http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/10/14/iphone-6s-camera-disappoints/
What a difference a year makes.
In September 2014 respected photography benchmark DxOMark declared the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to have the best cameras on any smartphone. Now DxOMark is back with its verdict on the new iPhone 6S and the turnaround is shocking…
Far from coming top of the pile in 2015, DxOMark concludes the iPhone 6S is not only worse than every major Android phone released since the iPhone 6, it actually offers no tangible improvement over last year’s model.
So what did DxOMark specifically call out? Here are their major pros and cons for both photography and video:
Photo Pros
Very good exposure overall.
Fast and generally accurate autofocus in all test conditions.
Reliable and pleasant white balance in most conditions.
Good detail preservation in bright light.
Photo Cons
Some luminance noise visible, especially in low light.
Some color shading visible in indoor conditions.
Slightly yellow cast visible in outdoor conditions.
Occasional ghosting and other artifacts.
Video Pros
Fast, accurate and smooth autofocus in all conditions.
Good overall exposure and white balance.
Effective stabilization in good lighting conditions
Video Cons
Noise noticeable in low light conditions, especially in image corners.
Slight color shading visible in low light conditions.
Reasons For Decline
Of course on paper it makes little sense that the iPhone 6S wouldn’t match up to the iPhone 6. Apple’s marketing has been quick to cite its jump from eight to 12MP and “deep trench isolation” technology which creates more accurate colours by stopping the light captured by one pixel interfering with those around it.
Apple has also stressed iPhone 6S adds 4K video and ‘Live Photos’ which captures 1.5 seconds of video after taking a shot. That said the former has been on rivals for some time and the latter is more of a gimmick than something which improves camera quality. In fact I found having it enabled actually impacted picture quality (while doubling file size).
Perhaps more pressing, however, is what Apple didn’t improve. The iPhone 6S actually has smaller 1.22µm pixels compared to the 1.5µm pixels in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and larger pixels take in more light.
Meanwhile Apple didn’t improve on the previous generation’s f2.4 aperture while its rivals now typically use f1.8-f2.0 apertures and these increase the speed with which light is collected allowing for better high speed and low light shots. Apple also, somewhat bizarrely, continues to exclude optical image stabilisation (OIS) in the iPhone 6S which helps hold the lens steady and allows in more light before each shot and results in smoother video.
Consequently DxOMark’s results show the combination of these negatives appear to cancel out any improvements Apple made in resolution and colour accuracy.
This ties in with findings from my own detailed review of both the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus where I reached a similar conclusion: both phones have excellent cameras with great colour accuracy, but they have fallen behind the best Android models both in terms of detail and low light photography.
And yet there’s good news because the results are perhaps not as bleak as the iPhone 6S’ DxOMark standings imply…
In Defence Of Apple
Before iPhone fans get too grumpy and Android users get too excited it is important to add two elements of context into the mix.
First DxOMark’s top 10 is a crowded place where the differences are small. Take, for example, the Nexus 6P up in third place: it has a score of just 84 which is only 2 points higher than the iPhone 6S. Could most users tell the difference between an 82 and 84 DxOMark rated camera? Possibly, but it’s no slam dunk.
Secondly, as great as DxOMark is, it must be remembered that its tests are for purists. They look at the maximum potential of a camera under scientific conditions and this downplays one key factor in smartphone camera performance: its point and shoot credentials.
For example the LG G4 (which DxOMark scores at 83 points) can outperform the iPhone 6S but this is primarily from its class leading manual controls – settings the vast majority of users will never touch. When used in auto mode as a point and shoot I have found it to be less reliable than the iPhone 6S.
Despite this, it has to be said that the decline is grim for Apple. Having prided itself on the iPhone ranges’ class leading cameras for a number of years now, going from top spot to behind every major rival in just one year reeks of complacency and the simple fact is: iPhones do not rule the photographic roost anymore.
Perhaps even more pertinently, the iPhone 6S has only just hit the market. So with all Apple’s rivals set to announce upgraded models before the iPhone 7 can redress the balance in late 2016, I expect the quality gap is only going to go grow…
What a difference a year makes.
