It has been a while since Apple announced the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus and although I have had my Plus model for about 6 months now, I have not had a chance to provide feedback on what I think about this phone when used as a camera for occasional snapshots. Although I initially could not understand the point of such a large phone that is now known as a “phablet“, it did not take long before I was convinced that I wanted the iPhone 6 Plus. My main reason was reading – I no longer had to pinch with my fingers to zoom in to be able to read small text on a website. The larger surface area gave a lot more room, making it possible to use the device for email and web surfing. This meant that I could ditch my iPad and only carry one additional device when I needed to work, for which the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 fit the task perfectly, being a real laptop and not a laptop wannabe like the iPad is. After getting the iPhone 6 Plus, I realized that the built-in camera is actually pretty decent for photographing in daylight and when I do not have a real camera with me. It is certainly no Nokia Lumia 1020 or Samsung Galaxy S6, but I was not in a quest to find a phone with the best camera anyway. I was moving up from an older beat up iPhone and did not feel like switching to another system, so the built-in camera was certainly not a priority. I will be honest, I am not an iPhoneographer and I am not planning to be one anytime soon, so please take this review with a grain of salt. I only used the basic, built-in tools for capturing images, although I am aware of the fact that one can use third party apps to do plenty of cool stuff with the camera on the iPhone 6.
1) iPhone 6 Camera vs iPhone 6 Plus Camera
Both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature the same 8 MP iSight camera with a small sensor and tiny pixels measuring only 1.5µm in size. The lens has a fixed f/2.2 aperture. There is a built-in flash on both as well. The only difference between the two is optical image stabilization – the iPhone 6 Plus comes with it. With image stabilization, the camera will automatically compensate when shooting at slower shutter speeds, allowing to yield images with less noise (since lower ISO is used), particularly when shooting in low light situations.
2) iSight Camera
The 8 MP iSight camera found on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cameras is not a breakthrough by any means. In fact, it is pretty similar to what is found on the iPhone 5. Apple mostly concentrated on the software side of things on the iPhone 6 and did not change the physical size of the sensor or its resolution. That’s not to say there are no improvements – the iPhone 6 comes with a few new features such as “focus pixels” (which improves autofocus performance), improved face detection, better exposure control and more.
The same camera is able to deliver high quality video files, shooting 1080p HD video at 60 fps and slow motion 720p video at 240 fps. You can also use the iPhone 6 to create time-lapse videos now.
3) Autofocus Performance
The iPhone 6 Plus is no DSLR, so don’t expect it to be a speed demon. With such a small sensor, its f/2.2 aperture still translates to a boatload of depth of field, so focusing is not comparable to what one would get on a large sensor camera. Still, AF is pretty darn fast and responsive for a smartphone. You simply tap with your finger on the area you want to focus on and the camera does its job. When the phone detects faces, face recognition algorithms kick in and the camera automatically focuses and tracks your subjects, putting the camera on face priority mode, which is nice. Aside from my kids, I have not tried photographing any fast movements or action – I would care less about this anyway. The camera does a decent job with capturing my little daughter, who is always on the move and the camera copes with her pretty well.
4) Details and Noise
Thanks to a small sensor and tiny pixels, it is expected that the camera produces plenty of noise in low light situations. This is not an issue if you are showcasing small to medium size images to your friends on social media, but if you are trying to do something more serious, like getting your photos printed, you might not have a lot of options. For some of the images presented in this review, I had to run Dfine from Google’s Nik Collection, since noise levels were pretty distracting even in daylight situations. I also noticed that noise reduction does not work very well with some images, particularly when there are larger blocks of noise and patterns visible in images. In some of the images, you will notice that the sky does not look even everywhere and there are visible artifacts. Not much you can do with those, unfortunately. Again, this should not be a surprise, since we are dealing with a small sensor smartphone…
On the positive note, detail level from center to corner of the frame is pretty good, which shows that the lens used on the iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus is quite good.
5) Panorama Mode
The panorama mode works quite good overall, but can be somewhat of a pain when you are dealing with a blue sky. The camera will often exhibit lines with dark to bright transitions, which shows that the camera’s exposure most likely varies when it actively captures a panorama. Unfortunately, there is no way to lock exposure when using the panorama tool, so you will most likely end up with many images that look like this:
Pay attention to the sky, where you see transitions from lighter to darker tones and vice versa.
6) HDR Mode
Just like the previous generation iPhone cameras, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cameras are also equipped with the “High Dynamic Range” (HDR) feature, which does a great job at recovering highlights and shadows when dealing with more difficult lighting situations. The HDR feature is quite handy and I really like how Apple implemented HDR by making it look quite realistic and not over the top. There is no “cartoonish” feel to HDR, which is great. Take a look at the below images – one was a standard capture and the second one is an HDR version. Note how the camera recovered the highlights in the clouds and brightened up the foreground:
The details are well preserved in most areas and the HDR version looks great – I would certainly pick that one over the standard out of camera image.
7) Summary
As I pointed out in the beginning, I did not buy the iPhone 6 Plus to focus a lot on photography. For my occasional needs, it works pretty well and does a decent job, so I am generally happy with the overall output and the detail level I see in images. At the same time, I do realize that there are far better choices available out there, which do a much better job at capturing photos than the iPhone 6 Plus does. Some smartphones like the Panasonic Lumix CM1 are more cameras than smartphones and would obviously offer amazing image quality in comparison. But again, that’s not what I bought the iPhone 6 Plus for anyway. If I really need to produce a higher quality photo, I would use a real camera, not my phone…
My wife Lola is a much better photographer than me, particularly when it comes to shooting with a smartphone and she has been doing all kinds of fun stuff like this with her iPhone 6 Plus.
