Live data from Hacker News

IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

campl.us

41–46 of 46 posts

Re: IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

#41
post #37
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right on the high end. On the low end, I went into a store 8 months ago and compared time to photo-snap from finger-press as well as blur on non-steady targets and none of the sub 500 dollar digitals stood up well. My iPhone 3g consistently captures better images than our 2 year old Cannon Powershot.

You must be exaggerating. I have a SD960 and it kicked the crap out of my 3G, and I'm no photographer to speak of. I can set a custom white balance, aperture and focus off-center if I want. With my 3G there isn't much control at all. My 3G was handy if I forgot my P&S at home, but it was just a fallback, nothing more. I don't know if I'll replace my Canon with my 4S, but we'll see.

I'm not. My criteria are different.

I'm not looking for control. I'm looking for non-posed shots of my children to be 1-captured in time before the moment is over and what I'm photographing is gone, and 2-not blurry. With most low end digitals, you can take a nap between when you press the button and the actual picture is snapped.

Re: IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

#42
post #38

This is an outstanding comparison. Roughly speaking, are there configuration settings required? Or is this just click?

No, it's a crap comparison... Focus varies, exposure varies and I'm shure the stability of the person taking those pictures varies too. It tells nothing about the quality of the camera (hardware) or the software (in phone post processing). Meh.

"Nothing," really? This seems like a very real-world sort of test that gives a fairly decent indication of the kind of pictures that you're likely to get in the conditions indicated. It's not scientific, and there are lots of uncontrolled variables, but it's still useful.

Re: IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

#43
post #38

This is an outstanding comparison. Roughly speaking, are there configuration settings required? Or is this just click?

No, it's a crap comparison... Focus varies, exposure varies and I'm shure the stability of the person taking those pictures varies too. It tells nothing about the quality of the camera (hardware) or the software (in phone post processing). Meh.

"Nothing," really? This seems like a very real-world sort of test that gives a fairly decent indication of the kind of pictures that you're likely to get in the conditions indicated. It's not scientific, and there are lots of uncontrolled variables, but it's still useful.

Re: IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On my Galaxy II, whenever I want to have the camera functionality ready, I open the camera app and press the power button. The screen turns off, and I simply need to wake the phone back on to be immediately ready to take a blackmail picture. This is even quicker with the "NoLock" app that disables the lock screen.

My Finger DNA has already memorized "Double Click + Camera Icon" from the lock screen, and then hit the shutter release/+ button on the iPhone like mad. Even on the relatively poor shutter speed iPhone 4, I'm usually taking pictures within 2-3 seconds. Supposedly the 4S has significantly reduced the shutter-lag to first picture - looking forward to seeing the truth of that.

Double-click and Camera Icon? For me, double-clicking just brings up the iTunes/iPod interface.

Re: IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Finger DNA has already memorized "Double Click + Camera Icon" from the lock screen, and then hit the shutter release/+ button on the iPhone like mad. Even on the relatively poor shutter speed iPhone 4, I'm usually taking pictures within 2-3 seconds. Supposedly the 4S has significantly reduced the shutter-lag to first picture - looking forward to seeing the truth of that.

Double-click and Camera Icon? For me, double-clicking just brings up the iTunes/iPod interface.

Update to ios 5

Re: IPhone 4S against all other iPhone models (low light shooting)

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compact cameras are still terrible in that regard; you can only get that 'off to photo taken in 0.3 seconds' with SLRs today. It's thus not really a valid argument for compact digital cameras still having relevance.

Imagine that your customer is drunk. Digital cameras win hands down. Slam the power button, slam the photo button, and you have at least a blurry blackmail-worthy shot of your friend dancing with a hobo. With a mobile phone, by the time I get the app up and running, the hobo is gone and my friend is left with nothing but hobo sweat.

(I loved the example, by the way)

How is that sequence so significantly different from (in iOS 5) double pressing the home button from the lock screen, touching 'Camera' then taking a photo? I'm not suggesting that camera phones are as good as compact digital cameras yet, but it's getting much closer.

Post reply on HN