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iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

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iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby sidd finch » Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:13 pm

Image

From Yoni Heisler:
With the iPhone 6s, Apple added a number of compelling and arguably long overdue enhancements to its iconic smartphone. Not only was the front-facing camera upgraded from a paltry 1.2 megapixel sensor to a 5 megapixel sensor, but the rear-facing camera got a nice bump up to a 12 megapixel sensor as well.

On the video side of things, Apple graced the iPhone 6s with the ability to record video in full 4K quality. Coupled with iMovie, the iPhone 6s is effectively a movie production studio you can keep in your pocket.

But how does 4K video on the iPhone 6s compare to what you might capture with an entry-level Canon DSLR? Well, PhoneArena set out to put Apple’s next-gen smartphone to the test.

It pits 4K video footage taken with an iPhone 6s against 1080p footage taken with a Canon Rebel T4i a popular entry-level camera, it remains an interesting comparison.

To be fair, neither device was designed with video recording as its primary function in mind. Still, it’s not as if most people are going to shell out thousands of dollars for a top of the line video camera. For many of the millions of iPhone 6s owners who want to know how their device stacks up against a DSLR, the video provides an interesting reference point.

Of course, if you’re sill itching with curiosity over how video on the iPhone 6s stacks up against a more recently released DSLR, well, we’ve got you covered there too. The video below measures video taken with an iPhone 6s against footage taken with a Nikon D750 DSLR.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWNIwOzInQU[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0NyPW-BjpA[/youtube]

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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Francesco Carzedda » Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:26 am

I think that a camera is a more creative tool, also for video, because of the possibility of changing lens, work on depth of fields, frame rate, white balance, time of shooting, raw format for photos.

Further, there is a long tradition in photography: some suggest that beginners start from the black and white option to discover their creativity.

Simple cameras have always taken the great shot better than high level ones, but as lucky shots :gl:
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Ron Hunter » Tue Oct 20, 2015 2:14 pm

Thanks for posting that Sidd. That was amazing. I had no idea the iPhone could produce images that surpassed pro gear. Now I want to try a test between my Note 4 smartphone at 4k and my GH4 at 4k, both down-rezzed to 1080p. I had forgotten my Note 4 could do 4k, but the video you posted reminded me of it.

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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Bob » Tue Oct 20, 2015 5:35 pm

We already know that down sizing 4K to 1920x1080 is going to increase apparent sharpness, contrast, and reduce the size of noise making it look better than native 1920x1080. That's not new or unexpected. I have to wonder about some of the other comparisons.

For instance, in the second video he says that the iPhone 6s has better color than the Nikon D750. However, the playing field wasn't level. The Nikon was set to the neutral picture control instead of standard, vivid, or one of the other choices. Picture controls affect saturation, contrast, and sharpness. By choosing neutral, he was reducing the amount of saturation, contrast, and sharpness. the iPhone undoubtedly boosts saturation, contrast, and sharpness by default -- most people prefer that.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby sidd finch » Tue Oct 20, 2015 7:35 pm

I did notice that the Nikon colors seemed a bit flat.

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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby John 'twosheds' McDonald » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:13 pm

On a simple, prima facie basis I find it hard to believe that a device that was basically designed as a phone, albeit with functional add-ons, is fundamentally better than a device that was designed from the outset as a camera, plain and simple.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Bob » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:18 am

There's no argument that the DSLR is a better camera. He even says as much when he talks about the ability to change lenses and work in low light. And, he wasn't talking about still photos. He was explicitly talking about the video. I get the impression that he may have been thinking that it's the 4K vs 1920x1080 that made the difference. I do agree that Nikon (and others) are behind the curve and should have provided 4K capability. The way things are going, in 5 years, we may be saying the same about 8K. But, I think he missed the boat comparing the iPhone with its pumped contrast and saturation against the Nikon using the neutral picture control. I'd like to see what the difference was if he had used a different picture control. Or, better yet, had used a custom picture control with boosted contrast, saturation, and sharpening similar to the iPhone.

