What's so special about the iPhone camera? And any Androids with equal quality?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm a photographer, but I've been shooting and traveling enough to know that traveling with baggage and a complete camera kit SUCKS, especially when you're walking around a lot and have to spend time each night to sit down, import, process, export, upload, share.

I much prefer just carrying around a phone, shooting video or photos, and instantly uploading it to a server or service to share the photos with everyone. Do the processing on the phone.

I've seen amazing videos and photos taken with the iPhone. But I don't use iPhone and was wondering if there's anything available for Android that has an equally nice camera.

And what makes the iPhone camera so good, technically?

 

[CA19100]

This may help:

http://www.tested.com/news/feature/2963-heres-what-makes-the-iphone-4s-new-camera-so-much-better/


No idea if any Androids are as good or better. The one in my HTC Incredible is absolute garbage -- it's 8MP, but through a crappy sensor and a cheap lens that doesn't take pictures anywhere near the quality of my little Canon SD600.

 

[Dari]

SONY makes the best camera for mobile phones. You can find them in all high end SONY, Samsung, and HTC phones. The iPhone 5 should have a SONY camera as well.

 

[TuxDave]

I heard the HTC One X has a pretty decent camera (back side illuminated sensor, etc....) Not sure why other handset makers decided to keep the camera at "junk" level when a ton of people take pictures with a smartphone left and right.

 

[shortylickens]

SONY makes the best camera for mobile phones. You can find them in all high end SONY, Samsung, and HTC phones. The iPhone 5 should have a SONY camera as well.

You heard about the Nokia 808?

 

[Dari]

You heard about the Nokia 808?

yep...

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I'm a photographer, but I've been shooting and traveling enough to know that traveling with baggage and a complete camera kit SUCKS, especially when you're walking around a lot and have to spend time each night to sit down, import, process, export, upload, share.

I much prefer just carrying around a phone, shooting video or photos, and instantly uploading it to a server or service to share the photos with everyone. Do the processing on the phone.

I've seen amazing videos and photos taken with the iPhone. But I don't use iPhone and was wondering if there's anything available for Android that has an equally nice camera.

And what makes the iPhone camera so good, technically?

The HTC One X and the SGS3 are roughly on par with the 4s although the One X is the better of those two by a slight amount. That said the Nokia 808 has the best camera you can get in a smartphone by far.

 

[zerocool84]

The HTC One X and the SGS3 are roughly on par with the 4s although the One X is the better of those two by a slight amount. That said the Nokia 808 has the best camera you can get in a smartphone by far.

Well yeah but the 808 is held back by the OS running it all.

 

[notposting]

Despite some others using the same sensor, pictures often don't look as similar as you would expect. Apple did put some effort into their lens setup as well, and sometimes I have a sneaky suspicion they give photos a nice color boost...that being said, it's pretty clear they have spent some serious time working on the camera (hardware/software/firmware) in the iPhone.

Only drawback to the Pureview is not being BSI, but the large sensor does compensate a bit. Hopefully some WP8 Nokia's get some love this fall in that regard.

If the iPhone 5 continues with the great camera and makes some other improvements, and the WP8 release line for VZW sucks, I may end up switching myself (use a WP7 Trophy right now, but the camera blows HARD--have a little P&S to carry with since it is so bad).

 

[Rayb]

While many discard Symbian as an outdated OS and not in the league of android, iOS. I've yet to find a feature in either of those that isn't available in Nokia Belle or can't be done just as well, enhanced by the Nokia Pureview 808 since the camera is the main focus here and quite reasonably blows all contenders away. The OS becomes a second factor when picture quality is a priority and one gadget can do it easily.

http://www.zdnet.com/another-week-w...ew-convinces-me-its-worth-the-700-7000001019/
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57...a-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3-vs-iphone-4s-pictures/

 

[BladeVenom]

Have you seen the Nikon Coolpix S800c? It's not a phone, but an Android camera. http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3638044195/nikon-coolpix-s800c-android-camera-first-look

 

[runawayprisoner]

The HTC One X and the SGS3 are roughly on par with the 4s although the One X is the better of those two by a slight amount. That said the Nokia 808 has the best camera you can get in a smartphone by far.

No...

I had an international One X.

The camera was garbage. Image stabilization pretty much throws any in-focus shot out of the window... unless you are mechanically precise... like a robot. Even my iPhone 4 took sharper images.

A simple software fix would suffice, but I ain't seen none... and then next I knew, I already sold the phone.

----

That said, I think Nokia PureView 808 has some chances against iPhone 4S, but the software is really really really REALLY REALLY VERY VERY VERY (repeat that another 1000 times) SLOW!

It doesn't have to be silky smooth, but... thanks to the massive sensor, the dog-slow hardware has to process many times more pixels than most phones does, which brought its performance to a complete halt. Unless you are okay with having to wait a few seconds (that means close to 10) after taking every shot.

So I think iPhone 4S is pretty much the king of the hill until other manufacturers get their softwares right.

 

[Rayb]

That said, I think Nokia PureView 808 has some chances against iPhone 4S, but the software is really really really REALLY REALLY VERY VERY VERY (repeat that another 1000 times) SLOW!

It doesn't have to be silky smooth, but... thanks to the massive sensor the dog-slow hardware has to process many times more pixels than most phones does, which brought its image processing capability down significantly.

So I think iPhone 4S is pretty much the king of the hill until other manufacturers get their softwares right.

Care to rethink your opinion?

http://youtu.be/RYpX8uAxQMA

Is ok to concede that other manufacturers can sometimes bring better technology to the table, even if is not the one you favor the most.

