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iPhone photos are better than a mirrorless camera photos

A

AppleHater

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2010
788
104
I was processing my photos from my trip last week, and I was surprised by the quality of the photos that I took with iPhone.

Compared to Nikon 1 J3 photos, iPhone 6 produced less noisy and better looking photos. Especially in low light, it destroyed J3.

Of course, it fell short of the quality of photos from Nikon D700 with $1700 lens and has the over-processed look at times, iPhone earned my trust. No wonder compact camera is disappearing quickly.
 
AppleHater said:
I was processing my photos from my trip last week, and I was surprised by the quality of the photos that I took with iPhone.

Compared to Nikon 1 J3 photos, iPhone 6 produced less noisy and better looking photos. Especially in low light, it destroyed J3.

Of course, it fell short of the quality of photos from Nikon D700 with $1700 lens and has the over-processed look at times, iPhone earned my trust. No wonder compact camera is disappearing quickly.
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Doesn't the Nikon 1 only have a 1" sensor? I'm sure a m4/3, aps-c, or full frame mirror less camera would perform better than an iPhone, in fact I know it does, my Nex-5t blows away my iPhone 6.

However with that said the camera on the iPhone 6 is really really good. I do no longer see the point of having a point and shoot. Mirrorless + iPhone 6 is now the killer combination.
 
AppleHater said:
Compared to Nikon 1 J3 photos, iPhone 6 produced less noisy and better looking photos. Especially in low light, it destroyed J3.
Click to expand...
I had a Nikon 1 and found the images to be very noisy - don't disparage Mirrorless cameras because a single camera - The Nikon 1 has a tiny sensor. I have an Olympus OMD EM5 and its a great camera. The low light performance of that camera is outstanding. Sony NEX line has large sensors and is another example where it outperforms a camera phone by a wide margin.
 
skaeight said:
Mirrorless + iPhone 6 is now the killer combination.
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Spot on. At the largest photography store in Atlanta, over half of the staff have given up their huge stacks of Nikon and Canon gear and gone either M43 (Panasonic or Olympus), Sony, or Fuji. At one of the photo clubs where we are members, around 1/3 of the people are shooting mirrorless.

Every time I see the size, weight, and cost of 35mm DSLR equipment I am so thankful we migrated last spring.
 
Apple fanboy said:
I'd have to disagree. DSLR (with good glass)+ iPhone 6+ is the winning combination.
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And I'll disagree with you.

DSLR + Good glass is the winning combination. iPhone 6+ is for taking phone calls and browsing the web whilst on the toilet.

Mirrorless is only for old people with weak bones. Just ask MCAsan and his wife. :p
 
Nope. iPhone photo files are horribly lossy JPEGs that you can't do anything with. I'd just mirrorless every time not least because I can shoot RAW.

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The Bad Guy said:
And I'll disagree with you.

DSLR + Good glass is the winning combination. iPhone 6+ is for taking phone calls and browsing the web whilst on the toilet.

Mirrorless is only for old people with weak bones. Just ask MCAsan and his wife. :p
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I just ordered myself a Sony A6000 to replace my D7000. It's better in every way and smaller and lighter. I think DSLRs are a dying breed. There's becoming very little reason to lug heavy DSLRs around anymore. One day mirrorless cameras will offer everything a DSLR can and more, just like they already do.
 
The Bad Guy said:
And I'll disagree with you.

DSLR + Good glass is the winning combination. iPhone 6+ is for taking phone calls and browsing the web whilst on the toilet.

Mirrorless is only for old people with weak bones. Just ask MCAsan and his wife. :p
Click to expand...

I'm not a big iPhone camera user. More for snaps that photos. But sometimes that's what you need!
 
Smartphone camera in general have technical hurdle left to cover... Low-light, no-flash indoor photography. They're getting very close, with respect to high aperture and image stabilization, but sensor size helps a good deal in this respect. They're not going to be telephoto so it's pointless to want that feature, but low light, indoor photography sans flash. I think another two or three generations and it'll be there :)
 
Mirrorless + iPhone 6 is now the killer combination.
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I think I should expand on this a little bit. The reason I like the iPhone 6 camera is not because it's the best possible camera, but it is amazing good for what it is, and it's always with me. They are doing some amazing things with the software that processes the captured light in that thing. I only wish I could get that software in an actual mirrorless camera.

