Just for fun!

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

I thought it would be interesting to get peoples opinions on these images and which they think is which!

Here's some photo's I took at Middleton Beach and Port Elliot yesterday, some taken with my DSLR and some with my new iPhone 8 plus, shot in RAW.

I've stripped out the Exif data from them, so that won't be of any assistance, you'll just have the images to compare. All were exported as jpegs, so that has added a tiny bit of noise to the skies, just to make it even more interesting.

Care to guess which are which?

I've posted a poll for you to be able to select which images you think are the iPhone ones.

Oh, and a bonus point if you can pick which one was taken using the 2x telephoto lens on the iPhone 8 plus, which has no Optical Image Stabilisation. You'll have to post a comment for us all to see your thoughts in this regard.

And all were taken hand-held, if that helps any.

Good luck!

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

 

[themumu]

I’m only looking at the photos on my small iPhone 8 screen, but damn, that’s a hard game to play. Did you edit them in post to match the color so well?

On the bright side, I’m now more exited to go play with my phone outside. I used to wear a life proof case on my phones for the last 4 years, which tends to be very hard to keep the camera clean, but now I feel like giving this one’s water protection a go.

Will check these later on a laptop before I cast my vote

 

[Moakesy]

Votes cast....

Really interesting post and looking forward to seeing how accurate my guesses were...

 

[Foogoofish]

So I voted for multiple images, is that the right thing to do?

I know where my 7 fell down on images like this, so I tried on that basis - no doubt I'm widely off the mark!!

Great idea

 

[LiE_]

It's pretty hard to tell when it comes to compressed/resized images on the web.

 

[Nathan King]

I'm fairly confident in my vote, but this just goes to show how good phone cameras are provided the light is good.

 

[kenoh]

Wow! thats tough. Struggled to tell them apart. No mangled detail, no obvious noise distortion, no image dimensions giving it away. Yeah assuming it isnt a trick and they are all not either or... then wow! that is a good performance put in by the iphone.

i am gonna say 3 with the 2x tele...

I am heading for embarrassment here I can tell...

 

[JoeRito]

Looks to me like 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 were taken with a small sansor camera so I’d pick those. I’d guess #5 had the 2x magnifier. Thanks for the interesting post!

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

I'll put everybody out of their misery, you were all correct with your guesses as to which ones were taken using the iPhone 8 plus!

I'll fess up now, that they all were! Sorry for my shenanigans and hopefully nobodies too peeved about it, it was just done in fun.

it's no DSLR beater, yet, but it's pretty impressive for such a small lens and sensor combination in my eyes, especially when used with a third party app so as to take advantage of the RAW files and full camera control.

 

[mofunk]

I was gonna say they are all because they look very similar. Some of the corners are soft. I've never had problems with shooting with an iPhone. I think if you are a photographer you can make anything work to your advantage. Plus it does help if you have something cool to shoot

 

[Foogoofish]

Agh! You fiend!

In fairness, the water was where I was looking for the issues in the photos. I have always struggled getting it to pick up crisp detail, and as such some of them had the hazy look, while others did not.

I would be interested in seeing some low(er) light shots if you would happen to have any - not very dark night time, but more like that grey overcast days that make everything look flat. This may be more difficult given your location and the time of year .

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

I was gonna say they are all because they look very similar. Some of the corners are soft. I've never had problems with shooting with an iPhone. I think if you are a photographer you can make anything work to your advantage. Plus it does help if you have something cool to shoot

The focus throughout the images impressed me quite a lot, my last iPhone was the 6, so it's a huge step up from that! The noise levels are a lot lower on the whole.

I agree with you, a photographer should be able to use whatever is at hand to create interesting imagery, whether it be one of LairdKnox's shoebox pinhole's or a mobile device.

Agh! You fiend!

In fairness, the water was where I was looking for the issues in the photos. I have always struggled getting it to pick up crisp detail, and as such some of them had the hazy look, while others did not.

I would be interested in seeing some low(er) light shots if you would happen to have any - not very dark night time, but more like that grey overcast days that make everything look flat. This may be more difficult given your location and the time of year .

Yeah, the water, especially where the swells/whites lacked details was a limitation of the camera here, but in all fairness, even my DSLR struggles to get beach shots balanced well and retain detail throughout an image, unless I take multiple exposures and blend them.

I will get to some twilight/lower light and even night shots soon enough, that will be interesting to see how it copes there.

I just ordered a spare arca-swiss plate and a mobile phone holder, so I can mount the 8+ on my tripod and play with some time-lapses. You can use the volume up button on your headphones as a remote trigger too, to avoid all camera shake for landscapes. Should result in better images again!

I'm impressed that a sensor which isn't even 1/3rd of an inch square can resolve such good imagery.

 

[JoeRito]

Thanks Alexander, please DO post a few low light / high IS0 shots for comparison. We are enjoying your research!

 

[Apple fanboy]

I'll put everybody out of their misery, you were all correct with your guesses as to which ones were taken using the iPhone 8 plus!

I'll fess up now, that they all were! Sorry for my shenanigans and hopefully nobodies too peeved about it, it was just done in fun.

it's no DSLR beater, yet, but it's pretty impressive for such a small lens and sensor combination in my eyes, especially when used with a third party app so as to take advantage of the RAW files and full camera control.

I was a bit late looking at this so saw the answers before I could vote. Mostly because I wanted to view them on my Mac not my iPhone.
I'm pretty impressed with the 7+ camera in good lighting. However the noise in anything dark when viewed on a bigger screen than a mobile does let it down. But then we are talking about a device that does so many other things with (in comparison) an incredibly small sensor.

