Zzzzz ….

“The best camera is the one you have with you” is an expression of surpassing triteness, but I was glad of the iPhone on this occasion.

iPhone 6, 1/1300, f/2.2, ISO 32.

More experience with the iPhone 6.

iPhone 6 snap.

This is the ideal camera for the street snapper who has no need for a zoom. The focal length approximates that of 35mm on full frame cameras.

While both the iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6+ models have image stabilization in movie mode, only the 6+ offers OIS for still pictures. But that’s not quite right. Apple has been awfully clever with the smaller phone’s design. When you take a still image the camera actually records four images, then samples these, combining the sharpest components into the final version. None of this is visible to the photographer and the technology is completely transparent. I have not run any tests to see how well this works, but am constantly pleasantly surprised that the iPhone’s frequent choice of ISO 32 – and hence slower shutter speeds – does not result in camera shake. Yet another example of Apple’s application of continuing improvements from year to year, none huge on its own, but after two or three model iterations you end up with a clearly superior device.

I use Photostream in Settings to sync images with iPhoto on my MacBook Air and have iPhoto set so that editing is automatically done in Lightroom, which is far more powerful than iPhoto; snapped at lunch today, I just added a tad of sharpening in LR (sharpness slider in LR at 70).

You don’t have HC-B’s sense of anticipation and timing? No problem. Just keep your finger on the button and you get a burst of images, allowing you to choose the best – even if it’s of a man jumping a puddle …. In fact, I would bet that the iPhone is what the Master would be using today, were he still with us. Of course, he would have to dial in the black and white effect.

Monochrome conversion done in iOS8 on the iPhone 6.

iOS8 has a tremendous processing capabilities, revealed when you hit ‘Edit’ in Photos. Dump that dumb as a brick Leica M Monochrom.

GPS? Of course. Something the huge brains at Canon and Nikon seem incapable of integrating in their gargantuan DSLR bodies, and found in every iPhone for years now:

GPS data in LR5.

Here’s an exploded view of the camera’s lens. Far from simple:

Non-trivial. The lens in the iPhone 6.

Thanksgiving is coming.

iPhone 6, the first and last at ISO 32, the middle one at ISO 125. I have no idea how the iPhone determines the ISO to use, but who cares with image quality like this? These easily print 13″ x 19″, as the below illustrates, and are straight out of the phone, with no processing.

These beautiful pumpkins and gourd were snapped at the local grocery store. Apple’s thorough design attention makes a nonesense of all the high pixel count sensors in regular cameras. The sensor is but 8mp, but you would never guess that from the outstanding image quaity. Too bad Apple does not make cameras.

Even at ‘nose in print’ distances the original print is tack sharp and, quite frankly, an image from my massive Nikon D3x FF DSLR could not be any better. For that matter, most people are not serious photographers and care not one whit for such technical mumbo jumbo in any case, and this image needs no gear excuses. Tell a ‘photographer’ viewer it’s from an iPhone and the reaction will be one of incredulity. The print was made on the HP DesignJet 90 dye printer on HP Glossy paper, still the best printer/paper combination out there if you care about deep blacks and lustrous colors.

K9 rules!

This is straight-out-of-camera … errr, iPhone 6.

The iPhone opted to turn HDR on and, as is clear, a tremendous dynamic range is retained. The iPhone also opted for a very low ISO and examination of the 1:1 image in Lightroom confirms that a perfect 13″ x 19″ print would be trivial to make. An outstanding camera.

iPhone 6 exposure data.

And yes, only Beverly Hills police have cleaner cars. As Woody Allen once put it, BH is so clean because they put all their garbage on television.

An impressive camera.

Apple has done the right thing with the rear-facing main camera in iPhone 6. Instead of whoring the latest megapixel count they have concentrated on delivering excellent picture quality. The camera has the same 8mP of the iPhone 5S but uses a new sensor and lens. While time lapse and movies hold no interest for me, performance as a street snapper is important and, despite the awkward ergonomics of using a cell phone as a camera, the results are excellent. It’s still easy to get your finger to intrude over part of the field of view, especially in landscape snaps, and the tapered edges of iPhone 6 make hand holding a bit trickier than the slab sides of iPhone 5, and the thing is as slippery as an eel. There will be lots of repair bills with this model!

These snaps were taken in overcast lighting using the following Lightroom 5 import settings – essentially just a tad of sharpening:

iPhone 6 import settings in Lightroom 5.

I did not turn on HDR and maybe should have done so, as the burned out highlights in the terrier’s coat suggest:

Morning coffee, with terrier and iPad.

Shutter response is excellent. Essentially instantaneous with definition easily adequate for 13″ x 19″ prints and noise in the shadows noticeably improved over the camera in my previous iPhone 5:

Top notch shutter response and definition, with low noise.

Two hours before opening the line was again beginning to form for iPhone 6 at the local Apple Store this morning:

Waiting for iPhone 6.

Colors are straight out-of-camera and as vibrant and natural as can be.

If the point-and-shoot camera was in dire straits with iPhones 4 and 5 it can now be buried. iPhone 6 excels at such impromptu duties.