How is the iPhone 6 camera 8 MP yet so good?

[MaXimus666]

You see these crazy mega pixels these days (up to 41 MP on the Nokia I think) and 16 MP on Samsungs and stuff, yet how come the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, and now the iPhone 6 all have an 8 MP camera only?

To be fair, I had a BlackBerry Q10 a while back and this iPhone 6 camera blows it out of the water. Like with the BlackBerry, it's a matter of a) being really really still and not move while taking the photo and b) a matter of luck to get a crisp picture. With the iPhone 6, I feel that no matter how sloppy I tend to be and not even focus on stabilizing myself much, it takes great pictures every time.

am I correct when I tell people that all megapixels mean is that the image will look better when printed on huge paper but at the end of the day, it's all about the lens?

anyone care to shed some light on this topic?

Also, since all the recent iPhones are 8 MP, what differentiates them from one another in terms of quality?

 

[MaXimus666]

hmmm, found my answer (almost)

The camera on the iPhone 6 is still 8MP - some four years and four different models in a row. But under the hood it's a new camera altogether. There is a new sensor with built in phase detection auto focus (Focus pixels, as per Apple PR talk), the camera shoots faster, focuses faster and has an even better digital video stabilization. There is also new high speed video modes in 120fps and 240fps, but still no 4K video.

It is certainly the best 8MP camera from Apple to date, but we are not sure that alone qualifies as the major upgrade Apple pretends it to be. It's like they are withholding the higher resolution camera and the 4K video recording just so they have a proper new feature to promote on the iPhone 6s.

Next to the camera lens is the dual color LED flash, similar to the one on the last year's iPhone, but it's a perfect circle instead of an oval shape. The flash, dubbed True tone by Apple marketing, features one white and one amber-colored LED. It is quite a successful concept, where the phone can dynamically mix the two colors of light in varying proportions, allowing it to match the ambient light and thus achieve more realistic photos.

http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_6-review-1141p3.php

 

[Ibaorus]

Yeah, more megapixels doesn't always mean better picture, but with more megapixels, you can zoom in more.

More megapixels with bad sensor is useless tho, because the picture looks like crap when you zoom in.