Shocking Truth About The iPhone Camera
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
- Continuing my look at how convergence devices are often leaving us with levels of compromise that end up taking away from the more enjoyable and purist approach of using separate dedicated devices.
In this video I look at how a proper mirrorless camera in conjunction with an older iPhone, both kept for multiple years, offers a more enjoyable experience at similar cost to upgrading to latest iPhone each year.
I am still largely an Apple fan boy so I am certainly not just bashing them for the sake of it here. I actually think what they are doing with the small sensors in iPhones is remarkable. The main issue I have with them is how in my opinion they use relentless marketing to try and trick us into thinking their fake images are actually better than the larger sensor cameras when they are anything but.
Alongside this it is very interesting to explore what kind of camera you can get without spending more over the long run than you would if you just kept getting the latest iPhone each year.
Please note the tests in this video are entirely subjective and are my own opinion only!
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Found this channel after looking for a moonlander review, appears you make good videos about all kinds of things :) that's a bell icon pressed for me
Awesome thanks!
really enjoying digging through your content! Iv been doing the same with only upgrading the iPhone when it’s usually needs a battery replacement while using a Panasonic LX100 which is still going strong years and years later, plus keep me on my photography toes keeping it all in manual.
When you said you got a cheap camera I thought you meant like maybe $500! That thing is $1,700!! The pictures you take are always better than the ones don't. We used to use a camera and we never had it or used it because it was inconvenient. We take a lot more pictures of things now than we ever did. The quality isn't great but it is good enough for a photo book or scrap book or video slide show. I think a good phone camera wins for that reason. Unless you take your camera with you everywhere, you will never capture near as many memories.
Totally agree - if I haven’t got my big camera I’m glad to have the iPhone for sure.
By the way it is actually pretty affordable due to its potentially very long life cycle and good resale value. Especially when comparing to annual iPhone upgrades.
There are also cheaper Fuji cameras with the same sensor.
The saying goes: the best camera is the one you have on you when you need it :) that said: I am a happy Fuji x-e4 user with a manual lens. Because it is not just picture quality and results that matter (to me) but also the joy of engaging in the activity. And if you spend some time with Fuji’s in camera film simulations you get a lot of the creative limitations of actual film without the cost. Not for everyone but totally valid considerations, too.
Me watching the Galaxy S20 reveal: "Wow this video quality is crap"
At the end of the presentation: "We filmed the whole event on the Galaxy S20"
lol!
100% true! Finally someone else whos noticed.
Interesting insights. Thanks for sharing.
I never understood why the camera seems to be the most important part of a smartphone. i use mine only a couple times a year on vacetions. front camera never.
Same here! Couldn't care less about cameras on a phone. I guess, at least for Apple users, it's all about the hype at the core of their marketing scheme. Poor bastards are made to believe every new iteration of a product is so amazingly different that the old one that it needs replacing NOW. I've always replaced my phone no sooner than 4 years.
I upgrade every 4 years, but I get the best one when I upgrade. I also have a Fuji X100F, but I’m using it less and less because I always have my phone with me. I believe iPhone replaced the pocket camera (from the first version) and is trying to get better and better. I just shot with what I have with me at the time and I don’t care so much for shallow depth of field but I understand your analysis on the software limitations at the moment.
I tried carrying a compact large sensor camera - Sony RX100. Now sold it. It was just too big to carry around on a daily basis. The phone goes everywhere. I also wasn’t that impressed with the camera’s images. Without computational photography the sensor advantage didn’t do it for me.
I’ve discovered Panorama mode produces great 50mp landscape images with very acceptable detail. Yes I miss the telephoto lens of the Sony but it’s a sacrifice worth making for the convenience
Yeah the RX100 hasn’t really got the big enough sensor to justify the leap unless you really want the zoom. For sure I’m not suggesting that you can carry these big cameras everything a phone can go. Just that there’s no point in falling for the upgrade game thinking they are in any way a substitute in terms of image quality!
iPhones are used for PoC shots in Hollywood productions, at least that's what I heard in some interview recently. Apparently they can sometimes be good enough to be left in the actual movie, but that's rare.
In terms of performance even iPhone 6 or 6s are decent for everyday use. However, battery life, camera and screen are much worse. Also keep in mind that picture processing is resource intensive, so there is a benefit to newer phones even if you don't use any "pro" features, but want to take cool photos. That being said, most people should be just fine with keeping the same iPhone for 2-3 years, 4-5 would probably be ok. In the older phones the battery life seems to be the biggest weakness. For whatever reason only the recent iphones have excellent battery life.
btw great channel, keep it up 😉
I have a number of Fuji cameras, from the X Pro 1 to the XT3 plus some.very nice Fuji lenses… I prefer just using my iPhone for general photography these days.
