iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 4S Camera: Image Quality Comparison

Posted by iPhoneHacks on Sep 22, 2012 | Comments (7)

iPhone 5 Camera

Though iPhone 5′s back-facing camera has the same 8-megapixel, five-element lens with 2.4 aperture, which is similar to the iPhone 4S, but is 25% smaller and the same 3,264 by 2,448 backside-illuminated sensor, it comes with improvements such as 40% faster photo capture, improved low-light performance, and improved noise reduction.

Folks at ProCamera have carried out some tests to find out if there are any visible differences between the iPhone 4S and new iPhone 5 cameras.

Here are some of their observations:

  1. I like the wider focal length of the iPhone 5 lens (previously 35mm now 33mm).
  2. The iPhone 5 is much more responsive, with faster app load times.
  3. Images look better on the iPhone 5 screen, they have more contrast and better colour replication (probably to do with the new sRGB support).
  4. The iPhone 5 images seem to be holding more detail during day time shots – particularly visible in the Example 1 flower detail and building lines in Example 3.
  5. The iPhone 5 seems to be more sensitive in low-light conditions. However, it appears that more aggressive noise reduction is resulting in mushier images when viewed at 100% (visible in Examples 6 and 7).
You can check out the comparison photos by clicking on the image below.

Note: ProCamera carried out the tests using their popular Camera app ( iTunes link).

This video posted by iDB reveals that iPhone 5′s camera offers significantly improved low-light performance compared to the iPhone 4S.

Let us know what you think about the images?

[via ProCamera's blog]

Related: Everything you need to know about iPhone 5′s camera.

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  • Smith John

    SAME SH*T!

    • http://www.facebook.com/THExREALxTACO Jeremy Taco Patterson

      ONLY BETTER!

  • genXhippie

    Have an Xenon flash such as the Nokia 808, then low light conditions are dealt w/ properly. Apple should do away (dump) with the led light, since it is not a flash.

  • jorg

    “The iPhone 5 is much more responsive, with faster app load times.” – genius !!! what did this user expect from a processor / ram upgrade ??? who would think that adding faster components would actually increase the speed something works ???

    • Starman_Andromeda

      Come on–you know that sometimes upgrades in specs ≠ upgrades in performance. Consider, e.g., iPad battery, screen. Or, for many, minor diffs iPad 2 to 3.

  • http://www.facebook.com/BrandonWilliams85 Brandon Williams

    Looks to me that the 4s has a better camera

  • filipe

    its not a 4s, its a 4…. fulls… is this a joke?!…