“To accurately see how good the iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel new camera really performs, we put it through the same battery of tests we use for point-and-shoot digital cameras, and rated it against other cutting-edge smartphones, including the new Droid X,” Kelly reports. “The iPhone camera is 5MP, but as Steve Jobs pointed out in his WWDC keynote, megapixel count alone doesn’t equal good images. Two of the smartphones we tested against the iPhone had higher megapixel counts, but they still scored lower on image quality tests.”
Kelly reports, “We compared the iPhone 4’s camera [5MP] with an iPhone 3GS [3MP], three other smartphone cameras, and two pocket point-and-shoot cameras. For the video portion of the test, we threw in a Flip Video M2120 for good measure. The other smartphones we tested were the EVO 4G [8MP], the Droid X [8MP], and the Samsung Galaxy [8MP]. The point-and-shoot cameras tested were the Sony DSC-WX1 [10.2MP] and Samsung HZ35W [15MP].”
“Unsurprisingly, the two point-and-shoot cameras came in first in our image quality tests,” Kelly reports. “The next best camera, and the highest scoring of all the smartphone cameras that we tested, was none other than the iPhone 4.”
Read the full report here.
MacDailyNews Take: What we wrote yesterday: “More megapixels do not mean better images… It’s not just the resolution of the sensor that determines the final image quality. It’s the device’s color management, optics, image-processing tech, the lens, etc.; it all contributes to the image quality. iPhone 4’s images will be measured against these devices with their ‘bigger numbers for ignoramuses’ and iPhone’s images will be found to have higher quality. As usual. Watch and see.”
And, for those of you reading this on a fake Mac or fake iPhone: If you want to ascribe bias because this report is from Macworld, you’re simply not being honest with yourself. Independent tests will soon confirm these results. As usual. Watch and see.
ESAD, Scott Moritz (“The Street”)! Megapixel counts do not a quality photo make!
its also related to the size of the sensor area and the number of pixels crammed into that area. If the sensor size remains constant, at a certain point as the pixel count rises the image quality will decline because to fit, the pixels have to be made smaller and smaller, and this reduces their quality in a number of ways. The lens size and the amount of light allowed in has a great impact as well.
People just don’t understand quality. Apple does their best to provide their customers with the highest quality experience and product and that’s something that can’t be quantified using feature matrices that these self-important bloggers and analysts love to use to try and discredit Apple’s design decisions.
Most people who use the camera for downloading and sending online don’t need 8mp anyway.
I was well aware of the megapixel marketing BS years ago, so I went with a P&S;which had lenses and processors worthy of the pixel count.
However, what made an even bigger difference was image stabilization, which dampened slight movement when taking pictures. The difference was very noticeable in lower-light shots when you didn’t *want* the flash to go off and saturate the scene (so the shutter was held open for longer, and became more susceptible to motion blur), and especially when taking video. I doubt I could watch high-def 720p video for very long without this.
I don’t know if Apple could have included image stabilization in a cell phone camera lens, but in a review of the Flip HD camera (a direct competitor for your pocket space) Engadget specifically pointed out lack of IS as a serious flaw.
Also wondering, for those with iPhone 4s already: is the camera lens covering plastic or glass? The 3GS’ is easily-scratched plastic of course, and if the 4’s is as well I’m wondering why, since the entire back is already glass.
Bu, bu, but 8 is bigger than 5.
As with most things, I don’t get it.
@Steve516;
Steve Jobs mentioned in the keynote that they specifically kept the pixel size the same, they only added pixels, thus adding to the area taking in light. That could well be one of the things making a difference!
@mossman
I’ve had my iPhone for 2 days and the camera lens already has a scratch on it, so I’m guessing it isn’t glass. 🙁
Before anyone claims it, I wasn’t rough with the phone in any way. It has been in my pocket, by itself, when I’m not using it.
Troll much?
“More megapixels do not mean better images… It’s not just the resolution of the sensor that determines the final image quality”
Actually, MDN is making a common mistake here. The myth is megapixels equal resolution. It does NOT. Megapixels is just the number of red-green and blue pixels. Resolution is something completely different. One does not equal the other, and there’s no relationship between the two.
Sensor electronics generate heat, and when the pixels are really small, the heat overwhelms the light photons, rendering those pixels unintelligible. Remember the Signal-to Noise ratio in stereo specs? Yep, it’s the same thing here, when pixels get small, the noise goes up and can overwhelm the signal.
Currently, the bottleneck in image quality for cellphones is not pixels, it’s all the other stuff, just as Steve Jobs said. It’s pixel size and photons and moving the electronics away from the sensor, etc.
Usable, practical functionality – that’s what Apple provides. You can’t always define that with numbers. I am not expecting my camera to substitute for a DSLR. But it sure is nice that the iPhone appears to essentially provide the video capabilities of a Flip. Nice…
All over the web, the Droid FUD Machine is in full force.
@mossman
I purchased the Camera+ app which adds, among other features, Stabilization. It works. This app is a nice addition to my 3GS. There are a lot of similarly-named camera apps. Camera+ is from the company, “tap tap tap”.
It’s not how much you have, it’s how you use it.
Uh oh, the droids trolls won’t like this…Don’t you know they have the fastest, best phone ever created…At least that’s what they like to tell everyone…
Folks, please be careful with your use of the English language. It is not correct to say “More megapixels do not mean better images” nor to say (@ Randian) “Megapixel counts do not a quality photo make”
The correct thing to say is “More megapixels _alone_ do not mean better image” or “Megapixel counts _alone_ do not a quality photo make”.
I’m a photographer and I can tell you right now that, all other things being equal, more megapixels _does_ mean a better image.
The trick is, as MDN points out, to also have great “color management, optics, image-processing tech, the lens, etc”
Logic and common sense points this out if you still don’t understand. Ask yourself would you rather have an 8mm cine film or a 70mm? Would you rather shoot with a 1 megapixel piece of shit or with a 60 megapixel Hasselblad?
If you still don’t understand the importance of pixel count, look at this
http://www.davidbergman.net/blog/how-i-made-a-1474-megapixel-photo-during-president-obamas-inaugural-address/
>Anonymous wrote: Actually, MDN is making a common mistake here. The myth is megapixels equal resolution. It does NOT…One does not equal the other, and there’s no relationship between the two.
You’re correct in saying that megapixels and resolution don’t mean the same thing. However, there is a direct relationship between the two. There are other factors involved – as mentioned by MDN – but saying that the pixel count has no effect on overall resolution is just plain wrong. It does!*
*dependent on other factors as well: photosite size, optics, processing, etc.
@MDN I think you forgot to add Nyah Nyah to your “watch and see. Watch and see.”
@Spark,
That’s a workaround that delays the capture until the sensors detect no motion. The authors use the term “anti-shake” rather than image stabilization, which specifically refers to active motion of either the lens or image sensors to counter the effects of minor hand shake.
Anti-shake therefore has two drawbacks: adds delay when trying to take a picture (not a big issue usually), and it doesn’t work when taking video (though this can be fixed afterwards using iMovie 09’s IS option).
All that said, this isn’t a gripe. IS probably isn’t practical for camera phones, and if even the Flip doesn’t have one despite being a dedicated pocket video recorder, then Apple’s doing quite well. I’m just saying that IS is also important when for good consumer-grade photos.
Yep. My 2001 Olympus C-3040 camera that is a 3.3 mega pixel variety takes better pictures than the 5 or 8 mega pixel cameras my kids bought recently.
It is the huge, high quality lens.