Sample gallery: Apple&#39;s iPhone 5s

"Taken in good weather, but nevertheless shows what the latest iPhone can do."

Yup, the iPhone's sweep panos don't work very well in very low light, compared to just shooting (for example guided) stills and (auto-)stitching them.

At least this was the case with the iPhone 5 - dunno if the 5s is considerably better in this regard. I don't think so - fast sensor readout during sweeping means it just can't decrease the shutter speed to, say, 1/15s to have as good low-light performance as normal still shooting.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Stollen1234

Iphone fan here: sad but the Iphone was the smart phone leader..time to switch to samsung

the photos are not that good especially in the low light conditions..
screen too small...

Touch ID is not secure..

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Houseqatz

LOL, OH NO!!!! my dslr has a tiny screen, and no security!!!! i better upgrade to a more secure camera with a bigger screen and better security.

screen size has nothing to do with the capabilities of the camera. are you an advocate of tablet photography?

Sep 24, 2013permalink

0lf

So, the iPhone is not secure enough, then you switch to a less secure platform ?

Sep 25, 2013permalink

kriztian

Not even Close to Nokia 1020. Low light sucks and the pics are only useful on the web. Sorry but Iphone is not a good cameraphone.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Mrrowe8

Remember the Nokia has very very limited memory and NO ability to expand it and u have to get tied to a cloud to store ur images. Not sure about u but I am a full grown man and like to decide for myself when to share images on a platform not b dictated too ..so till Nokia fixes that I punt it ..

Sep 24, 2013permalink

"Remember the Nokia has very very limited memory and NO ability to expand it and u have to get tied to a cloud to store ur images"

Actually, there are even 64 GB models of the 1020 at certain GSM operators. They are rumoured to become available for anyone later.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

suprjeff

all my pictures on my 1020 upload to my Google+ account, pretty easy, then sync with my picasa.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

BurningPlatform

Nice pictures. Though on the concert hall panorama I was wondering about the smoke effect, thinking, Oh! they are allowed to smoke in concerts! But well, full size image revealed it was sensor noise.

Anyway, progress is always a good thing.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

While the pano mode in the 5s is considerably better (variable exposure without major jumps, higher resolution etc.) than in the 5, it still seems to be considerably worse in low light than shooting individual, full-size stills and stitching them either automatically or manually.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Barney Britton

There's a good deal of smoke/haze as well.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

The dynamic range is stunning. I'd like to know the electron well capacity. It's probably better than the early dSLRs like the NIkon D70.

The next step for Apple would be to implement Raw file formats for even better post-processing.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

massimogori

Spot on, vFunct. The new iPhone iterations will destroy the pro market of Phase One and will force Leica and Zeiss to convert themselves into producers of i-Phone add on lenses.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

thx1138

Not even close, or do you think Apple has patented extra tiny electrons that fit into the tiny wells of the iPhone sensor.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Yes the iPhone images are much better than the earlier dSLRs, I think we all agree on that.

And the pro-camera market should be aware of iPhones encroaching on their territory.

Already dSLR photographers are being fired and replaced with iPhone photographers for photojournalism.

What do you think will be the next field that the next version of the iPhone will take over? Commercial Advertising? Sports?

Sep 24, 2013permalink

3DSimmon

vFunkt, in light of Your seriousness on this issue, the next Field the iphone will take over may be Medical, as in an internal examination camera, inspired by the feedback as to where they could shove it.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Zebooka

Holy moly! Now that's a quality!

Sep 24, 2013permalink

lightmagic

stunning that came from iphone!

Sep 24, 2013permalink

peevee1

Skies are blue while the shadows are not totally black. Pretty good DR for such a small sensor and good metering and curve.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

(unknown member)

It looks like some of my old Fujifilm compact pics

Sep 24, 2013permalink

abortabort

So where are the articles on what the Surface Pro 2 means to photographers?

Sep 24, 2013permalink

You mean the fake iPad?

Sep 24, 2013permalink

"You mean the fake iPad?"

