because if it's not encoded in the hardware, there's hope they might eventually fix it with an iOS update. But I'm thinking I don't really have a way to test that to be absolutely certain--good testing means controlling or eliminating as many variables as possible. There'd be a bit more certainty if I had the 5s on both 7.x.x & 8.x.x instead of the 5. It's still worth doing, but it may not be as useful data-wise.

Along those lines: just looked at the EXIF for those two pics I took last night. The iPhone 6 has an aperture of of 2.2, the iPhone 5 has 2.4. Which may explain the blown highlights & brighter image...won't know until I test again, compensating for the extra light allowed in by the larger aperture. So just matching the variables I can currently control isn't enough, I need to compensate for the difference in aperture as well. (From what I've found, both are fixed aperture lenses.)

Regarding the possible differences in dynamic range, I think something to that effect had already been commented on in a few places...this article had a couple of interesting comparisons between a 6+ and a 5s. The shots on the 5s had more depth & subtlety to them, at least to my eye. What I didn't see listed was if he'd updated the 5s to iOS 8 already.

http://improvephotography.com/30019/iphone-6-camera-depth-review/

 

[shifomu]

Personally, my preferred goal would be to see if we could determine whether this is strictly an iOS 8 issue versus a hardware issue. Because if it's not encoded in the hardware, there's hope they might eventually fix it with an iOS update. But I'm thinking I don't really have a way to test that to be absolutely certain--good testing means controlling or eliminating as many variables as possible. There'd be a bit more certainty if I had the 5s on both 7.x.x & 8.x.x instead of the 5. It's still worth doing, but it may not be as useful data-wise.

Along those lines: just looked at the EXIF for those two pics I took last night. The iPhone 6 has an aperture of of 2.2, the iPhone 5 has 2.4. Which may explain the blown highlights & brighter image...won't know until I test again, compensating for the extra light allowed in by the larger aperture. So just matching the variables I can currently control isn't enough, I need to compensate for the difference in aperture as well. (From what I've found, both are fixed aperture lenses.)

Regarding the possible differences in dynamic range, I think something to that effect had already been commented on in a few places...this article had a couple of interesting comparisons between a 6+ and a 5s. The shots on the 5s had more depth & subtlety to them, at least to my eye. What I didn't see listed was if he'd updated the 5s to iOS 8 already.

http://improvephotography.com/30019/iphone-6-camera-depth-review/

Yeah I guess that would make more sense identifying whether it's a software or hardware issue. Although knowing how Apple works even if it were a software issue I doubt they would do anything to fix it as to them it probably isn't broken. Hopefully someone somewhere has two iPhone 5s's that we could compare.

 

[rosario1990]

The 6S will be out this fall. It is only rumors but have heard them several times that Aplle is working on a new camera that will possibly blow the competition away.

If you can wait, it might be worth it.

Okey thanks! I'll wait for this.