In September 2014 respected photography benchmark DxOMark declared the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to have the best cameras on any smartphone. Now DxOMark is back with its verdict on the new iPhone 6S and the turnaround is shocking…
Far from coming top of the pile in 2015, DxOMark concludes the iPhone 6S is not only worse than every major Android phone released since the iPhone 6, it actually offers no tangible improvement over last year’s model.
So what did DxOMark specifically call out? Here are their major pros and cons for both photography and video:
Photo Pros
Very good exposure overall.
Fast and generally accurate autofocus in all test conditions.
Reliable and pleasant white balance in most conditions.
Good detail preservation in bright light.
Photo Cons
Some luminance noise visible, especially in low light.
Some color shading visible in indoor conditions.
Slightly yellow cast visible in outdoor conditions.
Occasional ghosting and other artifacts.
Video Pros
Fast, accurate and smooth autofocus in all conditions.
Good overall exposure and white balance.
Effective stabilization in good lighting conditions
Video Cons
Noise noticeable in low light conditions, especially in image corners.
Slight color shading visible in low light conditions.
Reasons For Decline
Of course on paper it makes little sense that the iPhone 6S wouldn’t match up to the iPhone 6. Apple’s marketing has been quick to cite its jump from eight to 12MP and “deep trench isolation” technology which creates more accurate colours by stopping the light captured by one pixel interfering with those around it.
Apple has also stressed iPhone 6S adds 4K video and ‘Live Photos’ which captures 1.5 seconds of video after taking a shot. That said the former has been on rivals for some time and the latter is more of a gimmick than something which improves camera quality. In fact I found having it enabled actually impacted picture quality (while doubling file size).
Perhaps more pressing, however, is what Apple didn’t improve. The iPhone 6S actually has smaller 1.22µm pixels compared to the 1.5µm pixels in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and larger pixels take in more light.
Meanwhile Apple didn’t improve on the previous generation’s f2.4 aperture while its rivals now typically use f1.8-f2.0 apertures and these increase the speed with which light is collected allowing for better high speed and low light shots. Apple also, somewhat bizarrely, continues to exclude optical image stabilisation (OIS) in the iPhone 6S which helps hold the lens steady and allows in more light before each shot and results in smoother video.
Consequently DxOMark’s results show the combination of these negatives appear to cancel out any improvements Apple made in resolution and colour accuracy.
This ties in with findings from my own detailed review of both the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus where I reached a similar conclusion: both phones have excellent cameras with great colour accuracy, but they have fallen behind the best Android models both in terms of detail and low light photography.
And yet there’s good news because the results are perhaps not as bleak as the iPhone 6S’ DxOMark standings imply…
In Defence Of Apple
Before iPhone fans get too grumpy and Android users get too excited it is important to add two elements of context into the mix.
First DxOMark’s top 10 is a crowded place where the differences are small. Take, for example, the Nexus 6P up in third place: it has a score of just 84 which is only 2 points higher than the iPhone 6S. Could most users tell the difference between an 82 and 84 DxOMark rated camera? Possibly, but it’s no slam dunk.
Secondly, as great as DxOMark is, it must be remembered that its tests are for purists. They look at the maximum potential of a camera under scientific conditions and this downplays one key factor in smartphone camera performance: its point and shoot credentials.
For example the LG G4 (which DxOMark scores at 83 points) can outperform the iPhone 6S but this is primarily from its class leading manual controls – settings the vast majority of users will never touch. When used in auto mode as a point and shoot I have found it to be less reliable than the iPhone 6S.
Despite this, it has to be said that the decline is grim for Apple. Having prided itself on the iPhone ranges’ class leading cameras for a number of years now, going from top spot to behind every major rival in just one year reeks of complacency and the simple fact is: iPhones do not rule the photographic roost anymore.
Perhaps even more pertinently, the iPhone 6S has only just hit the market. So with all Apple’s rivals set to announce upgraded models before the iPhone 7 can redress the balance in late 2016, I expect the quality gap is only going to go grow…