I'm doing a 365 project this year and it just wouldn't be possible with out my iPhone 6. It takes pictures that are respectable and workable. There are days that I am just so spent from work and everything else going on in my life and I realize I need a picture for the day. Fortunately in these cases I have my iPhone 6 with me, I don't have to remember to bring it with me everyday. I just get out my phone, find a nice shot and take it. So this has completely replaced the need for a walk around point and shoot for me.

Now when I actually want to take really nice photos, I get out my Nex-5T which when I have the kit lens on I can actually fit in a coat pocket. Not only is it small, but it was very reasonably priced, and the picture quality is outstanding. For me anyways, this is all I need, I'm not a sports photographer and I'm doing crazy wildlife photos, so I don't need the advantages that a DSLR bring.

This is to be expected, but I just really love how things have gotten smaller, cheaper, and better all at the same time. I just think we're to the point where there are very view downsides of going mirrorless, and the advantages I already listed along with with the fact that the companies making mirrorless (Nikon 1 withstanding) are really pushing the envelope with their technology (unlike Canon and Nikon), make it that much more appealing
 
Isn't an iPhone 6 a mirrorless already? :)

Right tool for the right job. Mirorless cameras still fail at tracking objects moving toward or away from the sensor at a relatively fast pace. I also still like the interface on a DSLR.

As far as selling off Canon or Nikon to go Sony, those E-mount lenses aren't cheap either, and there's a lot less of them. I know because my camcorder uses them.

No camera with a big lens is going to fit nicely in an average pocket.

In the end, you should use the camera that best suits you (and of course, the one you have with you). If you get photos you like, who the **** cares. No one goes up to the Mona Lisa and says "Freakin' awesome! I wonder what kind of brush he used."

No one asks about the brand of strings that Hendrix used, and no one thinks it was a microphone that allowed. Shatner. to. deliver. lines. like. this.

If you get results you like, the tool doesn't matter. If you want to solve technical issues, find the tool that does that.

You never see anyone claiming their photos are better because they are on Transend versus Lexar SD cards.
 
In a good lighting condition, even a pinhall camera will take a decent photo. When things are not so optimal, which is more common than that, you need the "help" from a good camera to make up for your mistakes and technical flaws.

DSLR market is surely shrinking but I believe it's here to stay. Surely, mirrorless cameras with smaller sensors (than full-frame sensors) are getting better each year. So are full frame sensors. When the quality matters the most, stupidly expensive DSLRs with damn heavy lens will get you the best results (assuming the photographer knows what he's doing). Just like what happened to SACD, those who need the absolute best isn't much and full frame DSLRs will have a limited market.

What I originally meant with my thread was in half decent lighting condition, iPhone 6 took a better picture than my Nikon 1 J3, which is a mirrorless camera. Of course, there are other mirrorless cameras with better IQ, but the fact that iPhone images even comparable to ANY mirrorless camera is pretty impressive to me considering all the physical limitations.
 
Always fascinating to see how people think the IQ of camera phones is good.
 
AppleHater said:
In a good lighting condition, even a pinhall camera will take a decent photo. When things are not so optimal, which is more common than that, you need the "help" from a good camera to make up for your mistakes and technical flaws.

DSLR market is surely shrinking but I believe it's here to stay. Surely, mirrorless cameras with smaller sensors (than full-frame sensors) are getting better each year. So are full frame sensors. When the quality matters the most, stupidly expensive DSLRs with damn heavy lens will get you the best results (assuming the photographer knows what he's doing). Just like what happened to SACD, those who need the absolute best isn't much and full frame DSLRs will have a limited market.