Lolz... you obviously don't know the difference between the Surface (RT) and the Surface Pro...

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Stollen1234

not going to buy this microsoft product

Sep 24, 2013*permalink

"not going to buy this microsoft product"

YOU won't buy. A lot of pros needing a Wacom-enabled, full HD 8 GB RAM x86 tablet (the Mac Air is / has/ supports none of these) will.

Sep 24, 2013*permalink

Nobody wants a fake iPad.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Those window frames are horrible and might cut your fingers and glasses will fall anytime of the day.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

PeterDuke

Where is the Airplane Tail Park?

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Holger Drallmeyer

mew..average cell phone garbage. What a wast of time.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Those high ISOs are dreadful! But you can print them at credit card size.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

photo perzon

I'm getting good pictures

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

A 50$ P&S camera takes better pictures than this.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

"A 50$ P&S camera takes better pictures than this."

But definitely not in-camera stitched panos.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

MrTaikitso

I don't think these a special at all I am afraid and cannot believe how people on DPreview commenting think otherwise. My Samsung Galaxy Note (original one) took way better pictures. More punchy, clean etc. The noise in these is terrible and that's even allowing for it being a phone camera. (I have no bias towards any manufacturer.) Sorry to be a bubble burster!

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Does the Note take better panos? Hardly...

Sep 23, 2013permalink

AngryCorgi

My Samsung Galaxy Note.........I have no bias towards any manufacturer.

*sigh*

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

Tonkotsu Ramen

strongly doubt it

my note 2's quality is acceptable, but the iphone 5 produces better images. In addition, the panoramas on the note 2 are extremely poor.. you can easily see the stitching.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

"the panoramas on the note 2 are extremely poor.. you can easily see the stitching"

The case is the same on all Android devices with the stock Camera app, even as of the stock 4.3 OS: low-res, pretty badly stitched panos.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Wye Photography

My bubble hasn't been burst at all.

I like the pictures and that's the only thing that matters. If other people don't like them that's OK. If the iPhone doesn't suit you or you don't like iPhones, that's OK, you're not going to buy one.

What is good/bad is a matter of personal taste/needs/choice.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52215421

Everybody,

I've just posted a quick review of the variable exposure to the DPReview forums here:

Sorry for the link - the writeup has tons of inline images and is pretty long, that is, it can't be meaningfully reproduced here where there are not even clickable links, let alone inline images.

Basically, the variable exposure of the 5s works great - much-much better than any on-iPhone panorama auto-stitcher.

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

Dean Holland

I find the variable exposure effect on the 5s to be really subtle. The first time I tried it, I had to check it against an iPhone 5 to see that it was indeed having any impact at all! It's certainly not HDR-like in its results. It still makes a massive difference whether you start at the bright or dark end of a scene.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

It's not HDR when shooting panos per se - that is, inside the same frame (when you pan), it won't try to expand the DR by at least employing the semi-HDR mode of its "HDR" mode used in stills mode.

Variable exposure, however, seem to work just great throughout the entire frame without annoying artefacts - this is the one most important thing missing from the 4s / 5 panos.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

AngryCorgi

These panos look freaking great for having been made on a camera phone. Really nice stitching on the image borders. I'm shocked.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Yup, they are great. Also, variable exposure is working great - see my comparison to the 4s / 5 at http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52215421

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Really great? The stitching is horrible if you look closer to the pic. There are far better stitching softwares out there for e.g Microsoft ICE that can produce far superior panos than this and even compact cams.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33448355@N07/9920083776/

"Really great? The stitching is horrible if you look closer to the pic."

It depends. I've scrutinized the images from close and found out very small stitching errors. For example, I've annotated the sticthing errors of http://4.static.img-dpreview.com/files/articles/2038527691/IMG_4356.JPG?v=2493 here:

Note: I used some 200% zoom while annotating.

As you can see, there are really few errors not really evident even at 100% zoom, let alone at normal screen rendering.

