DPReview recommends: Best smartphone cameras

no you don't have to wonder, if you already know that the S6 and Note 4 use the same "convoluted camera interface" as the S5, then they will go to the "best for feature lovers" category.

"In the blind test conducted over PhoneArena, iCrap 6 came out last" - right, because you (blindly) trust the judgment of anonymous readers, and you always pick your camera based on image quality tests over actual use.

Just a correction...

I think we can consider this report as personal opinion of the author and should NOT be taken seriously at all.

"personal opinion of the author and should NOT be taken seriously at all" - and what qualifies your opinion to be taken seriously about someone else's opinion?

It is obvious that the results here are pure preference/opinion-based and does not match with actual (tons) of results outside DPR. Show us a side-by-side comparison that iPhone is better in IQ than any other phone out there? Here what do you see? random numbers with no supporting evidence? Over there they have provided the readers with actual shots compared side by side.

Umm yes, even Dunkin Donut's coffee was chosen by many over Starbucks in a blind taste. =D

When you say, "Best for general shooting", you are implying it is the best for anything in general which is uttertly false for iPhone. It is good as a Phone but not as a camera.

Right, only 1 opinion here that says iCrap is the best vs. many opinions outside (all saying iCrap is the last in the blind test) =D

funny how you keep harping about blind tests when by your own logic you think they are worthless

You know Mister Roboto is just a troll when he cannot even address the phones being reviewed properly.

Samsung has been paying and cultivating a trolling squad to attack Apple and LG for a while now and it is one reason why I don't trust anonymous reviews be it on YouTube or internet forums. It is either professional review or nothing.

There is no trolling involved in the blind tests.
=> defenders of iPhone fall short of arguments.
I'm slowly starting to hate iPhones & the defenders
GOOD JOB !!
You're Real Trolls = making Apple a bad...apple :-(

I'm sorry, but the S6 has a better camera than the iPhone, in every respect. That's what you get from serious tech journalists who don't belong to the Apple cult, like 99% of the American tech media. And no, Apple doesn't make lenses, they buy the cheapest ones, because they know no one would dare to criticize them. At least not in the US.

Why would you recommend a smartphone with mediocre IQ (worst versus Nokia, Samsung and Panasonic) the best for general shooting? And why so dependent on imaginary DXO scores? Show us real test images comparison not just virtual graphs.

flipmac,

The simple fact that you think that anyone opposing the ongoing Apple's brainwashing by having commentators, analysts and "testers" hypnotized is a "hater" says a lot about the cult-vector for the whole thing.

What are going to call us next?..."Supressives"...?

If you still have a modicum of free thinking please tell me:

Do you feel it is OK to differentiate a less-specified device the way it was on this article, just so it can lead an arbitrary category - "Best for General Shooting" (...they are ALL for general shooting....they're smartphones...!...) - and so it can then be put at the top of the article?

Don't you find it a an extreme coincidence that the proclaimed "no particular order" ends up starting with an Apple product?

Don't you think that it would be logical to start with the best overall product in the category the Lars decided to name "Best for Raw shooting and editing"?

Irrational hate. Knee-jerk anti-Apple rant alert!

"My old Pana LX3 smokes any modern smartphone, even the 808 Pureview" - do you always need to tell other people you are compensating for some of your inadequacies?

Seriously, where is the the Panasonic CM1 listed ?
;-)

The best camera is the one you have with you...

This is not an article about owning Full Frame, Crop Sensor, compact cameras, no it is about Camera Phones. Stating that the regular cameras are better is like saying that a Corvette will win you more races than a Honda Civic, duh.

Not everyone has a camera with them at all times, but most have a smart phone with them. That is what this article is for.

You can slip any of these phones into your pants pockets and forget about them. Then take them out and take pics, and upload pics instantly (no need for transfer), then proceed to look up restaurant information and to make a reservation using open table.. then call your parents to say hi.

Other than the pics, which of those can you do with the D5000? or even the RX100?

I recently picked up a Nikon Coolpix A for $329. The IQ is astounding, jaw dropping. It isn't much bigger than a cell phone. If you can live with 18mm on DX - and you care about IQ better than just about any DX combo you can get anywhere else - this is the ticket.

Exactly (brownie314). I'm well aware of what other things smartphones can do, I have a 6" one in fact. However I still take a camera of some sort with me practically always because its image quality is superior. Instant uploading won't matter when you're looking at them later, whereas the better quality will.

"I recently picked up a Nikon Coolpix A" -
"I picked up a Nikon D5000" -

so what does any of your low self esteem have to do with this article about Best *Smartphone* Cameras?

"... to recognize an SLR's superior image quality" - you assume that people think their smartphones have superior image quality than SLRs?

"and possess the dedication to almost always have it on them, or at least an RX100 type" - so your argument is don't compromise with a smartphone? in that case, you're also saying one should possess the dedication to always also carry a laptop, since it has a superior screen, cpu and keyboard compared to a smartphone.

@sammy then why even write the article? The iphone 6/6+ and note 4 were released within 1 month of each other.