The best camera you have is the one you have with you and all that.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

I was a bit late looking at this so saw the answers before I could vote. Mostly because I wanted to view them on my Mac not my iPhone.
I'm pretty impressed with the 7+ camera in good lighting. However the noise in anything dark when viewed on a bigger screen than a mobile does let it down. But then we are talking about a device that does so many other things with (in comparison) an incredibly small sensor.

The best camera you have is the one you have with you and all that.

I found the same with the 6, lots of noise, even on sunny days, particularly in the skies!

Absolutely! The best camera is the one you have with you at the time. I'd rather see an interesting image, than a technically good one with zero interest any day of the week!

 

[kallisti]

My initial impression was that they were all taken with the iPhone, but I didn't vote and then saw your reveal before I was going to vote.

I think phone cameras have come a long way in recent years. You chose a subject and shooting conditions that are optimal for a phone camera (i.e. strong light and a subject that benefits from a large depth of field).

Any camera is a tool, they all have strengths and weaknesses. Almost any piece of gear can create a pleasing image if used within its limits.

My current "hierarchy" of what contributes to a "good" pic:

(1) Choice of subject

(2) Composition. What angle is the subject taken from (i.e. what elements of the subject are present and which are absent)? A 2D representation of a 3D subject can't show everything. Which parts did you find interesting? The relationship of the subject to the background. How is the subject interacting with other elements in the image? Are background elements adding to the image or (more commonly) detracting from it by pulling the eye away from the subject? Choice of shooting position and focal length of the lens are key determinants of composition.

(3) Light. How is the subject lit relative to the background? How are individual elements lit relative to each other and the subject? How does the light influence the mood of the image? If shadows are present, are they harsh or soft? Do the shadows bring out texture in the image? Do they obscure important elements of the subject or draw the eye away from the subject? Is the light emphasizing what's important in the image? Are there distracting highlights that pull the eye away from what's important in the image?

(4) Exposure. Is the choice of shutter speed and aperture optimal for the particular subject? Sometimes depth of field is critical for an image and thus aperture takes a front seat in choice of exposure. Sometimes either freezing or blurring motion is critical and shutter speed is important.

(5) Focus. Sometimes it is critical, sometimes less so.

(6) IQ. This is where most of the emphasis falls on the internet. I don't want to discount it as it really can matter. But I would offer that it's only important when each of the above elements has been optimized. It's the easiest to talk about, measure, compare, gloat over, etc. But I'd argue it's not the most important element in a successful image.

Look through the POTD threads--almost universally the really compelling images are the ones that have nailed points 1-5 (and in some cases really pushed them).

Yes the IQ of phone cameras has gotten much better. And yes they are adequate for some subjects. But as tools they have very definite limits. Good for some things but not good for many other things.

Two examples shot with a Sony A7R2 and 85mm Batis lens @ f/16. The second with an off camera flash shot through an umbrella.

The first image is better than what I would have gotten with a phone from an IQ standpoint, but it has issues that have nothing to do with IQ. I think the second image is better for reasons that relate directly to the light. Getting rid of a distracting background. Emphasizing the textures present. IQ is secondary. And this image couldn't have been taken with an iPhone.

 

[Nathan King]

kallisti, your pair of images are a perfect example of the transformative power of light. Good photographs are most often found at the crossroads of light and shadow. Shadows breathe life into the world and add a brilliant sparkle to luminance; light can't be fully appreciated without darkness. I've learned more about photography through the writings of Renaissance painters and studying the Chiaroscuro technique often found in their work than I ever did from an Adobe Photoshop book. In some respects, good photographs can be captured just as well with an iPhone 8 as they can with a Hasselblad H5D; most limitations lie in the mind of the photographer.

 

[Mlrollin91]

I'll put everybody out of their misery, you were all correct with your guesses as to which ones were taken using the iPhone 8 plus!

I'll fess up now, that they all were! Sorry for my shenanigans and hopefully nobodies too peeved about it, it was just done in fun.

it's no DSLR beater, yet, but it's pretty impressive for such a small lens and sensor combination in my eyes, especially when used with a third party app so as to take advantage of the RAW files and full camera control.

Without reading the thread, I selected all 8 photos because I figured there was some trickery at play.

 

[DevNull0]

I’m only looking at the photos on my small iPhone 8 screen, but damn, that’s a hard game to play.

You're looking at pictures taken in bright sunlight and you're looking at 12MP photos resampled to web size.

Try looking at photos shot indoors under artificial light or look at the full res versions of these samples, it's a completely different story.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

You're looking at pictures taken in bright sunlight and you're looking at 12MP photos resampled to web size.

Try looking at photos shot indoors under artificial light or look at the full res versions of these samples, it's a completely different story.

Not really, it copes very well with low-light/artificial light as can be seen from these following images, which were just saved as jpegs, not RAW files. Obviously there is a difference to an image taken with a DSLR, as the DSLR has much bigger pixels on its sensor, so can capture more light and detail. but, that's not comparing like for like, is it?

Theoretically, an image taken with a 12MP bridge camera should be better, because of having the much bigger sensor, but it's not, when we did some simple comparisons with a friends Fuji bridge camera, with both shooting jpeg's.

 

[Susurs]

2., 4., 5., 6., 8.
No. 2 is telephoto.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

2., 4., 5., 6., 8.
No. 2 is telephoto.

@Susurs read message #9 above ^

I forgot to tell you all which one was taken with the telephoto lens which has no optical image stabilisation, it was #7.

 

[Susurs]

@Susurs read message #9 above ^

I forgot to tell you all which one was taken with the telephoto lens which has no optical image stabilisation, it was #7.

Thank’s!
Just wanted to guess, so I did’t read the mesages below to avoid spoilers
Well...Impressive...