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Should Apple have increased the mega pixels on the camera?

G

gadget123

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 17, 2011
2,075
222
United Kingdom
Let's discuss.

Should it have been a 10mp, 12mp, 16mp? or is the lens in a phone too small?

Do you think the S model will increase next year? The rumours all pointed to more mega pixels so my thinking is it will come next year as the design won't change. Iphone 4 was 5mp Iphone 4s was 8mp perhaps that's the 2015 upgrade?
 
I

iPhone7ate9

macrumors 6502a
Jun 22, 2014
720
0
gadget123 said:
Let's discuss.

Should it have been a 10mp, 12mp, 16mp? or is the lens in a phone too small?

Do you think the S model will increase next year?
Click to expand...
No, absolutely not. More megapixels makes pictures look worse at this sensor size, and more resolution does nothing to improve them.

I took 20mp images, downscaled them to 8mp then upscaled them back up to 20mp. For situations where you aren't cropping, is the difference so drastic that people would rather give up image quality for more mp?

I won't say which is which (though you can easily tell but it's not as big of a difference as you'd think) -

http://i.imgur.com/Dzq9gWt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4flWgCC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lcTmQ23.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ARUrBQj.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aWjWoeN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0KUpicA.jpg

So my question is, why do YOU want more mp?
 
1Zach1

1Zach1

macrumors 65816
Feb 8, 2008
1,204
740
Northern Va
They should have gone to a 4/3rds mirrorless system with multi-mount detachable lens.

And no, I don't think a megapixel increase would help anything but a sale pitch.
 
nepalisherpa

nepalisherpa

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2011
2,134
1,064
USA
gadget123 said:
Let's discuss.

Should it have been a 10mp, 12mp, 16mp? or is the lens in a phone too small?

Do you think the S model will increase next year? The rumours all pointed to more mega pixels so my thinking is it will come next year as the design won't change. Iphone 4 was 5mp Iphone 4s was 8mp perhaps that's the 2015 upgrade?
Click to expand...
Unless phones have big sensors like the ones in DSLRs or mirror-less cameras, more megapixel just means nothing. More megapixel with small sensor can actually produce worse image (more noise). Plus, how often do you print pictures taken with your phone? For monitor viewing, even a 2MP picture will work.
 
E

ElectronGuru

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2013
1,520
370
Oregon, USA
Apple should train people on the importance of specs other than pixel count. They've started to mention pixel size and are sort of mentioning lens size (ever try to explain what 2.2 means?), but it's not enough.
 
dakota747

dakota747

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2013
55
29
Utah
Perfect!

nepalisherpa said:
Unless phones have big sensors like the ones in DSLRs or mirror-less cameras, more megapixel just means nothing. More megapixel with small sensor can actually produce worse image (more noise). Plus, how often do you print pictures taken with your phone? For monitor viewing, even a 2MP picture will work.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that! I needed to explain it to someone and you had it worded perfectly :)
 
Surf Monkey

Surf Monkey

macrumors 68030
Oct 3, 2010
2,687
474
Portland, OR
The answer is no. On a sensor chip this small adding more pixels actually begins to degrade the image. Unless and until that technical limitation is eliminated or Apple finds a way to put a bigger sensor in it 8 is the sweet spot. If you need higher resolution get a dedicated camera. I recommend the 16mpx Fuji X-E2.
 
V

vgamedude

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2013
798
6
I think more definitely would have been nice considering the price of the phone. Maybe 12 and then add an even better sensor and give the 6 OIS.
 
R

rusty2192

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2008
997
81
Kentucky
vgamedude said:
I think more definitely would have been nice considering the price of the phone. Maybe 12 and then add an even better sensor and give the 6 OIS.
Click to expand...
Want to play the specs game? Buy an Android.

Apple has tried to educate people about the camera sensor in keynotes, but it's hard to educate the masses and make it stick. More megapixels has to be better, right?
 
M

Mac Wolf

macrumors member
Sep 8, 2014
76
0
This thread, and Tim Cook's interview with Charlie Rose got me thinking. Apple said there are a ton of products they're working on. Some will see the light of day, some won't. Last year I thought the idea of an "iwatch" was laughable, but it got a favorable response at the keynote, and here we are, the Apple Watch is a real thing. Tim mentioned looking at the TV industry, one of Apple's worst kept secrets. We all know they're gonna try to revolutionize television.

But it got me thinking, would Apple ever dip their toes in the digital camera game? As a photographer I get excited just picturing it. A low cost entry level point and shoot, and a high level DSLR. With some sort of IOS of course. And that great thin, durable, aluminum/glass design.

We've seen how sharp they can make cell phone cameras. I could only imagine what they'd do with an actual camera. A boy can dream.
 
V

vgamedude

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2013
798
6
Surf Monkey said:
So, you want noisier pictures so that the box can say 12 megapixels?

Makes no sense.
Click to expand...
A better sensor with 12 megapixels wouldn't be noisy. 12 isn't even a huge amount. If I wanted to blow up or crop a picture more megapixels will really help.

----------
rusty2192 said:
Want to play the specs game? Buy an Android.

Apple has tried to educate people about the camera sensor in keynotes, but it's hard to educate the masses and make it stick. More megapixels has to be better, right?
Click to expand...
You are so pissy. People that think megapixels are everything are mistaken but people like you who believe everything apple says and thinks megapixels are apparently worthless are also mistaken. Take your delusion and attitude and shove it buddy.

More megapixels would result in you being able to blow up in a image or crop it and retain more detail yes. I also mentioned a better sensor.
 
V

vgamedude

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2013
798
6
Surf Monkey said:
Another vote for noisier pictures for the sake of marketing.
Click to expand...
Wow you are so unbelievably conceited. You are so sure you're right on this yet you couldn't be more wrong.

Do you have any idea how terrible the front camera is? Do you think alot of that isn't to do with the extremely low megapixel count, at 1.2 megapixels? The sensor plays a roll, but megapixels are important also.
 
fitshaced

fitshaced

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2011
1,731
3,264
Mac Wolf said:
This thread, and Tim Cook's interview with Charlie Rose got me thinking. Apple said there are a ton of products they're working on. Some will see the light of day, some won't. Last year I thought the idea of an "iwatch" was laughable, but it got a favorable response at the keynote, and here we are, the Apple Watch is a real thing. Tim mentioned looking at the TV industry, one of Apple's worst kept secrets. We all know they're gonna try to revolutionize television.

But it got me thinking, would Apple ever dip their toes in the digital camera game? As a photographer I get excited just picturing it. A low cost entry level point and shoot, and a high level DSLR. With some sort of IOS of course. And that great thin, durable, aluminum/glass design.

We've seen how sharp they can make cell phone cameras. I could only imagine what they'd do with an actual camera. A boy can dream.
Click to expand...
They shouldn't waste their time with this. There is a massive uphill task of competing with Canon, Nikon, Leica etc and not because of the camera but the glass. Also, I don't think the DSLR market would be all that attractive to Apple as they seem to be obsessed with thinness and weight. These are not things that DSLR photographers typically focus on as they don't wish to compromise on image quality over anything. That's my belief anyway.
 
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