Yes I saw that, but is kind of lame that at this point the Note 4 hasn't been tested as well as other notables mobile devices.
It feels kind of biased when Apple release a new phone and sure enough the preview, review and "x" photographer experience are posted.
I appreciate the time you guys put on this site, but as i said it feels that more key mobile devices need to be compared for a more balanced perspective on what is on the market these days.

I completely agree. Not including the Samsung Note 4 when it's been widely known, evaluated, and found to be excellent by this time is weak, to be generous. I own one and can tell you the image quality is simply excellent for a phone camera. What makes this all the stranger is that the Note II (!!!) IS included in the list when it has already been superceded by TWO models of the Note.

correct me if I am wrong but I can't remember we published an iPhone 6 preview or photographer's experience. I am pretty sure I would remember that. The only reason the Note 4 has not been reviewed yet is, apart from Samsung not really being too forthcoming with their test devices, limited resource. If I'd reviewed the Note 4 one of the other reviews would not have been done and I am not sure which one that should have been. But it certainly also easier to review a device you actually have. In any case, as I said I am working on it right now, can only do one at a a time really :)

I think it was on the news section, and also the iPhone kind of shows more prominently than others on the Connect site.
Anyways, I'm glad you are finally working on the Note 4 review and thanks for being open about it and taking the time to reply.

Try XCam LG for Raw and XCam LG Settings to have access to more settings. No need to Root or anything.

@Lars Rehm,

You tell him Lars!

For what it's worth, I think it is a good well rounded review. Although I am a self confessed Apple fan I don't think there is a bad phone camera and the products are pretty close, swings and roundabouts and personal preference.

Good read, I enjoyed it, Many Thanks.

Any actual real criticism you can provide in a constructive manner other than saying: me no like, like elsewhere better?

"One vote for closing down Connect alongside gear shop."
My vote cancels yours...

I'll say it again, but probably for the last time :) If you actually read the article you will see that it is not omitted but listed under "also consider" below the Galaxy S5. Other than that I am currently working on a full Note 4 review and will update this article accordingly when finished.

Oh, a device especially good for selfies.
Because that's what the world needs, more people shooting completely uninteresting close up images of their faces partially obstructing points of interest.

Ah, obviously spoken from one who has a face for radio, and a voice for silent movies.

I am very interested in the Note 4, because it has a fantastic large display. I think on a smartphone the size and quality of the display is a major factor to consider. Because one of the reasons I would buy one is to have my photos with me all the time for show & tell purposes. So you might consider weighting display quality into your assessment of value with a stronger factor. Also the possibility of using the smartphone for RC and tethering with other equipment is a very big deal for a lot of people I think. I know that it will be for me.

I am looking forward to your review of the Note 4. Thanks.

I wasn't talking about megapixels, I was talking about usable detail. I probably should have limited my claim to the largest/more well known vendors, but some of the top Chinese Vendors (Oppo, Meizu, Xiaomi, Lenovo), Nokia/Microsoft, Motorolla, Samsung, LG and even Sony (if you go "manual" mode) do better in this regard these days with the Z3, despite subpar processing.

well, I have tested both the Z3 and 6 Plus extensively, and the Apple is much better in literally every image quality related aspect. I think the samples in our comprehensive reviews show that pretty nicely. The Sony is good example for how 20MP aren't really very useful when combined with subpar processing and average quality lenses.

In terms of cropping power to somewhat offset the lack of optical zoom, you're talking about center cropping. In 20MP mode on the Sony, the iPhone really falls short in terms of usable detail when going for the same object magnification, despite an actual longer focal length of the lens (29mm vs 25mm IIRC).

Except for landscapes, the Nikon D810 is not a better camera than the D4S, and the D4S has many fewer pixels.

I didn't say the iPhone 6 Plus has the weaker camera because of less pixels (there are many factors to consider what's best for you, some of them being subjective), I just pointed out that it does have a clear weakness, contrary to the claim in the article.

TMR,

Okay, that's a clearer phrasing.

"it "only" has 8 megapixels, but for some reason Apple gets more detail out of those 8MP than many phones with much higher pixel counts. And its detail that counts, not pixels."

Too bad it's not possible to avoid the iPhone applying noise reduction. While it's not as devastating as the NR applied by the stock Camera app in the Samsung S5 and the Note4, it's still the most important thing having a VERY bad effect on the overall IQ if you also factor in desktop PP'ing your images.

If you do PP your images, the (Snap805-based) Note4, shooting using the right tools (currently, "Snap camera HDR" only) with the right settings (0 sharpening, Samsung camera mode enabled, no NR), certainly produces (on the whole, after downsampling to 8 Mpixels) better-detailed images than any iPhones.

It's a big letdown on Apple's part not to give us RAW support to (at least) avoid the NR.

RAW support would also greatly help to bypass the yellow veil in iPhone 6 (Plus) videos and images (possibly to mimic the "golden hours" regardless of time of day...).

well, not sure what the problem is, we will of course include the S6 in this list once we have reviewed it and we like it but for now we don't really have a good idea what its camera is like. New devices are launched all the time, so from this point of view there is never a perfect time for doing an article like this.