Maybe this is a better perspective...
http://youtu.be/QQDgroqRw2g

 

[runawayprisoner]

Care to rethink your opinion?

http://youtu.be/RYpX8uAxQMA

Is ok to concede that other manufacturers can sometimes bring better technology to the table, even if is not the one you favor the most.

Maybe this is a better perspective...
http://youtu.be/QQDgroqRw2g

The quality is up there, but the software is very slow.

My comment was regarding the responsiveness of the phone, not about its quality.

Chances are that the iPhone 4S will end up being more useful in situations where you need to take shots as fast as you possibly can (like when you are taking photos of a kid). Unless you can get the kid to stay still for a long time, or you are a professional photographer who can spontaneously frame a photo and take it at precisely the moment you want, I think the ability to go back and retake another shot ASAP for insurance is also quite important.

It's also important that you can pull out the "camera/phone" and be ready to take a shot as fast as you can.

If quality was the only factor in consideration, then heck, the Nokia N8 beat iPhone 4S even before it came out. It doesn't even take the Nokia 808 to do the deed. There's a reason people aren't raving and taking photos with these phones en masse.

 

[TuxDave]

No...

I had an international One X.

The camera was garbage. Image stabilization pretty much throws any in-focus shot out of the window... unless you are mechanically precise... like a robot. Even my iPhone 4 took sharper images.

A simple software fix would suffice, but I ain't seen none... and then next I knew, I already sold the phone.

----

That said, I think Nokia PureView 808 has some chances against iPhone 4S, but the software is really really really REALLY REALLY VERY VERY VERY (repeat that another 1000 times) SLOW!

It doesn't have to be silky smooth, but... thanks to the massive sensor, the dog-slow hardware has to process many times more pixels than most phones does, which brought its performance to a complete halt. Unless you are okay with having to wait a few seconds (that means close to 10) after taking every shot.

So I think iPhone 4S is pretty much the king of the hill until other manufacturers get their softwares right.

Wow thanks for sharing. I'm really happy with my iPhone 4s camera and I just assumed the one x was just as good with its own backlit sensor. I take back my original suggestion then! Not sure outside of nokia if it can be matched then.

 

[shortylickens]

No...

I had an international One X.

The camera was garbage. Image stabilization pretty much throws any in-focus shot out of the window... unless you are mechanically precise... like a robot. Even my iPhone 4 took sharper images.

A simple software fix would suffice, but I ain't seen none... and then next I knew, I already sold the phone.

----

That said, I think Nokia PureView 808 has some chances against iPhone 4S, but the software is really really really REALLY REALLY VERY VERY VERY (repeat that another 1000 times) SLOW!

It doesn't have to be silky smooth, but... thanks to the massive sensor, the dog-slow hardware has to process many times more pixels than most phones does, which brought its performance to a complete halt. Unless you are okay with having to wait a few seconds (that means close to 10) after taking every shot.

So I think iPhone 4S is pretty much the king of the hill until other manufacturers get their softwares right.

Yeah that kind of resolution is normally reserved for dedicated devices with massive batteries.

 

[waggy]

my SGSIII takes decent pictures. far better then any phone i have seen take.but no substitute for a geed camera

 

[Oyeve]

I am not really a phone as a camera kinda guy but having used the sgs1 sgs2 and now the sgs3 (plus dozens of other phones prior) I have to say that I am impressed with the sgs3 camera. Its pretty damn fast, takes really good pics. Sometimes I take many pics of the same thing because I dont even know the camera took them. I have become accustomed to a 1 to 2 sec delay between shot but the sgs3 is so fast that I sometime dont even know if it took the shot.

 

[compcons]

Personally I use an iPhone 4 for work and I HTC Rezound for my personal phone. I ALWAYS use my Rezound for pictures over the iPhone. The Rezound pictures are 10x better than the iPhone. In a poorly lit conference room, the iphone simply can not get a good picture of something like a dry erase board.

That said, nothing will replace your SLR, but in a pinch, a phone camera is okay.

EH

 

[Phokus]

The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses the same Camera as the Iphone 4S, IIRC

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses the same Camera as the Iphone 4S, IIRC

maybe but the sgs3 is just the same sgs2 sensor, and reviews shows the 4s beating the SGS2 in photos.

i have an SGS2, and all my friends will swear by the iPhone camera. I agree the 4s beats my camera. I haven't compared the 4S with the SGS3 heads up, but my gf's SGS3 doesn't do much better than my SGS2.

 

[dagamer34]

The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses the same Camera as the Iphone 4S, IIRC

Cell phone cameras are much more than just sensors (also, they don't use the same sensor). It's about optics, ISP (image signaling processor) algorithms, and default settings as well.

 

[Phokus]

maybe but the sgs3 is just the same sgs2 sensor, and reviews shows the 4s beating the SGS2 in photos.

i have an SGS2, and all my friends will swear by the iPhone camera. I agree the 4s beats my camera. I haven't compared the 4S with the SGS3 heads up, but my gf's SGS3 doesn't do much better than my SGS2.

They're very close with SGS3 beating the 4s in some shots:

http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57...a-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3-vs-iphone-4s-pictures/

 

[zerogear]

The SGS3 uses S5C73M3 BSI sensor where as HOX uses the samsung sensor S5K3H2YX. This was one of sensors in SGS2, so no, SGS3 does not use the same sensors as the SGS2, they're just the same resolution. But the HTC opens to F/2. 0 where as SGS3 opens to F/2.6.

I would say the best Android camera as of now is SGS3, and it's a toss up against iPhone 4S, with HTC One X following close behind.