Next level: iPhone 7 Plus camera review

Looking at even the very best image quality samples and comparing them against my N8 Nokia from 2010, its 12MP sensor does it better almost in every way. I fail to understand WHY Apple, renowned and respected for their products for creatives, decided this machine is O.K.

I am gobsmacked by just how the pictures have, essentially, no detail resolution at all- worse, much worse than the N8, which with its bigger sensor can manage not merely to resolve hair and fine detail in portraits , but at base ISO manages to make the hair and textures recorded acceptably realistic- something never the case with an iPhone, and the lack of RAW processing merely adds insult to injury.

Nice camera for most people - not for photographers. You can't even set the Fuc*ing aperture!

I bought this phone as my birthday gift and using this mobile phone from last one week i'm not facing any problems..design and features are awesome.

"Good enough for the masses too lazy to use a real camera", should be tops on the "Good for"...

Otherwise, it should do a great job recording the level number at the airport parking lot so I don't have to remember where I parked.....oh wait, my 6 already does that really well. Never mind....

I upgraded to iphone 7 plus, experimented for a week. My previous phones were ... Note 2 -> iphone 6. Using the two phone I took more than 30,000 pictures. My conclusion after some experiment is: "All I need is iPhone 7 Plus and SnapSeed". This is just another beginning of the process of removal of 1" sensor high-end cameras such as Sony 100 series from the markets. And it's only going to be better every year. You won't need a Sony RX100 for casual photography and printing in reasonably good quality.
I also use it for document capturing using MicroSoft Office Lens and thanks to 12 M pixel , 3G memory and faster processor, it' actually completely enjoyable to use. And thanks to 50mm, I can take pictures of presentation in further distance.
But the real value would be the Software. Photos app automatically does the organization of photos - by places, date, faces. I can even create a movie out of pictures with just a single button and share.

It's funny reading the purist comments on here arguing about image quality and ergonomics and lack of viewfinder and all these ridiculous things, while there are people out there making a living on Instagram with low resolution photos. It's not the equipment, it's YOU. Even the iPhone 4 could capture decent photos, and since then we've advanced so much, even if it has been incremental. Today, you really have no excuse not to take your photography (and your career) to the next level, and it can be accomplished with your Phone!!! Think about that. Our phones take incredible photos and video, and are always with us, and we have access to seemingly unlimited creative and filter apps, connected to the web, and all this, in our pocket and with us all the time. While you spend your time here complaining on these forums, people younger than you are signing deals with major brands based on their Instagram portfolio shot entirely on their phones. Interesting huh.

I finally held the iPhone7 and played with the dual lens camera. One word: GIMMICKY.

This is what Apple has come down to selling -- gimmicks.

Pity the IQ is pretty poor compared to other flagships... if one compares it (in studio scene) to S7, P9, Pixel XL, G5 etc. the very heavy NR that Apple have decided to use obliterates detail far beyond the level of the others, pity, was really hoping the IQ would be at least on par but its just a waxy/water painting mess at 100%, why Apple why? see here https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/58626621

I am buying this camera. The specs are absolutely awesome! 28/56 mm at 1.8! 4K video. Slow mo! WiFi. Bluetooth. GPS. Say "Mom" it calls my Mom to send more money. In pocketable format. At $800 !!! Canon EOS 1DX cannot beat that!

One thing not mentioned is a very interesting feature, which really works well if you also use iCloud for your image storage: I've got over 100,000 photos also taken with other cameras, and scanned in.

In the Photos app search for a phrase: snakes, airplane, flag, license plate; and almost instantly the matches will be shown.

And I don't mean these are pictures you tagged with those words. The image processing tries to match the word with what the picture contains.

It's not perfect but you'd be amazed how well it works.

The other thing not mentioned in the review is that the camera can take pictures in the wide band DCI-P3 standard that, so far at least, no other smartphone, or even DSLR, can. It is also the only smartphone that can display that P3 color gamut. Other Apple devices and computers can also display it.

The last thing which really needed to be mentioned, though the reviewer probably doesn't understand it, is that iOS is fully color managed, as is MacOS. This means that it will actually use the wide band display properly, which is something no Android device can, because there is no color management in Android. So you need to dig into the menu to select the color standard you need to see, and you have to do that constantly, if you view content with differing color standards. For example, 1080i/p is sRGB. But 4K UHD is DCI-P3.

I don't get the "nothing new" thing I read in a number of places. The only thing on the 7 series that isn't new is the basic look of the case. Everything else is new, including the screen.

Great review.

Regarding slow mo and exporting the file in "slow mo", if you open the video in iMovie on the iPhone it can be saved and exported into Camera Roll. The final file in slow mo can then be exported via USB in full resolution.

What happened to the King of clubs on the wide angle shot? It looks jittery or blurred compared with the queen of spades, a bit like decentering but the bottom left focus target seems ok.

100% view still shows way to much jpeg processing compared to other flagships, not sure why Apple have dropped the 'natural' look to IQ and replaced it with a watery/waxy look in terms of detail rendering... pity, Apple's processing algorithms need to be revised, way to heavy handed NR at present.

