The iPhone 4 camera is the best phone camera out there

[Merkie]

Proof.

Set "No scaling" to "Scale to 8MP" for an easier comparison. This way the iPhone 4 photo is interpolated from 5MP to 8MP, but it still beats the native 8MP Desire HD (= Evo 4G) camera hands down. The amount of detail preserved in iPhone 4 photos is just really really good for a cell phone camera. I admit, the iPhone 4 is a bit noisy, but I prefer noise over noise reduction.

The Galaxy S seems to perform almost the same as the iPhone 4, I suspect the iPhone 4 and Galaxy S to have the same sensor.

 

[tachnyrus]

It's probably one of the best cameras on a phone you'd actually want to use. However, best camera on a phone period? Try comparing with with the heavyweights instead.

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n8-review-523p6.php

 

[pdqgp]

I agree, Nokia has a way better camera. iPhone is okay though. Still wont' completely replace a small P&S camera.

 

[Merkie]

The Nokia N8 is pretty good, but still... I don't know if I'd prefer it over the iPhone 4 camera. It has more than twice as many pixels, but it doesn't do that much with them. The lens distortion is pretty high too.

 

[Infraggable Kru]

Look at the rest of the images, not just the grayscale

In reference to your original post, Each of those 3 camera has its faults. There is a lot of noise in the iPhone pictures, probably a bump in ISO, the HTC desire seems to bump up the sharpness too much when it detects a black and white edge, and the Galaxy S looks very similar to the IPhone, but has less noise, but also colors are more dull

That said

The nokia N8 KILLS all of these phones, the colors are rich, blacks are solid with little noise, and still has a higher resolution than the rest of its competitors ( its on the pull down list)

Nokia N8

Iphone 4

 

[Savor]

Nope. That honor goes to the Nokia N8 which recently won an award for best cameraphone of the year. A true successor to my trusty Nokia N82 I previously owned. The rarity of having Xenon flash on a cameraphone also comes in handy. This is based on still photos, not video recording where iP4 beats it. The iPhone 4 might be the best "all-around" and the camera definitely improved. But it isn't the best or perfect at everything and loses a couple categories to the Nokia N8 based on still photos and build quality. Nokia N8 uses the same materials as the iPod mini and has Gorilla Glass which makes it extremely robust.

 

[ssdeg7]

There must be better cameras out there, the iPhone's camera is just fine for a phone.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.1; en-gb; Nexus S Build/GRH78) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Glad to see people singing the N8's praises camera wise. A friend of mine has one and it seems to take some great shots for a cameraphone. The iPhone 4 does a great job tho but has been beaten in camera quality.

 

[Merkie]

Look at the rest of the images, not just the grayscale

In reference to your original post, Each of those 3 camera has its faults. There is a lot of noise in the iPhone pictures, probably a bump in ISO, the HTC desire seems to bump up the sharpness too much when it detects a black and white edge, and the Galaxy S looks very similar to the IPhone, but has less noise, but also colors are more dull

That said

The nokia N8 KILLS all of these phones, the colors are rich, blacks are solid with little noise, and still has a higher resolution than the rest of its competitors ( its on the pull down list)

Nokia N8


Iphone 4

I saw the chart and it's much better than every other phone, I admit. But I also saw a couple of real life photos compared to iPhone 4 photos on Engadget a few months ago, and I remember that the iPhone 4 photos seemed much more vivid.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/nokia-n8-vs-iphone-4-cameraphone-fight
http://www.engadget.com/photos/nokia-n8-vs-iphone-4-full-resolution-crops

The N8 isn't that much better imo. Also, the video recording on the N8 sucks since it's really choppy.

 

[Phil A.]

The iPhone 4 is far from the best phone camera available: It's OK for a phone and better than the 3GS but that's about it!
As others have said, the N8 is head and shoulders above it in quality and to be honest my daughter's X10 Mini Pro takes far better photos than than my iPhone 4 (particularly indoors where the iPhone 4 gets real noisy real fast)
Having said that, no phone camera is ever going to replace a "real" (i.e. not P&S) camera - the sensors and lenses are simply too small, but the line between the very best camera phones and low end point and shoot cameras is getting very blurred

 

[ctt1wbw]

These are PHONES, not CAMERAS. They are PHONES with CAMERAS built in. If you want a superior CAMERA, buy a Leica or something.

