Why is it so impossible for me to take consistently good photos with my 6?

[Traverse]

Well, I have some kind of good news.

I tried Camera + and Cortex. And compared some low light shots to the stock app.

Camera + and Stock looked the same in terms of smudge. HOWEVER, Cortex with both JPEG and PNG looked noticeably better with less smudge. The only down side is that it takes longer to finish capturing the image. If you're taking pictures of a moving subject (pet, kids, etc.) the stock app still does a good job for a phone, especially in well lit areas. If you're taking pictures a static scene (landscape, house, etc.) cortex does a good job.

 

[mightyjabba]

It seems to me that Cortex isn't really even a camera app in the traditional sense. It's an image compositing app, and probably doesn't help most people that much since you can't have moving subjects (what are we making, Daguerreotypes?)

I went on a walk with my kids yesterday and took a lot of photos (as well as some time lapse and slow motion video). And I'll have to say for the most part the images were fantastic. It does seem like the aggressive noise reduction is a problem in certain lighting conditions, but for the most part i'm pretty happy with the camera. It won't replace my Sony RX-100, but I can't carry that with me all the time.

 

[paulking]

Was at a party tonight with two others who have ip6.
Looked at their camera rolls.
Same painted effect in their shots as I see with my 6.

Not as bad in broad daylight shots.
But clearly there with others.

It's not the hardware of the native camera unless I'm wrong and then this is a huge issue.
I prefer to hope and believe it's a software and setting tweak that needs to happen on the new iOS when taking certain shots.

 

[matthewadams]

I really really hope this is indeed a software issue.
I just read a bit about the focus-pixels technique introduced in the recent iP6 models [1] and I saw an awful lot about "crosstalk" between pixels.

With these tweaks BSI performs comparable to the best FSI pixels at 1.4 µm "pitch" (width of the pixel) and has a shorter stack, making it potentially cheaper to produce. In addition to potential cost savings, the use of BSI can be viewed as future proofing, as at 1.1-1.2 µm pixel pitch, BSI begins to outperform FSI significantly in both QE and crosstalk reduction. - See more at: http://www.dailytech.com/iPhone+6s+...laxy+S5/article36587.htm#sthash.JvnDwRIA.dpuf

Seeing the i6 lense "only" uses 1.5µm, while it's supposed to be at least on par or better than the old technique starting at 1.1µm.

(Disclaimer I'm really no expert on this field and these are more like wild assumptions on my side)
UPDATE: Woops, nevermind.. 1.5 pixels were in the i5S too.

[1] http://www.dailytech.com/iPhone+6s+Focus+Pixels+Are+Already+Used+in+Galaxy+S5/article36587.htm

 

[Traverse]

Here is a comparison shot I took between the stock app (left) and Cortex (right).

As other's have mentioned it is a different kind of app. I also tested them with a moving subject and the Cortex app failed where the stock app's quick shutter captured the moment. But for still shots, Cortex is much better.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

Here is a comparison shot I took between the stock app (left) and Cortex (right).



As other's have mentioned it is a different kind of app. I also tested them with a moving subject and the Cortex app failed where the stock app's quick shutter captured the moment. But for still shots, Cortex is much better.

Those are screen captures of your screen . Not the actual pics.

 

[Traverse]

Those are screen captures of your screen . Not the actual pics.

The image from Cortex is far too large to upload so I zoomed into the same locations on both images and took a screenshot. What you see is the screen shot of the two screenshots.

I know, I couldn't think of a better way.

 

[Ruprict]

The image from Cortex is far too large to upload so I zoomed into the same locations on both images and took a screenshot. What you see is the screen shot of the two screenshots.

I know, I couldn't think of a better way.

I can see the difference. Cortex does work for better pics, but like you said, it's very limited and doesn't work for moving subjects.

----------

Was at a party tonight with two others who have ip6.
Looked at their camera rolls.
Same painted effect in their shots as I see with my 6.

Not as bad in broad daylight shots.
But clearly there with others.

It's not the hardware of the native camera unless I'm wrong and then this is a huge issue.
I prefer to hope and believe it's a software and setting tweak that needs to happen on the new iOS when taking certain shots.

I am not sure the processing can be changed. It's contolled by the A8 chip.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

I know, I couldn't think of a better way.

Sorry to read that.

 

[Traverse]

Sorry to read that.

Don't be snippy, I'm doing like 4 things at once. That was the quickest way.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

Don't be snippy, I'm doing like 4 things at once. That was the quickest way.

Whatever. I just lost all respect for your credibility and position regarding the iPhone 6 camera.

 

[Traverse]

Whatever. I just lost all respect for your credibility and position regarding the iPhone 6 camera.

And how would you have preferred I posted them? The Cortex image is 16MB and I don't have accounts with photo sharing sites to post a link.