I wouldn't call skintones natural. There's still the infamous yellow veil in most daylight shots, which also affects skintones (the liver disease look). It's probably there to make every shot look like it's peak golden hour. In lower light, AF is much slower than on the S7. Like a factor 2 or 3. This is where dual pixel AF has clear benefits still.

This score is quite generous but IQ wise, and dual lens implementation wise, the LG G5 and V20 does it much better.

The portrait and bokeh aspects of the iPhone are beta and clumsy in their implementation. Like most companies they create on a trial and error basis with the consumer paying for the R&D directly.
.

This highlights the lack of understanding by technology companies like apple on the changes in social media. Making the cameras DSLR type is stupid considering most users have never used a DSLR nor do they care. All that is wanted is a good photographic result that they can use to communicate with not playing with some antsy fancy clumsy software

I think DPREVIEW may soon stand for Digital Phone Review

The iPhones have the most useless flash I've ever used on a phone, both my old LG G2 and my current S7 Edge do a much better job and seem to output about 5x as much light. Even at a distance of < 2m the flash has almost no effect at all in daylight for fill other than the catchlight in the eye and in darker environments still struggles to provide adequate illumination

Let me also elaborate on the Portrait mode.

First, it can ONLY be reliably used to shoot portraits, preferably without large earrings or anything that would be over a background far away (more on this later). While you can shoot non-humans, you need to keep in mind that the “fake bokeh” is very easy to get fully messed up. This, unfortunately, hasn't changed in the beta testing: 10.1beta1 had exactly the same problems as the current iOS 10.1.1 (or 10.2b1).

If you closely examine the “fake bokeh” shots, you can clearly see the phone doesn't make extensive use of the stereoscopic vision provided by the two cameras: even subjects very close to the camera (that is, seen very differently, with articulated 3D difference) can be considered very far.

Let me show you some examples, all shot by me:

(Cont'd below)

Like the review and images that demonstrate the features. I think the phone pic haters have to get that the smartphone has promoted photography in a way that nothing has probably since the Kodak Brownie in 1900.
My kids are 15 to 21 and take at least 5 to 10 photos every day with their iPhones and Galaxies - meaning they are selecting subjects, distance, composition, lighting several times a day every day.
They use my gear for shooting sports occasionally and are interested in the way certain Youtubers use manual focus in their videos so that's opened up a new set of conversations.
But for a lot of what they do, the quality, immediate feedback on a large high definition screen and access to filters and instant publication on social media is something we could have only dreamed of in the 80s.
It doesn't replace the skills and equipment of traditional photography, it complements them and promotes them. And also keeps you on your toes - there are some great phone pics out there.

Have to say with these excellent phones the Iphone 7, Samsung Galaxy and Sony Xperia delivering good 4K video and Images ( for good light and isos up to 400) plus apps, music and media centure + not a bad price ( compared to recent Camera price hacks) I not see no need to replace my broken Sony RX100 MK 1 with an updated model or the very late Nikon DL.

An updated phone like a Samsung Galaxy or Iphone 7 will do for me and it's a very compact device to use with my normal DSLR rig; take pictures upload them to Photo/ My Cloud, Facecobblers, Tw@tters, Snapchat, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Only thing I miss ( on most phones) is the lack of Raw feature

Also of particular interest is stereoscopic shooting (using both lens for still image shooting with some (very limited!) 3D support), which I've done quite a bit with the phone.

Unfortunately, it gives you a pretty weak 3D feeling as the two lens' distance is exactly 10mm. It's the same as that of Panasonic's 3D lens (Panasonic Lumix G 3D 12.5mm), though. That is, it performs in exactly the same way WRT stereoscopic effect.

Unfortunately, you can't operate the two cameras at exactly the same time, which means you will want to use a tripod and you can ONLY shoot static subjects. (This also means you can't shoot video.)

However, with close, absolutely static subjects (e.g., a flower), shooting from a tripod, I had pretty good results. I can even post my .MPO files showing my shots.

(Continued below)

Excerpt: "A full 360-degree image measures approximately 16400 x 3900 pixels or a whopping 65MP."

Unfortunately, the iPhone still doesn't shoot full 360 degrees, only between 200-220 degrees. Unlike, say, the various Samsung models; for example, the S7 (Edge).

Does it explode? If not then it's boring.

Good review. I like the 7+ as a photo and video (especially video, it is exceptional) tool. It's completely replaced my RX100 IV, and I'm left with only system cameras for more serious work.

I'm confused Dpreview.
The Wide-angle is the Standard while being a wide angle. The Standard is a Tele despite being a Standard.
I though this was a Photography site that would correct mistakes even when it's coming from the biggest marketing department....
A Shame and seriously confusing and a first since you never mention this on any other fixed lens camera, regardless the format.
The excuse that we should promote ignorance because it's to "complex" to properly explain focal lengths to consumers is just a bad excuse.
Dpreview should at least update the review and make a statement or Apple is the new Photography Authority?

Not to bad! Some of the pictures are nice :-)
Great job Lars!

Compared to the new Google Pixel this iPhone 7 performs pretty bad.

Its a sad week for us Apple users. :(