 

[ozzyman500]

These are PHONES, not CAMERAS. They are PHONES with CAMERAS built in. If you want a superior CAMERA, buy a Leica or something.

They still are great cameras. At least for amateur photographers like me. I've taken some bad ass pics with mine.

 

[Infraggable Kru]

I saw the chart and it's much better than every other phone, I admit. But I also saw a couple of real life photos compared to iPhone 4 photos on Engadget a few months ago, and I remember that the iPhone 4 photos seemed much more vivid.

Engadget tried to be sly and act like it was doing a fair comparison

A quick note is also merited about the N8's resolution. The sensor's display ratio is 4:3, which means that full 12 megapixel shots are only available in those dimensions. The camera software, however, defaults to shooting 9 megapixel snaps at the increasingly popular 16:9 ratio -- this is done simply by cropping away the "excess" bars at the top and bottom of the image, meaning that the 9 megapixel images are giving us identical performance as the 12 megapixel ones, they're just chopped down (from 4000 x 3000 to 4000 x 2248) for the sake of convenience. Now, on with the show!

First of all the iPhone shoots in 4:3 aspect ratio too
(well actually it shoots in 4.016:3 Ratio)
The only reason for this little blip is to confuse those who don't pay close attention

But what they actually did was the following diagram

Took the 12p sensor and cut it down to 9mp ( the Red box)
Took that red 16:9 box and then cropped it to 4:3 ( the blue box)


In other words what you are seeing isn't a direct comparison, its a native 5mp picture cropped compared to the middle 75% of a 12mp cropped( in essence the crop makes the picture appear 1.333 times larger, reason why everything looks bigger)


The proper thing would be to take the same 12mp downsize it to 5mp and then crop it

to produce something like this

A further discussion here
http://forum.dailymobile.se/index.php?topic=31406.0

The lens distortion is pretty high too.

That statement is complete BS ( where are you getting this awful information? )

Canon S90

Nokia N8

both pictures show almost no signs of barrel distortion

These are PHONES, not CAMERAS. They are PHONES with CAMERAS built in. If you want a superior CAMERA, buy a Leica or something.

Good points and I agree with you on buying a superior camera (Cell phone camera's really only shine in optimal light, but at least you always have a camera on hand vs a regular camera) but this thread is claiming that the CAMERA is superior to any other CAMERA on a phone

 

[walie]

I saw the chart and it's much better than every other phone, I admit. But I also saw a couple of real life photos compared to iPhone 4 photos on Engadget a few months ago, and I remember that the iPhone 4 photos seemed much more vivid.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/nokia-n8-vs-iphone-4-cameraphone-fight
http://www.engadget.com/photos/nokia-n8-vs-iphone-4-full-resolution-crops

The N8 isn't that much better imo. Also, the video recording on the N8 sucks since it's really choppy.

since you're using engadget as a source, you should note that in engadget's review of the n8, they note that the n8 takes pictures with a very natural colour balance, compared to the iphone 4 which artifically manipulates the pictures taken to appear more vivid. So does the iphone4 take "better, more vivid" looking pictures? Perhaps. But are the pictures reflect what is seen in the real world? Nope. Also, the n8 absolutely demolishes the iphone4 in low-light conditions thanks to its 1/1.83-inch sensor which is comparable to those in dedicated point-and-shoot cameras

As for video, the n8 records video at 25fps, compared to 30fps of the iphone4, however, there is a hack that enables 30fps recording for the n8

additionally, the n8 camera app has multiple settings including flash control, scene mode, face detection, exposure, white balance, ISO (100/400/800), sharpness, color tone, and contrast. The iphone4 has none of those features

n8: xenon flash
iphone4: LED flash


i wonder what the winner here is...

