iPhone 5s camera: Is it a 'great' camera? - Los Angeles Times

[admin]

• Posted By: Robert Lachman
• Posted On: 11:30 p.m. | September 13, 2013

With plenty of fanfare the iPhone 5s was introduced this week. I certainly have plenty of interest because my iPhone 4s contract conveniently is ready for an upgrade. I seem to be on the iPhone “s” track. First the 3s, then the 4s, and now, I’m not sure about the latest model.
I waited in a line for the 4s, but I’m not rushing in so fast for the new iPhone 5s. If I decide to buy the iPhone, I think I will give it a little time to see the first results roll in.

The fingerprint reader and faster processor are nice features, but the camera is the biggest issue to me. It doesn’t look like Apple hasn’t made any giant leaps past the smartphone camera competition, from what I’ve seen on its keynote video or website, that has made me commit for two more years.
Apple does make some interesting claims on its website that extol the virtues of the new iPhone 5s smartphone camera to capture my attention:
“It’s not just a great camera for a phone. It’s a great camera, period” — This one is a bit of a marketing stretch. I will agree that it is a great camera for a phone, but a great camera, period. Let me list a few cameras that I think fit better into the “great” category: Nikon D4, Canon 5D Mark III and Leica M. I’m willing to go head to head with the 15% larger sensor and bigger 8 megapixel iPhone 5s camera any time, anywhere with one of these full-frame cameras. I forgot to mention a few other cameras, like the Olympus OM-D E-M1, Panasonic GH3, Sony a77 or Fujifilm X-Pro1 which would be worthy challengers.
“And that means you get amazing-looking photos every time” or “It shoots consistently great photos all the time” –Since most people always like their own photographs the best, maybe this makes a lot of sense, but not to me. I shoot thousands and thousands of photos with my iPhone 4s, and not every one is a winner, that’s why there is an edit and delete button. In order to make this work, the iPhone 5s either has some special super software with its new souped up processor or it will go with the theory that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, when looking at their photos.
“It simply makes more sense to teach iPhone how to take a great picture rather than teach people how to be expert photographers” — This claim is the most fun. Is the iPhone going to photo school? All cameras today are getting better; focus, exposure and quality are improving across the board. Is the phone going to pick the angle, compose and decide and wait for the the best time of day for proper lighting? I can’t wait to see how this works.

“A white LED and an amber LED work with intelligent software algorithms to adjust the flash intensity and color temperature, using over 1000 unique combinations to light your subject perfectly” — When you use the word perfectly, I take notice. I saw the one example on the website of the flash and using my 40 years of photo experience, the flash exposure color didn’t look perfect. The flash exposure looked better in the photograph, but it didn’t look perfect. Also noticeably missing from the website were  examples of low-light photography. The high-resolution examples, which you could download, were shot with great lighting, most during perfect daylight. Absent from the website were examples from typical events like a concert, sports inside a high school gym or birthday parties.
“Larger sensor. Larger pixels. Larger aperture. Continuous burst mode” — Trying to upgrade your camera while fitting a small form factor is a tough challenge. Trying to get a large sensors and an optical zoom into the camera phone has become a very tough puzzle to solve and Apple has done a nice job of upgrading the camera deciding to make its sensor 15% larger, using larger pixels and a larger f2.2 aperture.
Nokia decided to change its form factor with its recent entry into the high-quality smartphone camera challenge. The makers figured consumers wouldn’t mind a larger phone with a camera lens popping out of the back of the camera. They went with more pixels, 41-megapixel on the Lumia 1020 model. It is a noticeable upgrade to the quality, to digitally zoom into the image, keeping some  quality. It certainly would be better with optical zoom. Since Apple committed to the same architecture of the earlier model phone, this major change wasn’t an option.
The new camera does have a lot of improvements, so my complaint is mostly with the marketing department using the words: perfect, amazing and great. Some nice features have been added: a better flash system, image stabilization, burst mode, 120 frame-per-second, video zooming, faster aperture, a much cleaner and easier to use interface, and improved quality image.
I’m looking to forward to checking out the lines for the iPhone 5s on Sept. 20. I am tempted to buy, but I’m going to be patient and wait and see the real-world photography results before I take the plunge.
Photo credits: (top to bottom) Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, speaks on stage about the camera quality during the introduction of the new iPhone 5S. Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press; Apple representatives demonstrate the iPhone 5s during a new product announcement at Apple headquarters. Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press; and Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, speaks on stage during the introduction of the new iPhone 5s. Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
[email protected]
Follow Robert Lachman on Twitter and Google+
Read more reviews and photography tips by Robert Lachman

• Tags: Learn & Discover :: Review :: Daily Life