iPhone Camera Shoot Out

Sunday, January 25, 2009, 2:34
JailBreak
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As time goes on, everyone we speak to, complains at how bad the iPhone camera is. We tend to just agree and nod, and all hope for a brighter day when Apple actually make the camera half decent.

With the release of the iPhone 3G, we’ve seen that Apple clearly are not so bothered about creating any form of killer phone, but rather one that just ‘looks’ nice, and actually doesn’t do anything special. Whilst we are fanboys here at iPhoneUserGuide, we do think the iPhone 3G is possibly one of the worst 2nd gen devices Apple have ever released.

In this review we look at the Camera on the iPhone (2 megapixel) which is possibly one of the most expensive phones on the market, compared with a standard Sony Ericsson Cybershot K810i (3.2 megapixel) and a Nokia 6110 Navigator (2 megapixel). BOTH mobile phones are at least 18 months old, and are Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s ‘average’ phones of 2006/2007…

One point to note is that these phones do have automatic flashes (unlike the iPhone!!!)

A point-and-click test of all three phones.

(click on the thumbnails to see the full size images of each test)

Test 1 – Indoor Office Shot

Left: iPhone Middle: Nokia Right: Sony Ericsson

In an indoor environment, flooded with light, the iPhone produced the warmest images, even though it was the least sharp of the images, it has the nicest overall tone and colour.

Winner: Apple iPhone

Test 2 – Macro Shot

Left: iPhone Middle: Nokia Right: Sony Ericsson

The Sony Ericsson’s autofocus really shows it’s strength in this test, where the Nokia and iPhone struggled to get a focus on the close up post it notes.

Winner: Sony Ericsson

Test 3 – Outdoor Shot (no flash)

Left: iPhone Middle: Nokia Right: Sony Ericsson

Shooting outdoors was very interesting, with no flash, the iPhone stood up well against the Nokia and the Sony Ericsson, however in this case, the camera which handled the contrast between very white skies and the ground, whilst maintaining a good colour balance and warmth was the Nokia.

Winner: Nokia

Test 4 – Backlit Scene

Left: iPhone Middle: Nokia Right: Sony Ericsson

The iPhone is terrible at shooting anything backlit, the lack of fill in flash means that the overall balance that the camera applies to the image is usually wrong. In this test, the same thing occured, whilst it tried to balance against the bright window it left the main darker area of the bean bags dull and grainy. The Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones performed better, with the Nokia bleaching out the entire window in favour of the closer content, whilst the Sony Ericsson handled the image in the best way, leaving the background and the foreground visible nicely.

Winner: Sony Ericsson

Conclusion

With all these shots we were holding the camera extremely still each time, and still we were disappointed with the results of the iPhone.

The Nokia and the Sony Ericsson clearly outshone the iPhone, lets hope that Apple implement autofocus and some sort of flash before the next iPhone is released. If you want an iPhone as a phone/iPod/Camera replacement, we suggest still taking your camera out with you… You’ll be disappointed most of the time other wise.

Our ‘Camera Shake Test’ will be online next week, so be sure to check it out.