Of course, the traditional stills-based stitching on desktop is preferable in many cases (e.g., low light shooting; shooting in 100/120 Hz flickering light; lot of movement; ability to re-shoot a frame etc.); however, sweep panos work just fine in a lot of cases (bright, non-flickering lights, little movement etc.)

Sep 24, 2013permalink

vaclav1

Where can I buy unlocked iPhone 5s ?

Sep 23, 2013permalink

suprjeff

tons of them on local craigslist, a lot of people buy them to resell.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

km25

Here is the test. Take a few P&S cameras at the low end of the price scale. Compair them to these Phone cameras. I find the images on my 4s and these to be a matter of better then noting. Which makes them just of above nothing. I'll bet you can get a very small less then a hundred dollar camera to out do them.

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

Very few dedicated cameras are capable of great, high-res panos. It's prolly the most important area the 5s is way above most other cameras. (BTW, this is why I've been using the iPhone 5 for pano shooting - even it was pretty good at it.)

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Dean Holland

I did that last year, and found that in daylight, IQ from an iPhone (then both the 5 and 4s) was actually better than from a $100 Canon compact, but slightly worse than a $500 compact, and clearly below that $500 compact on raw. And of course the phones don't have a zoom. In low light the compacts will do even better.
But the phones offer almost infinite depth of field with their 4mm lenses - making for bad portraits and sports shots, but good landscapes and streetscapes. So on the phone, you can hand-hold an interior shot with depth of field that would require f/19 on an SLR - forcing you onto a tripod or into stratospheric ISO.
The phone isn't better. It's just a different type of brush to paint with.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Earthlight

Well, I am impressed. Stitching seems pretty well done.

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

Eric Calabros

When I got my first P&S camera, I couldnt even imagine I will be able to take far better photos with my evolutionized iphone, only few years later.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Tonkotsu Ramen

Did you guys just discover what the panorama function is? or what?

Sep 23, 2013permalink

graybalanced

You and those who Liked your comment need to understand that a major change was made to panorama shooting in the iPhone 5s, and so it was a very good idea to test it. In older versions, it set exposure at the beginning and locked it, which caused problems when exposure varied across the scene. The 5s can vary exposure across the scene to avoid heavily over- or under-exposed sections. Several of the examples would look much worse on my iPhone 5.

I am particularly impressed with the low light concert pano in the dark theater.

Sep 24, 2013*permalink

Tonkotsu Ramen

srs question, is apple the first to come up with variable exposure for panoramas?

if so, then shame on the camera companies to not include this in their cameras!

Sep 24, 2013permalink

pdelux

So you mean a HDR (variable exposure) Pano...

Sep 24, 2013permalink

HDR is, technically, not the same as variable exposure pano, particularly not with non-sweep panos, where pre-stitching HDR still shooting (via exposure bracketing) is certainly possible.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

SergioMO

lol horrible photos. Thx S4 , Lg G2 and ... Nokia Lumia 1020. No way !

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Disagreed. While the still shots certainly aren't better than those of the 1020 (see my extended writeup on it here at the DPReview forum: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52202175 ), the panos of the 5s are _great_.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

SergioMO

Yes, the panos ok !

Sep 24, 2013permalink

jkrumm

Love the duck.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Charlie Lab

Not just the iPhone, but many of the later generation smartphones are perfectly acceptable replacements for "point and click" compacts and for gimmick shots like panorama (linear in the case of iPhone, or spherical in the case of Android). That camera market segment is rapidly disappearing as a result, with phones used to capture moments when one doesn't have a quality camera along. The only thing that caught my eye with these particular pictures was the apparently high-quality in-camera panorama stitching. Good to see phone manufacturers competing on this basis- it brings nothing but goodness for us consumers.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

(unknown member)

Well, it's official: thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment are now completely obsolete. For the longest time I wanted really great photo quality, a system with enough performance to allow me a large range of shooting options, a great selection of lenses and accessories, and my output to be good enough that a large print would look good even from fairly close up. I was behind the times. "Good enough" is the flavor of the day, and I assume that means "good enough to share on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram" but maybe it also means good enough to print and frame. Trick is I'll have to keep people five feet away from even an 8X10 so they won't see all the noise and complete lack of detail in shots taken in anything but intense sunlight. I don't need to zoom or make larger prints with crisp details that I can display in my home. Everything should be shot for the web and only to document what I am doing at any given moment. 8MP pictures of my meals, here I come! Ooo, selfies!

