Apple iPhone 6 Plus (4.15mm, f/2.2, 1/610 sec, ISO32)
Finally winter arrived here. It was a very long wait this time but now he is here. Everything looks different. All colors are gone. The world is black and white. Of course I love sunshine and blue skies but nothing compares to a winter landscape. It’s magic!
Maybe you already recognized the EXIF data under the shots. Yes I gave in and got myself a new iPhone. My old iPhone 4 has become too slow and the camera wasn’t up to date anymore. The new phone is much faster and the camera is much better too. It is still a phone camera but it is perfect for all those situations where I don’t have a camera with me. Like yesterday on my way back home in a snowstorm.
Because of the strong wind and the snowdrift the road almost disappeared. Tricky driving conditions but just beautiful. Thanks to my iPhone I was able to capture it.
Here is my ultrashort iPhone 6 plus camera review: It’s great that Apple kept resolution at 8MP. It is plenty enough for my needs and the “bigger” pixels are better in low light. Of course these pixels are still extremely small and you should not expect a lot at higher ISO settings. But thanks to the optical image stabilization the iPhone uses very slow shutter speeds in lower light. As low as 1/4 of a second. That’s insanely slow but it works. Of course it only helps with static subjects or very cooperative “models” but it improves IQ in low light shots a lot.
Colors and Auto-WB are very good and the camera feels snappy. The output is neutral but it lacks punch. Almost like a RAW file. That’s good for post processing and I recommend to get the Lightroom App or something similar to give the images some pop. I used VSCO’s Fuji Velvia plug in to post process those shots on my laptop.
I love the Panorama option. It works beautifully and because it is noiseless you do not cause much attention when you use it in a quiet environment. I’m not a big video shooter but to me it looks very good. I shot a video while walking and it almost looked like as if shot with a steadicam – impressive! I haven’t touched slow motion yet.
In short: Im very, very pleased with the update. When you skip a couple of generations (in my case iPhone 4S, 5, 5S) you can really feel the progress. The phone is fast and the camera is good enough for most situations. And the best thing is its big screen. This is the truly senior citizen friendly smartphone. 😉
That’s it for 2014. Happy New Year! Hope you drop by again in 2015.
Apple iPhone 6 Plus (4.15mm, f/2.2, 1/530 sec, ISO32)