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

The camera you have with you all the time is a million times more useful than the one you don't. So to compare the iPhone 4 camera to real P&S or DSLR's is pointless as most people don't have one of those hanging around their neck or in their hand all day long.

But I think you'd have to have to some serious vision/reality distortion going on to think the iPhone 4 camera is better than the Nokia N8. The difference is, however, the iPhone 4 is being carried by more people than the Nokia N8 so its going to be a far more popular camera.

I'd argue also that the countless apps available to the iPhone 4 make the camera better/more useful than it has a right to be on technical merits alone. Hisptamatic has turned my snapshots into a daily hobby and I've never had a P&S do THAT for me.

 

[diogenis]

It is silly to run these kinds of tests comparing between phone cameras. These are primarily phones with a very cheap set of plastic lens and a very small terribly small photo sensor, just enough to take emergency pictures (because you always have your phone with you). And nothing more. Even comparing them is silly: they all suck. And I am extremely worried about how good the Nokia 8 really is. Adding 12mp in such small sensors creates loads of problems. i would believe more in iphone4 sensor even with lower mp, but all phone cameras suck nevertheless. And comparing is done to find the worst not to find the best.

If you guys want decent cameras go pay for one. There is a reason they exist. And it doesn't have to be Leica as someone mentioned, even a decent m4/3 can do the job and is portable enough (as a Leica).

 

[Infraggable Kru]

Btw I love my iPhone 4, and about to go to bed

I wouldn't call the 1/1.83″ Sensor on the N8 small, that's bigger than some Point and shoot camera ( iPhone 4 1/4" sensor)
Plus it uses glass, blah blah other technical specs

But DAMN with the right lighting conditions the sensor on the N8 is no joke
( at least at the level of a decent point and shoot)

If you haven't read a thing in this thread at least click on the 12mp picture below

 

[Phil A.]

It is silly to run these kinds of tests comparing between phone cameras. These are primarily phones with a very cheap set of plastic lens and a very small terribly small photo sensor, just enough to take emergency pictures (because you always have your phone with you). And nothing more. Even comparing them is silly: they all suck. And I am extremely worried about how good the Nokia 8 really is. Adding 12mp in such small sensors creates loads of problems. i would believe more in iphone4 sensor even with lower mp, but all phone cameras suck nevertheless. And comparing is done to find the worst not to find the best.

If you guys want decent cameras go pay for one. There is a reason they exist. And it doesn't have to be Leica as someone mentioned, even a decent m4/3 can do the job and is portable enough (as a Leica).

The N8 actually has a decent-ish size sensor (at 1/1.8" it's actually larger than a lot of P&S cameras and has over twice the area of the iPhone 4's 1/3.2" sensor), and (apparently) it has a 5 element glass lens sat in front of it. That's why it takes photos that are far better than the iPhone 4 and ones that approach the quality of dedicated (P&S) cameras. Having said that, I don't care what camera is in my Phone because I hardly ever use it so I'm more than happy with my iPhone 4

 

[atico5007]

Comparing a 5 Mpix against a 12 Mpix cameras... Is that any fair?
Let's just say my stock car is as good as a NASCAR one in terms of speed!
(I'll stay with mine cause it takes me to far mor places than spinning on an oval ...)

 

[diogenis]

Because small is subjective here is a link where everyone can judge on itself. Just because Nokia claims its large, it doesnt mean that it also is... Larger than iphone yes. But still very small to make a difference as a camera.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sensor_sizes_overlaid.svg
If Nokia wanted a camera, then maybe it got one that's decent (I want to also see low light shots) But Apple still sells the best phone...
Me, I would love to see a 1/1.83" sensor but no more than 3-5 mp so it can shoot dark scenes and videos, where it hurts, not eagles at bright daylight

Dont forget that sensor size is squared (its area) something that is cleverly hidden in the diagonal spec...

 

[zephxiii]

iPhone 4 camera is definitely not the best, but I am pretty pleased with it. 3GS camera was terrible, but the video seems smoother on it.