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

(unknown member)

Oh, and if rampant consumerism and instant gratification weren't emphasized enough in this and almost any other article with regard to consumer electronics, now your cell phone company will allow you to increase the cost of your monthly contract by about $30 so you can constantly have the newest device whether you'll notice the difference between the new one and "old" one or not. The point is there are plenty of poor countries around that can only afford our leftovers while we fuel the economies of the developing world with our extreme debt. Easy home credit crashed the economy once and the next time it is going to be phone debt.
The commercials go something like "Are you a spoiled rotten American that hates for anyone else to have something one day newer than what you have? Then mortgage your child's future so that you'll always have the newest status symbol! Oh, and don't put a case on your phone. drop it in the toilet or on concrete and use an INSURANCE POLICY TO REPLACE A PHONE!"

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

Lars Rehm

Nobody claims the iPhone or other smartphones replace high-end photo equipment but they arguably are by now capable of replacing (some) compact cameras. A few years ago, when an unexpected photo opportunity came up and I had not brought a camera, I did not even bother to take a picture with my phone because the IQ was so bad. Nowadays a phone can be a great backup in an unexpected snapshot situation. But of course it won't replace your DSLR in an organized photo shoot.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

(unknown member)

I know, Lars. I just find the attitude most people have towards taking pictures sad. I use my iPhone to take pictures occasionally too, but in 20 years if all I had to show my kids were pictures from my phone I'd be ashamed of myself for caring so little about recording a memory or making something of artistic value. That's just me. Most people who use their phone as their only camera probably wouldn't even own a camera if the phone didn't come with one, so in that case "good enough" is much better than the alternative. We're just such a throw away culture. "Good enough" appeals to our "I can't be bothered to try" attitudes....all about priorities, but the ever increasing number of people who think so highly of camera phones is bothersome.

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

(unknown member)

Lars, please delete my ramblings. I shouldn't have said anything since I had nothing nice to see. Seriously, feel free.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Well, Howard, this guy prints his iPhone images at 36x36" and exhibits them in art shows: http://installationmag.com/chris-otcasek-lo-def/

Sep 23, 2013permalink

(unknown member)

JJ, most of those don't have any detail to speak of and making an artistic statement in "Low Res" using large prints is fine if that's your thing. I'm so sick of the those types of bs artistic sycophants. It is photographic masturbation and hipsters love that crap. I apologize if those photographs are your style, but the language used to describe his style in that series along with that type of minimalist style that I remember seeing about a decade ago when people also thought it was "fresh" or whatever they thought isn't my kind of art. It strikes me as art for people who are bored with trying or art for people who have seen so much real art they can't handle it any more. Art is a very individual experience so I only speak for myself and I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't fit my descriptions and still love very simple photographs. More power to them. I don't mind seeing them, some are kind of neat, but after three seconds I move on with my life.

Sep 24, 2013*permalink

Nobody cares about noise or "lack of detail".

Learn real photography, then worry about your camera.

No professional photographer has ever complained about the iPhone.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

(unknown member)

v, I'm afraid I've already moved on to the worrying about the camera portion of my photographic pursuits, although I'm always trying to refine my composition and try new things. No photographer complains about the iPhone because they have other cameras and know what each one is good for. No photographer has ever pretended the iPhone is good for more than what it is good for, which is to say a very limited number of situations....although there is no limit to subject matter, color, composition, etc. within that narrow range of situations so the creative process goes on and people explore. Fantastic.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

Tom_A

I think that some of the Chris Otcasek pictures are rather good. I can imagine some of the near abstract ones to look nice on the wall.
Yes, the pictures would have been sharper when taken with an old Hasselblad and then carefully scanned. But it is more important that the picture is interesting.

