Can the iPhone 4s replace a regular camera?

[haven]

http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides...eplace-a-real-digital-camera-for-many-yes.ars

After an extensive analysis and side by side comparison with DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras, the Answer: A qualified "yes"

 

[Keanan]

My iPhone 4 replaced my Canon point and shoot. Overall the canon took better pictures but with apps like Camera+ and 8mm I can edit and upload my pictures or videos really easily. The phone is just more convenient.

 

[Scott Brady]

Great link Chip. I find the iPhone to be so convenient. Sometimes, that is what you really need

 

[1leglance]

I used my Droid II on a recent 3 day trip and was very happy with the quality of the pics and since I already carry it anyway it makes sense to use it.
Great link Chip, thanks

 

[bajasurf]

If I was to buy an IPhone 4s am I committed to a 2 years contract with a phone service provider? On Ebay I can purchase an iPhone 4s for $800 and what would owning an Iphone without service accomplish? One service provider allows, at their cheapest plan, 20 photo downloads a month to whatever. I agree the phone does take remarkable photos and video but at what cost. I am not trying to throw water on the fire I am just perplexed why I need to tie myself to a contract to take photos.

 

[Pskhaat]

I have a 4s. I'm no professional photographer. So this is just my opinion, but the 4s like any other phone camera does not even come close to competing with the quality of even a simple PnS. Maybe I've purchased good PnS cameras, dunno. It's good for what it does here and there, but I find it severely lacking in low-light environments. Additionally, the buttons are way too small to take good quick action photos with gloves when skiing or cold.

I'm nowhere close to professional-quality on the photography side, so just my lay observation.

 

[nwoods]

Scott, are you using the volume button to activate the shutter?

 

[Pskhaat]

I can use that or of course the capacitive screen (sans glove), but either does not work well for me. I take a lot (comparatively I guess) of videos skiing with the kids and especially with an otterbox container those buttons are very hard to feel and manipulate. Despite the reviews and likely because we're often in high-light out there on the snow, I found our Nikon coolpix to be superior for what we were doing. I'm sure that doesn't compete well with a "real" camera, but in comparison between those two, I prefer the coolpix hands-down.

The 4s video "seems" jumpy. I think, however, this is due to the way the video codec is being encoded. Though both (I'm pretty sure) are h.264, I'm wondering if the 4s tries to do a little better/more compressed encoding than the Nikon and consumes more CPU, but again just from a consumer-eye, the videos from the pns just "seem" smoother in high-movement with less artifacts when I'm doing basic cutting.

 

[ywen]

that was a horrible comparison. they compare iphone to a DSLR and claim the iphone is sharper. Really? do they understand the concept of DOF? focusing?

iphone vs 5D2? in broad day light with small aperture? Open up the lens on the 5D and see what the real difference would be. 16GB iphone.. less than that for video.. you fill up the memory and then what?

I can drive a Ferrari at 20mph and claim it is only as fast as a Chevy Malibu

Dont get me wrong.. in limited situations, a cell phone, p&s can offer equivalent, or "good enough" performance relative to a DSLR in the same scenario. This article is misleading because it doesn't touch on all the other scenarios where a dSLR, P&S is vastly superior than iphone

 

[TJDIV]

that was a horrible comparison. they compare iphone to a DSLR and claim the iphone is sharper. Really? do they understand the concept of DOF? focusing?

iphone vs 5D2? in broad day light with small aperture? Open up the lens on the 5D and see what the real difference would be. 16GB iphone.. less than that for video.. you fill up the memory and then what?

I can drive a Ferrari at 20mph and claim it is only as fast as a Chevy Malibu

Dont get me wrong.. in limited situations, a cell phone, p&s can offer equivalent, or "good enough" performance relative to a DSLR in the same scenario. This article is misleading because it doesn't touch on all the other scenarios where a dSLR, P&S is vastly superior than iphone

Agreed 110%. Armchair web comparison. I love my iPhone 4s and have done some Pretty Sweet Work with it; but it's not even on par with my 40D. I've toyed with the idea of the interface for the DSLR lenses just to tool around, but have only gone so far as to grab the OWLE housing for it for video + wide angle stuff.

And the P&S cameras available now at the same price point as the iPhone 4s ($400+) are absolutely bad to the bone.

So, the answer: a qualified "NO".

 

[ywen]

editor: we need a fresh article on the iphone 4s.. to drive traffic to the site. I'm too lazy to think of new things to write about, but since Apple raved about the camera, Chris can you do an article about the camera and angle the story about how superior it is.
Chris: uhhh I'm not really qualified to do an image comparison... but I'll give it a whirl..
editor: good, let's doooo it!

 

[syke]

Decent article!

I guess my only opinion is in regards to the old mantra "F8 and be there". With my Droid (or Iphone for that matter) the 'be there" part is easily handled. The "F8" part might a bit more difficult but for general photography the cell phone does just fine.
Overall I'm not a big fan of multi use electronics. I feel the quality starts to lack if they try to do to many things at once. I'm fine with a cell phone making calls and I'll leave my F5 and ancient D80 to the picture making.
Who am I kidding.... I just took a picture with the Droid no less than an hour ago.

 

[nwoods]

Have you guys seen the 'iPhone Studio Fashion Shoot" video from F-Stoppers? Pretty amazing (and hilarious when the phone rings mid-shoot)
http://fstoppers.com/iphone

And of course, there's this little teaser:
http://9to5mac.com/2011/11/28/icam-concept-turns-your-iphone-5-into-a-point-and-shoot-killer/

 

[nwoods]

The 4s video "seems" jumpy. I think, however, this is due to the way the video codec is being encoded. Though both (I'm pretty sure) are h.264, I'm wondering if the 4s tries to do a little better/more compressed encoding than the Nikon and consumes more CPU, but again just from a consumer-eye, the videos from the pns just "seem" smoother in high-movement with less artifacts when I'm doing basic cutting.

I haven't actually used a 4s yet, but I thought this iPhone 4 video was interesting. The effect of frame rate and frequency is dramatically demonstrated:

http://youtu.be/TKF6nFzpHBU

 

[Pskhaat]

Great example of stroboscopic effects. Take a look at this too: http://youtu.be/ltMPMz37VPk or http://youtu.be/xqw0-BQXAM8