iPhone 4S camera vs iPhone 4 camera
by Mark
Filed under Product Reviews
One of the biggest improvements in the iPhone 4 is the Camera. There are many improvements that they have made to the camera besides just more megapixels. Check out some samples from Apple on this post I did earlier in the week: iPhone 4S camera sample photos. The first thing that I wanted to do today though was compare the quality of the camera vs the iPhone 4 camera to really see how these improvements made a different in the real world.
First just a few things that Apple did change with the iPhone 4s:
- The iPhone 4S has a 8 megapixel sensor which will create a 3264×2448 pixel photo.
- They are using a 5 element lens that will provide 30% more sharpness compared to the iPhone 4.
- The camera has a new aperture at f/2.4 (compared to f/2.8 of the iPhone 4).
- The iPhone 4S also has a new CMOS sensor with backside illumination. This will allow it to capture 73% more light and also gives a 33% faster image capture.
- They added a new Hybrid IR filter which will give better color accuracy and more uniformity with colors.
Now on to the good stuff. Here are some comparison images from the cameras on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. Since my iPhone came in late (UPS decided on that day to make me the last delivery I guess, when they normally come early, go figure) I didn’t have time to shoot any images outdoors or in the sunlight. Come back later today and i’ll have some more samples as well as some video sample footage. Right off the bat you will see there are some huge differences in the images. Aside from the increased image quality the auto white balance of the camera does a much better job with bad indoor light and the color saturation is great. These were taken in pretty poor and dim lighting conditions which the iPhone usually has trouble with, but as you can see there is a reduction in noise levels while still keeping the image sharp. Click on any of the images at the bottom of the post to view them full screen. The iPhone 4 images are on the left and the iPhone 4S images on the right.
Update – View more comparisons of the iPhone 4S camera vs the iPhone 4 camera here.
And here are the full size images to view. Lots more coming later today along with some more detailed analysis of the images in different types of situations.
What do you think of the iPhone 4S? Leave a Facebook comment below…
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I’m loving the new iPhone 4S camera – images are super crisp and video is really smooth. One nice feature is swipe camera to albums. Also iOS5 streaming is just awesome! Love seeing iPhone pics suddenly appear on my iPad.
Looks good! I do most of my shooting with iPhone 4 so even minor improvement is enough for me.
Check this out, perhaps to share with readers – review of the iPhone 4s camera (just the camera) http://www.dreamtimeimages.com/blog/iphone-4s-camera-how-good-is-it-a-mini-review/
hmm, they rave about the camera but still no lens cover, whats it going to look like in a year with micro scratches on it.
Led flash simply blows, even my 4 yr old nokia has a xenon, what gives?
still has a lot of improving to go imo.
I don’t have the new iPhone, but find it so interesting to see all the whiners complain about what the iPhone doesn’t have or do. People! this is a PHONE…. holy crap, it is impressive to see all that it can do as a phone, and then take spectacular photos ! Perspective… you can’t compare this to cameras.
I bought Iphone4s ago. I feel good about it. Thanks for the info.
great article – thanks for sharing. Photos truly won me over. Buying now!
perfect item for Apple iPhone 4 and 4S photographers.