8) More Image Samples
Apple iPhone 6 Plus Camera
- Optical Performance
- Features
- Build Quality
- Focus Speed and Accuracy
- Image Stabilization
- Value
- Image Quality
- High ISO Performance
- Size and Weight
- Metering and Exposure
- Movie Recording Features
- Dynamic Range
- Ease of Use
Photography Life Overall Rating
Friends i am waiting for Doogee Mix because i love mobile photography and i think Doogee Mix is Best Option for me. Doogee Mix equipped with a dual rear cameras with 16MP and 8MP sensors.
The dual camera design is similar to the Huawei usage with one sensor being the RGB, while the secondary is just a monochrome one. It uses the Samsung ISOCELL technology and with the ultra slim sensor with thickness just 5mm it should also be able to deliver some clearer night shots and good effect.
And because anything looks better when compared with some Apple product they have released some sample pics pitted directly against the photos taken by the iPhone 7. As usual take these with a pinch of salt, because it’s uncertain how accurate those really are. But Doogee Mix is an interesting phone can you tell me my decision is correct for buy Doogee Mix phone ?
How much sharpness you usually add to your photos?
Love my iPhone 6 plus. It is simply great ^_^
What is the quality of pictures that are taken from I phone 6 and then printed? Any recommendations as to how to print the pics?
Nowadays, smartphone HDR is quite different from “proper” HDR – they just use single RAW image, make two different JPGs (with different software exposure compensation) and merge to make one final image. It’s more like Fuji’s DR expansion than “real’ HDR, and there is no double exposure artifact or anything. Both iPhone and Galaxy are using this method.
And Galaxy note 4 / galaxy S6 (sharing the same sensor) is known to have better resolution, better DR and similar low light performance compared to iPhone 6/6+ (which makes them current best performers of smartphones)
Nasim, I find it unfair to compare the iPhone 6 to the Galaxy S6 which you probably haven’t even used. Yes, the reviews look promising so far but citing the S6 like it already is a benchmark seems unfair to me.
What you did not mention is the difference in HDR compared to the 5S: the iPhone 6 doesn’t just use two exposures, it actually reads “half” of the exposure off the sensor and then keeps exposing for the second half. This should eliminate all alignment issues we have been getting before. Not sure if it also uses two exposures to gain even more DR though.
Have you tried the HDR mode for people (holding still)? My 4S always messes up the noses of people so I would like to know if the 6 finally does better in those situations?
Nasim,
I’m surprised you didn’t discuss the HDR feature of the iPhone at all since that can make a big difference in how some photos turn out when shooting with the iPhone. I just recently got the iPhone 6 Plus a couple weeks ago and overall I think the camera is quite a bit better than the iPhone 5 I had before. The optical image stabilization makes a difference. While I shoot a lot with all of the DSLR equipment I have for professional sports and travel, I shoot and edit exclusively with my iPhone for all the photos on my Instagram account as a personal challenge/choice. So I shoot with my iPhone deliberately quite often.
Ben, good point – I often use HDR myself, particularly when dealing with a lot of shadows. The iPhone does a pretty good job with recovering both highlights and shadows in HDR mode and the images don’t look cartoonish. I updated the review with HDR info, so thank you for the great suggestion!
Nice images – but I will await the release of Nokia 1030.
Definitely a good idea if you want a better camera…
Don’t hold your breathe. I have been waiting too but it looks like MS is going a different direction based on the 2 model prototype specs that have been released (both 20mp with no massive sensor)
Damn that is a shame…thats for the news Karls, I wasn’t aware of that. Change of plans again. Now I need to see another option….
There is something that DSLR makers should learn from smartphones besides connectivity of course; The flash built-in into an iPhone should have been implemented years ago in a DSLR, having auto-color balance at flash level is ingenious.
Agreed, would be nice to integrate such features in modern cameras!
Thanks for this. I’ll be interested in reading the comments. I am upgrading from a 4S and thought I wanted a 6 but maybe a 6plus is the way to go? I prefer the smaller size to keep in my pocket but I use my phone for photos often and am considering the 6plus. Is image stabilization really the only difference? If so I can probably get by with the 6. Do those of you with larger phones have a hard time transporting? Women can keep in a purse but guys how do you carry them?
The iPhone 6 has digital image stabilization vs the optical stabilization of the iPhone 6 Plus. For stills, the biggest difference is in low light situations, and the iPhone 6 Plus tends to produce slightly better results because of its OIS. In video, the 6 Plus is capable of providing smoother, less jerky motion.
That being said, I personally wouldn’t make the camera the deciding factor when purchasing your new phone. There’s not enough difference between them, performance-wise, to justify buying the larger phone – and size appears to be a consideration for you. When upgrading my phone for work, I went with the 6 over the 6 Plus so I could actually fit it in a pants pocket. The 6 Plus is just too big to have on me at all times.
Same here. Quite happy with the regular 6 and it’s size.
If you can wait till fall, there are rumors the next camera will be better.
If you can’t, try out both phones at an Apple Store (or other place) and see which one you prefer.
Either one will take much better photos than your iPhone 4s
I agree with Steve’s suggestion – try both out before you decide.
Krista, I would recommend to go to an Apple store or any other place that sells both and try them out. I really like the Plus version, because it gives me more room to read and work. Considering how much time I spend with my phone every day reading, emailing and surfing, it made sense for me to do that. My wife also loves her Plus and she would never want to go back to the smaller version. The iPhone 4 feels tiny compared to a Plus now :)
I carry my phone with me all the time. I never put it in my front pockets, but it does fit in my rear pockets in my jeans just fine.