 

[diogenis]

Comparing a 5 Mpix against a 12 Mpix cameras... Is that any fair?
Let's just say my stock car is as good as a NASCAR one in terms of speed!
(I'll stay with mine cause it takes me to far mor places than spinning on an oval ...)

Actually it's VERY fair.... the Mp number is a marketing trick overused by the camera makers to sell ....junk.
A better number is the relation of Mp and Sensor area : http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=pixel density
The Nokia for instance has some 30Mp/cm2!
This means that the photoreceptors are way too many and way too small (hence the sensor IS small) So, in this case 12 Mp is not good. You will need lenses that are so good, that they just don't exist yet. The lenses is the barrier not the sensors. And we are speaking about junk lenses here.

 

[Matty-p]

Btw I love my iPhone 4, and about to go to bed

I wouldn't call the 1/1.83″ Sensor on the N8 small, that's bigger than some Point and shoot camera ( iPhone 4 1/4" sensor)
Plus it uses glass, blah blah other technical specs

But DAMN with the right lighting conditions the sensor on the N8 is no joke
( at least at the level of a decent point and shoot)

If you haven't read a thing in this thread at least click on the 12mp picture below

ok thats nearly as good as my dslr

 

[Phil A.]

Actually it's VERY fair.... the Mp number is a marketing trick overused by the camera makers to sell ....junk.
A better number is the relation of Mp and Sensor area : http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=pixel density
The Nokia for instance has some 30Mp/cm2!
This means that the photoreceptors are way too many and way too small (hence the sensor IS small) So, in this case 12 Mp is not good. You will need lenses that are so good, that they just don't exist yet. The lenses is the barrier not the sensors. And we are speaking about junk lenses here.

Yes, the pixel density is important, but the OP wasn't comparing camera phones to DSLRs, they were comparing the iPhone to other camera phones and the fact remains that the iPhone 4 is not the best camera phone available.

Also, the N8 does compare quite well against P&S cameras with a similar (actually bigger in many cases) sensor and decent (for a P&S) glass lens.
Incidentally, the pixel density of the iPhone 4's sensor is around 33Mp/cm2 (i.e. worse than the pixel density of the N8), and the pixel density of the N8 is around the same as most P&S cameras

 

[Infraggable Kru]

Comparing a 5 Mpix against a 12 Mpix cameras... Is that any fair?
Let's just say my stock car is as good as a NASCAR one in terms of speed!
(I'll stay with mine cause it takes me to far more places than spinning on an oval ...)

It's fair because the Op claimed the iPhone had the BEST camera in a phone. Yet still countless people in this thread keep using the same broken logic ( My iPhone camera is inferior, but its a better camera because its a better phone !!!!)

Dont forget that sensor size is squared (its area) something that is cleverly hidden in the diagonal spec...

Let me guess, you don't own a DSLR, I will put money down that all you are doing is Google searching terms and hoping to sound like you know what you are talking about

1) The sensor size number is not squared, its a linear number.
(The actual sensor diameter is roughly 2/3 the "sensor image size" )

2) You pulled up a chart saying the 1/1.83" sensor is small when compared to other sizes.. Do you even know what those Bigger Sensors are housed in ?

3) The sensor on a
iPhone is 1/3.2" -> 5.29 mm Sensor diameter -> .15cm2 area
Nokia n8 1/1.83 9.25mm Sensor diameter -> .40cm2 area

Just because Nokia claims its large, it doesn't mean that it also is... Larger than iPhone yes. But still very small to make a difference as a camera.

4) You have no idea what you are talking about
Even a nice point and shoot Camera like an SD870 has an image sensor size of 1/2.5"

The Nokia for instance has some 30Mp/cm2!
This means that the photoreceptors are way too many and way too small (hence the sensor IS small) So, in this case 12 Mp is not good. You will need lenses that are so good, that they just don't exist yet. The lenses is the barrier not the sensors. And we are speaking about junk lenses here.

5) Please just stop already

iPhone 5mp on .15cm sensor = 33MP/cm2
Nokia N8 12mp on .40 sensor = 30Mp/cm2