 

[vtboyarc]

Cortex is all fine and good, for when it can be used (ie still shots, etc). However, on an iPhone, I feel I shouldn't need to be switching between different camera apps in order to get the right picture. I want to fire up one camera app, and take good pics in confidence regardless the situation.

I think Apple can fix this with a software update. Just some tweaking to the JPG compression and noise reduction engines, and it should be good to go.

Hoping for it in 8.1

 

[Traverse]

Cortex is all fine and good, for when it can be used (ie still shots, etc). However, on an iPhone, I feel I shouldn't need to be switching between different camera apps in order to get the right picture. I want to fire up one camera app, and take good pics in confidence regardless the situation.

I think Apple can fix this with a software update. Just some tweaking to the JPG compression and noise reduction engines, and it should be good to go.

Hoping for it in 8.1

I'm concerned about that because of what another poster said. The ISP is part of the A8 SoC. I'm not sure they can change it. And even if they can, I'm not sure they will.

 

[vtboyarc]

I'm concerned about that because of what another poster said. The ISP is part of the A8 SoC. I'm not sure they can change it. And even if they can, I'm not sure they will.

At the least, they can certainly tone down that nasty noise reduction. Noise reduction is software based

 

[Traverse]

Whatever. I just lost all respect for your credibility and position regarding the iPhone 6 camera.

Is this better :roll eyes:?

Here is a side by side of both images in Preview with their accompanying information.

FYI: I was wrong, the Cortex image is 14MB.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Yep

Gack.

Definetely seeing this.

Cortex camera produces a better overall picture for a still shot but this faux-bokeh effect isn't attractive at all.

Someone's got to clue Apple in on this one.

 

[Ruprict]

Is this better :roll eyes:?

Here is a side by side of both images in Preview with their accompanying information.

FYI: I was wrong, the Cortex image is 14MB.

Cortex will produce better pics, but it's not a good oem camera app replacement.

The image processing is the issue. And like others said, it's done on chip. Not sure it can or will be addressed.

 

[narr]

Here's what I am seeing. With the Cortex image, if you zoom way in, it looks like there is a cityscape constructed on the very tiptop of the pipe. With the 645 Pro MK iii it is smudgy. With the default iPhone camera it looks like streaks at the very tiptop of the pipe. This can't be natural!

The cityscape is correct and is in fact a tiny bit of sugar. This is no pipe, it's this one: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/...xlW5KDTjFgtDRQF0CUN-_NuiiWKvEeOxilgrVXHcVQyxV

 

[GoCubsGo]

Is this better :roll eyes:?

Here is a side by side of both images in Preview with their accompanying information.

FYI: I was wrong, the Cortex image is 14MB.

Dude, stop trying to cater to someone who clearly doesn't get it and just wants to be rude about it. I thought the first example was helpful. Apple needs to at least kill the noise reduction here.

 

[Traverse]

Dude, stop trying to cater to someone who clearly doesn't get it and just wants to be rude about it. I thought the first example was helpful. Apple needs to at least kill the noise reduction here.

Heh, thanks. For some reason their comment irked me. Aw well. Point is, this noise reduction issue is prevelent even in everyday, well illuminated photos.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

The cityscape is correct and is in fact a tiny bit of sugar. This is no pipe, it's this one: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/...xlW5KDTjFgtDRQF0CUN-_NuiiWKvEeOxilgrVXHcVQyxV

Well, there ya go. My eye doctor says I have over 20/20 vision close up.

 

[paulking]

They were discussing this camera issue on Reddit as well. But the thread died out about 22 days ago.
Next Friday I'll be having lunch with my friend who does pro photography. We each have a 6. I'll take full daylight photos of a face with each camera and post results.
Although uploads to this thread are not the best.
They seem to distort apart from the issue we're discussing.

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Google iphone 6 noise reduction or iPhone 6 photo noise reduction. Prowl around. Others notice this. Of course.
One post in Reddit theorized that the file size of photos are way reduced from previous iPhones. As an explanation for the effect we are seeing.
He said, conspiratorially, (have you noticed a lot of that lately in our world! Overdone.) it's to keep file sizes small to justify and facilitate the 16 gig phones.!
Or maybe to keep too much content off Apple's cloud??
I don't buy it.

 

[mightyjabba]

One post in Reddit theorized that the file size of photos are way reduced from previous iPhones. As an explanation for the effect we are seeing.
He said, conspiratorially, (have you noticed a lot of that lately in our world! Overdone.) it's to keep file sizes small to justify and facilitate the 16 gig phones.!
Or maybe to keep too much content off Apple's cloud??
I don't buy it.

Ludicrous. Especially since it makes no sense for Apple to want to promote their lowest margin devices.

It would be helpful if Apple was a little more open with information. It's clear some things have changed and it's silly that we have to play detective to figure it out.

 

[terraphantm]

Or maybe to keep too much content off Apple's cloud??

That I could believe. The server space isn't free. I wonder if the quality would be any better if we disabled all the cloud stuff