When the Apple iPhone 6s dropped on September 25, and my friendly UPS driver brought it to my front door, I couldn’t wait to compare its photographic results to those made with my old pal, my iPhone 5s. I turned to my favorite photo subject, my collection of sea glass from Maine that basks in a crystal bowl, catching all the afternoon sunlight, on my dining room buffet. Here’s what I learned:
iPhone 5s v iPhone 6s, unretouched after import into Lightroom
1. You’re gonna get more pixels.
The 3021 x 3943 px from the iPhone 6s rivals my Canon Rebel XSi’s 12.2-megapixel output. And that yields a lot more to work with, when you’re zooming in post-production, because the front camera on the iPhone 6s is now 12 megapixels . . . plenty good for sharing online. You’ll really notice the upgrade when you enlarge to crop during editing. Note the difference it makes below, in a screenshot of Adobe Lightroom, comparing the iPhone 6s closeup (right) to the 2448 x 3264 px from the iPhone 5s (left).
iPhone 5s v iPhone 6s Closeup, unretouched, after import into Lightroom
2. You’re still at the mercy of Apple’s auto choices.
My iPhone 6s shot the photograph below using ISO 25, at f/2.2 at 1/700 of a second. If I could have chosen f/8 for more depth of field instead, a slower shutter speed and ISO 100, I wouldn’t have had to sharpen my image in Adobe Lightroom. Even making all the decisions for me, though, Apple’s choices still gave my image the dazzle I’ve come to love iPhoneography for.
More dazzle? iPhone 5s, left, and iPhone 6s, right, each with similar edits
3. Upgraded iPhones are even more inevitable than change.
Or at least synonymous. Even if you prefer the photos made with your iPhone 5s, you’ll eventually have to (or want to) upgrade to the latest, greatest iPhone. If you choose the iPhone 6s now, at least you’ll get a vastly-improved camera with it. Like the rest of the operations the iPhone 6s does, the camera functions are noticeably faster, whether you’re autofocusing, saving or sharing your picture.
The camera you have with you (your iPhone) is always better than the fancy one at home.
iSeaGlass SuperZoom via iPhone 6s by Jann Alexander © 2015
4. You’re going to marvel at how good iPhone photos have become.
The iPhone 6s photos are glorious because there’s more there there. More dynamic color, clarity, shadows, highlights and depth captured within the allotted pixels detected by an improved camera sensor. You may not like the results when you enlarge them for poster-size prints at 240 dpi, but then again, the improvements made annually since the first iPhone was released with its 2-megapixel camera suggest it won’t be long until you do.
Bottom Line: For a world obsessed with sharing online, the quality of the iPhone 6s photographs is astounding enough. And the camera you have with you (your iPhone) is always better than the fancy one at home in your closet. ♣
There are plenty more iPhoneography tips and tricks HERE.
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