Have you got an X100 series? Wonder if the size of that might fit the bill a bit more. I still use my phone a lot too, but it’s fantastic using the Fuji to make some lovely family videos when we are doing something a bit more special etc.
Very good. I completely agree. I had my last phone for 8yrs (Nexus 5). I got a refurb Pixel 3a recently and very happy with the camera.. but it ain't a real camera. I have to tell it to remove the background blur on a lot of pictures because the software edge detection cocks it up and blurs part of the thing I'm taking a picture of.
New subscriber, really looking forward to learning more about your 12-key layout, or whatever number you have it down to now :)
16. 12 would be insanity! Video coming soon.
“The best camera is the one with you” and your pockets are already full, Ben! Haha
It’s true. I don’t always carry the Fuji. Usually if we are going somewhere nice at the weekend etc. And after all the experimenting with bags etc the easiest way to carry it is just with the neck strap! Sometimes I take the gimbal too though so that is time for a bag.
@@BenVallack same here, we carry a Fuji X100F (mine) or a Sony A7RIII (my wife’s) with us often but still take so many pictures with our iPhones. We don’t have a car so bags are a must.
Could you share why you chose the Fujifilm X-T4? I'm contemplating a mirrorless camera, but I feel overwhelmed with all the options.
Fujifilm image quality is pretty unrivalled at this price. You can get lenses that have f1.4 which gives you the look of a full frame camera at much lower cost. The X-T4 in particular has in body image stabilisation which is great for video, and can record it 60fps in 4K for slow motion. There just isn’t anything else on the market that really competes with that!
I think for the majority of a casual audiences it’s also worth thinking about more than just the technical specs - in short thinking about what you will be using a camera for - and how often you will be using it, and what your alternatives are.
If an iPhone is good enough for 90% of the photographs I will normally take, does it make sense for me to upgrade?
There are some things that the iPhone is bad at - such as wildlife/nature photography, sports photography etc. but it meets my needs for the majority of my current use cases (like casual photos, videoconferencing, etc) - does it make sense for me to drop that much money on a new piece of gear, especially given that I won’t be travelling a lot and primarily staying at home? What are my options for accomplishing the things that only a dedicated camera can do?
Does the lack of a dedicated camera affect me enough that spending ~1000 dollar equivalent be worth it for me? Would I be able to improvise or use existing gear to achieve what I want to do?
Yeah absolutely. I think the point is make in that situation is there is certainly no point upgrading every year to the latest iPhone either for that use case.
After two of your vids I’m subbed. Debunk these convergence bs. I’m totally trapped . This helps .
When you increase the resolution of a camera without changing the format of the sensor you run into a bit of a dilemma. You loose lowlight perfornance by making the pixels smaller. To compensate you want to open up the lens (lower F number) but this is exact the opposite of what you need to do to be able to make use of the small pixel size when it comes to resolution.
I would guess that apple and most mobile cameras are way past the point where increasing resolution of the sensor actually improves the image quality of the camera. But as long as people pay I guess they can continue... 😆
What about those really compact cameras that you can easily slip into a coat pocket on its own. Do you think its worth getting one of those over a phone with a good camera. Just thinking it would handy having a decent camera with you all the time without the need to carry a backpack
I think the point where it starts getting interesting is when the sensor is APS-C size. Take a look at the Fuji X100v or Richo GR III.
@@BenVallack thanks I'll look into those
The biggest advantage to having a camera on your phone- is connectivity. I don’t have to transfer the photo to share/do a quick edit.
Samsung tried to fix that with the Galaxy Camera. But it didn’t sell.
I don’t think there is any reason why a smiled down version of android can’t be put on the nicer cameras with Wi-Fi connectivity. That way if I want to- I can take a great shot and send it to someone right away. Maybe just send the raw and have them finish it.
I studied print media back some 20 years ago and one of the teachers said that 3 megapixels is enough for a picture the size of a wall. And I do agree. And that's why I always have wondered why do you need like a 20 mega pixel camera on a phone if around 3 mega pixels should be enough for a professional studio.
Sorry but that's nonsense! A 3 mp image the size of a wall would only work if you were a very, very long way away from it!
@@BenVallack I meant that if you print the picture out in an offset. As in a large ad or whatnot. Maybe that's something I should've pointed out.