What I originally meant with my thread was in half decent lighting condition, iPhone 6 took a better picture than my Nikon 1 J3, which is a mirrorless camera. Of course, there are other mirrorless cameras with better IQ, but the fact that iPhone images even comparable to ANY mirrorless camera is pretty impressive to me considering all the physical limitations.
Click to expand...

I think what myself and other are saying is the Nikon 1 isn't the best representation of what a mirrorless camera can do. It has a relatively small sensor compared to the other options.

When you're talking low light, sensor size along with size your aperture on your lens, and whether your camera or lens have image stabilization are the primary factors in determining how great your image is going to come out.

I don't think I've used my flash on my NEX-5T yet because I have a 35mm 1.8 aperture lens. It has a largish APS-C sensor so it is pretty decent in low light. (and again for what it is the iPhone 6 does very well here as well, but my sony is in a different league). Using this camera in low light isn't making up for mistakes or technical flaws, it's allowing me to get better shots in conditions where it wouldn't otherwise be possible. Using a flash is always my last resort.

Whether something is a mirrorless camera or a DSLR is of no consequence in this area. If you have a Fuji or Sony mirrorless you have the same size sensor as what's in a DSLR (Fuji is strictly APS-C and Sony makes both APS-C and Full frame sensors). I haven't used one myself but apparently the Sony A7S can practically shoot in the dark, because its a full frame sensor and the fact that they've done some amazing work to optimize it for low light (it's a lower megapixel sensor with larger sensing areas).

So it's great you're happy with your iPhone, but you may want to look to a different mirrorless camera if you want to step your pictures up. My point is just don't feel like you need to go to a DSLR to do so. There are very few advantages left with DSLRs (verlon mentioned a few of them)- if those don't apply don't worry about it, get the newer technology.

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned in any of this is having a live view of what the sensor is actually seeing after the camera has done it's processing should actually be the primary advantage given for mirrorless cameras. When I had my canon, I'd frequently be disappointed with how pictures came out later because it looked great in the viewfinder when I took it, but it's not how the sensor saw it. Now with my Sony I have a pretty darn good idea of what the end result will be.
 
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AppleHater said:
What I originally meant with my thread was in half decent lighting condition, iPhone 6 took a better picture than my Nikon 1 J3, which is a mirrorless camera. Of course, there are other mirrorless cameras with better IQ, but the fact that iPhone images even comparable to ANY mirrorless camera is pretty impressive to me considering all the physical limitations.
Click to expand...

Another difference not mentioned is if you try to crop the iPhone picture versus a mirrorless. The differences will definitely be evident.

I'm not knocking the iPhone's camera. Its great but I don't put it in the same category as my OMD EM5.
 
maflynn said:
Another difference not mentioned is if you try to crop the iPhone picture versus a mirrorless. The differences will definitely be evident.

I'm not knocking the iPhone's camera. Its great but I don't put it in the same category as my OMD EM5.
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Totally agreed. I would much rather a raw image from most purpose built cameras than a jpg from a phone or tablet. Let me know when IOS delivers good raw files.
 
I think that cell phone cameras are quite brilliant for what they are. They are the new "snapshot" camera of our day. Just point and shoot and accept the output for what it is.

For me, I find my iPhone perfect for fast snaps that could range from a quick pic of my dog to email to documenting items that are damaged and of course generic people pictures.

I prefer the output of RAW from cameras and some cameras produce impressive jpegs in camera (See Fuji X trans sensor as example).

There seems to be something for everyone who wants to capture a moment.
 
maflynn said:
Another difference not mentioned is if you try to crop the iPhone picture versus a mirrorless. The differences will definitely be evident.

I'm not knocking the iPhone's camera. Its great but I don't put it in the same category as my OMD EM5.
Click to expand...
Cropping aside, iPhone 6 can give one images every bit as good, and sometimes better, than much higher end cameras. When I go out shooting with my E-M1, I always try to make a point of taking some photos with my 6 Plus, and it's not uncommon to get back and find some jewels on the iPhone.
 
leighonigar said:
I'd be interested to see some comparison photos.
Click to expand...

Here's an image with a 100% crop. It was not shot with an iPhone ;)

model_detail.jpg
 
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