While there’s a lot more to a camera’s quality than megapixels, Apple’s initial batch of images taken with the iPhone 4S’ backlit 8MP camera are impressive. Really impressive.
Here’s the caveat, though: these are all images taken by professionals using absolutely perfect light conditions, likely with tripods. The pictures you take with your iPhone 4S in a pitch black club after you’ve had one too many Snake Juices are likely to vary wildly.
Check out Apple’s incredible photos after the jump.
[via The Next Web]
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
84 responses to “The iPhone 4S’ Camera Is So Good It’s Almost Like Having A DSLR In Your Pocket [Gallery]”
My Nokia N8 can also do that. Planning to get an iPhone 4S though. This will be my first iPhone. :)
squirrel
Very Nice.
However, It would be even nicer to see a photograph taken in low light.
My phone eligibility isn’t up till 3/12 and AT&T didn’t change it. So I don’t care anymore.
nice that you mention that a camera’s quality is not only about megapixels
Wow. Now I really wish contractual obligations weren’t keeping me to a 1.5 year update schedule.
“backlit” and “back-illuminated” are completely unrelated.
No, it is almost like a decent point and shoot/compact camera. I am glad they put decent glass, and an “optimized” sensor, but without zoom(let alone multiple lenses of a DSLR) it is not even close to being a DSLR
Agreed!
agreed
also, manual focusing,controls for handling low light situations, RAW image capturing….etc.
i HATE sweeping statements like this. very misleading to people who are not really knowledgable about these things.
You have to be kidding. Maybe a DSLR from 1999 (Nikon D1)
Honestly, it’s a decent point and shoot. Don’t be ridiculous.
Almost like having a DSLR in your pocket? Which one? Every DSLR on the market today blows away the iPhone 4S. The photos are good, yes, but they’re professionally done. How do they compare to professionally done DSLR photos?
DSLR?
Do you really want to go against my Nikon DSLR?
Let’s take a night shot with no lights around. We will see how good your pictures are then.
Take the full size photo of the squirrel, zoom into the eye, adjust levels. Doesn’t look like iPhone.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-…
unreal. no way. granted theres enough light but what strikes me is the level of sharpness and the accuracy of the white balance. id be really surprised if these turn out legit, unedited iphone shots.
i think they’re referring to the bokeh the lens is able to produce, which for a cell phone is unheard of before. for normal, unchallenging circumstances, this is as good as it gets. of course your nikon, just as mine, will whip this thing at night.
P&S dont do bokeh as good as this
dslr??? OMG, don’t make me laugh, stupid mac fanboy!!!!
I want to see indoor shots and I want to see side by side comparisons with the same subject photographed with the 4 and 4S.
The camera’s on a tripod, I can tell, but cannot tell if it is an iPhone. Yes that just happened. ;)
Dude chill your vagina it’s fucking phone !!! We don’t give a fucking shit about your fucking Nikon DSLR, i’m sure you must be looking real slick when you carry that shit around !!!
Can you fuckers read correclty? It says : “It’s almost like having a DSLR” we don’t wanna hear what type of DSLR you have it’s Phone !!!
I think you’d be taking a step backwards by moving from N8 to 4s.. camera wise..
Tripod? Maybe for the first or second photo it would matter. But for the other three photos I don’t think a tripod would make much difference; just by looking at them, as there is little to none motion blur, you can tell that the exposure time was very small, and so a tripod wouldn’t change much.
LOL! All the haters. Let’s just put it this way, for a camera phone, it’s freakin great! Almost…keyword…ALMOST as good as DSLR cameras. Of course not better than the $2000+ DSLRs out there, but we are talking about a camera on a PHONE. Which costs half as much, and is…well…a phone. Can you make a call, text, go online, play games, add apps to your DSLR? lol Price for price, feature for feature, not to mention portability and convenience, the iP4S is a much better deal for the $ your spending. This quality is also better than most stand alone point and shoots out there. More and more professional photographers are adopting the iPhone as one of their tools to take pictures. Some have even done work exclusively using only the iPhone. That says a lot. And that’s just with the iP4. Imagine what we can do with the new optics and 8MP camera of the iP4S. Oh, did I forget to mention, IT’S A PHONE. lol Now only if they included an optical zoom, and a shutter length control feature, then we’d be really talking.
Take a pill Harold. Even the article says that a full DSLR is better. but for a camera on a phone well lets just say “Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a camera on your iPhone that could take photos that look as great as the ones you’d use your camera for.” Well now you have one that comes pretty f-ing close. And it light years ahead of other camera phones.
On behalf of woman everywhere, please do not insult us by using the term ‘vagina’ in relation to a person like Harold.
Even if it is a DSLR from 1999 it is still years ahead of other camera phones
Funny you mention the lenses. I have 5 for my DSLR and I use maybe 2 of them for 95% of my stuff and 1 for most of that.
Funny you mention the lenses. I have 5 for my DSLR and I use maybe 2 of them for 95% of my stuff and 1 for most of that.
I hid under your porch because I love you
But does it have flash? Have you seen the Samsung Galaxy II camera? Friggen amazing.
Of course it has flash, just like the iPhone 4. The galaxy camera sensor does not have a backlit sensor which allows more light in. Granted the Samsung Galaxy II is a great phone and the camera is good, but this new one on the 4S raises the bar again with the IR sensor, face detection and steady shot addition for video, not to mention the f 2.4 aperture which is normally on good point and shoot and SLR cameras. None of the other smart phones have that yet, but I’m sure they will eventually. They also added a fifth lens to it for even sharper images. It will take great shots in low light situations without the flash.
They do have some pretty cool accessories to add on optical zoom to the iphone 4. They should work fine on the 4S too. I’m not sure what the optical zoom is on some of them, but it’s better than nothing. Also you can zoom in some with the digital zoom and them crop the picture a little to get even a better close-up. I can’t wait to try this in real life.
Some people sure don’t bother reading the whole thing and if they do, they don’t think before they comment. (We could do without you printing the F word by the way! :-) )
It’s not just like a DSLR, but they made the aperture bigger which will help a lot. Pay closer attention the the article. It didn’t say anything of the sort. What DSLR do you like. I’m thinking of checking one out. My old point and shoot bit the dust! :-)
These were taken by an Apple employee. Not a professional.
It never said it’s just like a DSLR, but with the optic and sensor additions they are way better than even the iphone 4’s awesome pictures. Many professional photographers have been using the iPhone 4 pictures in their work without major editing.
Is it really necessary to use that kind of language here. There are women and children who read these articles. Maybe you could use ‘frickin’ or something. Thanks! :-)
You’re going to love it for sure. I have to wait till June to get the upgrade price. I can hardly wait! Have fun with it!
For your info it is an iphone picture.
But, the 4S is a vastly superior phone.