But the point is that how many pixels does an average user need? How often do people actually even take pictures with the max settings?
Since when was shallow depth of field extremely desirable? I always considered it a downside of a wide aperture used to gain fast shutter speed.
It’s one of these things that is desirable in the portrait photography community and now TH-camrs all want it as well for their a-roll shots (myself included, it does look better). But landscape photographers generally want small apertures for broad depth of field. And the downside of small sensors is small pixels which adds in diffraction which limits small aperture use. So small sensors is basically hitting both ends of the spectrum of desirable photography characteristics!
honestly just seeing ben posted up, slightly blurry, in the dark, is one of most vaguely threatening things I think I've ever seen
I find that the smartphone replaced the digital compact camera. But smartphones will never be as good as real cameras (m4/3 and larger). But you know how most people are: don't really care about quality and don't want to carry a "large" camera, thus choose the comfort of the smartphone. And it must be said that smartphone cameras have become much better. Mine can do RAW and manual control everything! Better than my old digital compact camera, but not as good as my old digital real large sensor camera.
The way I see it is that smartphones don't displace proper SLR cameras, they displace the point and shoot or disposable cameras of old.
Yeah good way of looking at it
Photography on a iPhone 14 Pro Max is a nice gimmick. Use for photography a old Nikon D4 which still beats the Nikon Z9. For me the lenses are far more important and how to use light. With a old Nikon F3 you can make beautiful photos. Use the 85mm f/1.4 and the 105mm f/2 Nikon AF-D prime lenses the most. The Nikon D4 is still a great camera to use. Use it more than the D5,D6 or the Z9.
Gah I'm so guilty of doing this. I have some really nice camera hardware but I almost have a habit of upgrading my phone every year, then being disappointed that it's only an incremental improvement. Not planning to do it this year, instead upgrading my iPad Pro which I use all the time but have had for years. If you're interested in taking pictures, a dedicated camera is really the best way to get good results. Phones are OK for snaps but when I look at my camera roll, I can see the image quality deteriorate the further I scroll back. It's depressing.
Personally I'm still using an iPhone SE and a Ricoh GR iii - it's a great compact camera and a great compact phone!
Currently wondering about a Fuji x100v or the GRiii. APS-C in the GR iii size is seriously appealing though.
The problem with the Ricoh GR for me was not loving 28mm field of view enough. You get the same field of view as your iPhone and a not so great blur… For many pictures I was like… “I could have shot that with my iPhone”. I loved the X100 more for that reason, feels more natural to me and I love the EVF.
My Canon t2i/550D is still rocking. 😁
For me it come down to control vs convenience. All modern phone cameras do exceptional computational photography, where the phone recognizes objects in the image and edits the photo the way the manufacturere thinks you will like it.
That goes from taking the photo (focus, exposure, shutter speed, iso) to editing (bokeh/blur, saturation, regional exposure adjustment). On a DSLR/DSLM you have to (or can) control all these factors yourself. So if you are a creator with a vision he wants to materialize, control is more important than convenience. If you don't care about those details and just want a decent picture right away, modern phone cameras are amazing.
Just wait what DSLM/DSLRs will be capable of when they can manufacture full frame sensors with global shutters. That allows for all the wizardry that modern cameraphones have, with magnitudes better sensors and optics. I believe sony is currently and publicly pushing in that direction.
Very well put! iPhone levels of computational stuff with full frame would be mind blowing.
Once, my wife asked me to setup some lights so she can take photos of her spare shoes so she can sell them. I thought to myself, that it's gonna be easier to set up the whole thing so she can take photos with her iPhone not with one of my cameras (Fuji XE-3 or Canon EOS R5). First I tried just with natural light and some reflectors... it worked... until there was a good light outside, which was not the case the following day. Then I thought to myself: there are some nice Bluetooth triggered flashes for iPhones, I'll get one, that will be easy, so I thought. Flashes arrived and... there was no way to sync it reliably, it was a completely random process due to lags in BT communication between flashes and iPhone. Then I just grabbed my old Fuji, put remote trigger on, put some off-camera strobe with a diffusor and voila, in no time the pictures were great... each one of them! The marketing promise of taking good photos with your iPhone is good for vacations or selfie, but whenever you want to have any (and I mean it, any!) control over the photo (like lighting, DOF, compression... etc.) you will spend infinite amount of time with adequate frustration trying to get the required result with your phone. Phone cameras are just not there yet, dot.