BTW, my iphone 4S does not replace my camera, but it is damn handy that I have it always with me, sometimes even when walking to work I take a quick picture. The quality is usually acceptable, even for printing.

My question: is it better to take NO picture if you don't have a "proper" camera with you?

Sep 25, 2013permalink

Very nice. I'll get the next one as I just got the 5, 10 mos. ago.

Here's my dilemma: when do I use my RX100? Many times I carry both, the RX100 for pictures and iPhone for video. But that's a pain switching back-and-forth. I love RX100 and know it's better for stills and movies, but the iPhone is convenient, small, useful apps, and it's always with me.

Wish Apple would partner with Sony to combine iPhone with RX100.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

makofoto

I use my iPhone for panos and my other cameras otherwise

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Lars Rehm

They would still be limited by the laws of physics. If you stick an RX100 sensor and lens into an iPhone it would not look like an iPhone anymore.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

@ makofoto
Thanks for the reminder...I use iPhone for panos, too.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

@ Lars...I was thinking fixed focal length like 28 or 35mm. I thought Nokia used a similar sensor in the 808?

Sep 23, 2013permalink

PhotoPoet

I too carry that same combo. The other day, on the beach with family, I used both, however for CU of my daughters little girl, the RX100, zoom, excellent resolution, fill flash, (titled the head back), etc. I love my iPhone and as I have noted in prior posts, I for one a former professional photographer, rarely print photos, I haven't gone to 11 x 14 in years. Much of my "work" is as another poster disparagingly mentioned uploaded or emailed, Instagram is enjoyable, twitter a good way to share my daily "shots will walking" around NYC, perfect. Most of us know when to reach for a "real" camera, most of us know when to use a DSLR or RX100 or, yes, the iPhone... its all cool people... enjoy your photos, share um if you got um...

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Optimal Prime

Now you have the QX10/100 precisely to solve your dilemma.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

"I use my iPhone for panos and my other cameras otherwise"

Me too. While the still IQ of the iPhone 5 isn't anything to write home about and the video is marred by both the lack of any decent stabilization or wideangle lens, the panos it shoots are excellent and far better than 99% of the dedicated digicams out there (I know - I've tested the pano mode of tons of cameras). Those of the 5s are even better.

Even the iPhone 5 is highly recommended for pano shooting, let alone the 5s.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

@ PhotoPoet

I try to print several images each month. The iPhone does remarkably well for 8x8" prints that go into a very nice album.

The RX100 prints could go much larger, but I don't print anything above 8.5x11" any more. Not a waste though as this little gem allows for amble cropping.

Sep 24, 2013permalink

photofan1986

Meh.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

GURL

! ! !

Sep 23, 2013permalink

mandophoto

Good enough for 99% of the human race. Considering the quality of imagery available now from smartphones, it will be interesting to see what camera manufacturers do. A prediction: fast lenses and big sensors. Back to the past.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Digital Suicide

Actually, looks good enough to me.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Jogger

Meh.. i just keep an RX100 on me almost all the time. FAR better camera and doesnt require a phone contract.

Sep 23, 2013*permalink

rpm40

Yeah, but your phone does require a contract. People don't buy the iPhone only for the camera. "FAR better camera" says it all.

Still, there are times all I have is my phone, and I won't complain about slightly better results in those circumstances.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

Lars Rehm

To be fair you're not obliged to get a contract with your phone...there are pretty good prepay options around in most countries these days plus you could use WiFi. If you have 3/4G connectivity though you could link your phone with your RX100II and have the best of two worlds, that's what I do :-)

Sep 23, 2013permalink

http://www.eye.fi/products/mobi

@ Lars

Can you explain the linking part in a little more detail? Some more detail about your workflow ? Does it work and does it work well? Is there a way to get the full-size JPEG on your camera roll? How much storage space do you have on your iPhone? I only have 16 GB.

Sep 23, 2013permalink

sapphire lens

Eye-Fi mobi memory card:

Insert, then use your camera photos with your iPhone wirelessly.

Sep 24, 2013permalink