But, it's just not all about how much contrast and saturation you can get. In cinema, it's common to shoot in lower contrast and saturation to retain detail and provide the greatest latitude for post processing. A straight up comparison of that to the iPhone footage would probably look even worse.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Chris B » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:37 am

I have to agree with Bob here. Given that the video is labelled as being shot as neutral - which is more or less designed to be post processed - it implies that they knew the settings were important - but then compared with something not designed to be post processed..... Not sure of the thought processes there.

I realise the comparison in video here but I have had a quick look round and have struggled to find full resolution sample still shots from an iphone 6s. Lots of downscaled pictures but very little actual pixel level. This page here http://snapsnapsnap.photos/iphone-6s-camera-comparison/ has some full frame crops and the close up of the portrait and it doesn't IMHO do very well.

However I did see some sample images shared from the new Lumia 950 devices and was genuinely surprised. Obviously these are press shots designed to provide the best possible use case but they are at least full sized pictures. http://blogs.windows.com/devices/2015/1 ... ia-950-xl/

This portrait shots are particularly impressive with excellent skin tone and detail without too much of the the over-sharpening that many phones introduce.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby John 'twosheds' McDonald » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:51 am

I do not disagree with anything that has been written in this thread. It is just that I find it very hard to believe that a device that has been designed primarily for "function A" (phone) can be favourably compared to a device that has been designed solely for "function B" (camera), everything else being equal.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Ron Hunter » Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:07 am

I appreciate the replies to this thread. I did not originally notice the chosen picture style of the Nikon footage, but I do understand how that makes a difference. Excellent point. I also understand that 4k->1080p will look better than 1080p natively; I do that all the time with my GH4.

And I agree with the fundamental premise that a device designed to do one thing very well (DSLR) should always perform better than a multi-function device (iPhone). The multi-function device must make design and functional compromises that the "single function" device doesn't.

So the smartphone is good in a pinch and is always better than nothing, but it is unreasonable to expect it to REPLACE dedicated photo/video gear.

I feel better about my GH4 now. :exc:
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Bob » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:02 pm

Actually, I think smart phones have already replaced dedicated photo/video gear for one class of user -- the casual shooter. Why carry a second device if the one you're going to be carrying anyway will take pictures/video good enough to satisfy your needs. But, smart phones aren't good enough for everyone's needs. Dedicated photo/video gear can be clearly superior and there are many of us for whom that matters.

I went to the air show recently and it was interesting to see the mix of photographers. There were the extreme enthusiasts, of course. Several of those I saw had multiple top end DSLRS with a different telephoto lens on each. There were a lot more photographers like me with a single DSLR. But, by far, the most common camera being used was a smart phone. Interestingly enough, I didn't see a single point and shoot still camera, but I did see a few camcorders -- not many though.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Francesco Carzedda » Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:11 pm

The only aspect that seems to be unbeatable is stabilization.

A friend from Berlin shared this video shot for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall



and refused my complimets about her steady hand, insisting on the extremely good performance of the IPhone 6 plus.

Bob, I found your witness (ehm, in Italian I would say so) very interesting: I am going through the comparisons between Canon 5d mark III (DSLR) and Canon c100 (camcorder, that costs up to three times as much), and some - although admitting camcorder as winning for shooting video - wouldn't change their DSLR and see only few advantages in upgrading to c100.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby sidd finch » Thu Oct 22, 2015 8:48 am

While the DSLR has a lot of advantages to the iPhone 6. To me it shows how the gap is getting a lot closer to even be comparing the two together. I also see this huge effort to make full frame cameras in the smallest package possible.

Regardless of what is better, I really like that the competition is driving such a huge amount of change.

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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Bob » Fri Oct 23, 2015 5:08 am

Asking which is better, a smartphone or a DSLR is like asking which truck is better, Ford or Peterbilt. Both trucks can haul loads, but they serve different niches and have different capabilities.
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Re: iPhone 6s vs. entry-level Canon DSLR

Postby Francesco Carzedda » Sat Oct 24, 2015 4:24 am

Bob, I agree, the same Vimeo friend from Berlin experimented the timelapse function of the iPhones 5s and 6 plus, beeing able this way to shot thousands still photos, and is very happy about better sharpness of the output compared with her former accelerated videos.

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