Ugh, when apple said the thing about post-focus and phrasing it as better than Hollywood cameras I was so mad. Apple knows what they're doing, they know most of their casual consumers probably don't know what a focus puller is. Apples marketing is clearly based on manipulating their casual users' lack of knowledge, it feels kind of infantilizing but to casuals they just go "oh, apple says it, cool"
So glad I wasn’t the only one thinking that when they said that!!
@@BenVallack just saw this response 3 months later, I think we're part of the minority!
@@pdtheowl9292 Yeah - Apple marketing team is formidable!
The real advantage of a camera phone is two fold
Ease of sharing and carry weight.
Most phone users will have it with them all the time so it's great for casual photos of people pets landscapes etc amd they can share it instantly.
Some cameras do have sharing but they are expensive. Though if someone is buying iPhone yearly I imagine they are wealthy enough to afford them.
A cheap standalone camera (like 200-500) makes a lot more sense if you have a budget like 200 dollar phone that can take pictures but is very unresponsive and can't handle low light or zoom.
I personally get more expensive phones with better cameras and chipsets but I keep them for 5-6 years. They effectivly replaced the point and shoot i had before.
I do have an old dslr but I rarely have it with me except on vacation and my computer has faulty USB ports so getting photos off of it is hard.
I can't imagine buying a new phone yearly anyway. It's like those jerks thay buy brand new cars every 2-3 years. Even if you have the money it seems more a pain in the butt than anythjng
As soon as my current phone dies I'll be buying a Fairphone. Ethically produced, user-replaceable parts (battery, camera, charging port etc are all modular), and the longest software support of any phone (they aim for 6 years but often it's longer).
Funny. I just bought an Sony hx99 thinking of the same thing. I also own a Sony a6000.
The marketing teams really prey upon one thing you barely mentioned for a few seconds about 7:00 in, you have to know what you're doing with the settings to get a good result with a real digital camera, an iphone is specifically tailored to look good in low res snapshots (i.e. instagram) taken by people with zero knowledge of photography. People often buy more complex cameras expecting better results and what they don't realize is that photographers who get good results with that gear are manipulating the gear to get good results, it's not the gear making the results for them.
Just to clarify, the background blur effect is not due to the larger sensor, but because of the larger diaphragm aperture that can be configured. Cameras on mobile phones do not have adjustable diaphragm aperture, so they use a small enough fixed aperture such that most of the image is well focused (large depth of field).
But there's a limit to f-stops. In practice, you hardly ever see less than f 0.95 for sale, and those are big and heavy with glass. The lowest I've heard of is f 0.7. And a quick internet search suggests that the theoretical limit is f 0.5. With a 3.35x smaller (diagonally) sensor on the iphone, you'd need at least an f 0.42 lens to get the same depth of field as an f 1.4 on the xt-4. Also, technically it doesn't matter if an aperture is adjustable or not. If it were fixed at wide open, it would be just as wide as if you were able to stop down.
It’s a combination yes, you can’t have one without the other :)
@@ericvogler6909 good explanation
>Camera with a proper big sensor
>X-T4
And it still mostly wins.
Aww man, just think about how many custom keyboards you could have bought or built instead! 😉
hehe!
I agree with most of your points here but if you sat down 100 people and made them watch the Detectives short by Apple shot on the 13 in cinematic mode, I would wager that 99 of the 100 would consider that to be Hollywood camera quality
If they watched it on an iPhone in portrait maybe, not so much on a 4K OLED TV I reckon!
most people have to learn how to use a camera first and secondly *breaking news* you have your phone always with you in your pocket. A camera won’t do it for 95% of the people at all.
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lol, if your device survives that long, but it's not meant to
They definitely are. Have so many old iPhones kicking around all going strong. Obviously the batteries fail but that’s par for the course with the technology used this way.
Well, if it survives that long, it deserves to be used. Just not seen it too often. Usually something happens to it and then it costs less to replace...
@@ashnur my devices are well taken care of, typing from a mint condition iPad Air 2
@@satsumagt5284 so that's what, a 4-5 year old tablet?
@@ashnur Pretty much. This is the second Air 2, first was bought in 2016, sadly the screen was into pieces in 2018, so I got it replaced at an AASP
portrait mode is useless for people with curly hair 😂
What the fuck is a REAL camera?
One that doesn’t use software to fake the look of a real camera
But what if the fake is indistinguishable from the real one? Is it really fake then
@@wunderkindniall It's not as of now 😜
@@wunderkindniall we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!