The iPhone 5 is a fine mobile device, with an excellent camera

[DJTaurus]

In qualititative terms it's not the best camera out there, and nor is it the best camera on a smartphone (the Nokia 808 has that honor, for now) but it offers satisfying image quality, some neat functions like auto panorama and HDR mode, and - crucially - it is supremely easy to use. It isn't much better than the iPhone 4S, as far as its photographic performance is concerned, but it isn't any worse (notwithstanding a somewhat more noticeable propensity towards lens flare). When manufacturers employ pixel-binning to achieve higher ISO settings we don't normally celebrate the fact, but in the case of the iPhone 5, it gives you greater flexibility in poor light (i.e., you might actually get a picture now, where you just wouldn't with the iPhone 4S) and the drop in quality is unnoticeable when the images are used for sharing/web display.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6867454450/quick-review-apple-iphone-5-camera

 

[eyoungren]

I went from 3.2mp to the iPhone 5's 8mp. Vast improvement in camera's for me!

 

[canadianpj]

In qualititative terms it's not the best camera out there, and nor is it the best camera on a smartphone (the Nokia 808 has that honor, for now) but it offers satisfying image quality, some neat functions like auto panorama and HDR mode, and - crucially - it is supremely easy to use. It isn't much better than the iPhone 4S, as far as its photographic performance is concerned, but it isn't any worse (notwithstanding a somewhat more noticeable propensity towards lens flare). When manufacturers employ pixel-binning to achieve higher ISO settings we don't normally celebrate the fact, but in the case of the iPhone 5, it gives you greater flexibility in poor light (i.e., you might actually get a picture now, where you just wouldn't with the iPhone 4S) and the drop in quality is unnoticeable when the images are used for sharing/web display.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6867454450/quick-review-apple-iphone-5-camera

Minus the fact that it gives you a nice purple haze when you are to close to the light. I can see they tested a 4S but I look through my 500+ photos I took with the 4S and no purple in any of them. I have taken 20 photos with the 5 so far and 8 have purple in them.

 

[Small White Car]

I have taken 20 photos with the 5 so far and 8 have purple in them.

I've taken 200 photos with mine and have had purple flares in 0 of them.