The iPhone 4S has been announced and it looks like Apple has caught up in the smartphone camera megapixel race. It now features an 8MP backside-illuminated sensor, which helps pick up 73% more light than the previous 5MP shooter on the iPhone 4. And we all know that the iPhone 4 was already halfway decent with low-light photography.
Additionally, there is a “hybrid” infrared filter and a 5-element lens that Apple promises will improve image quality and give you sharper pictures. It will also allow you to take macro photos, which is great for getting really close up to your subjects.
The camera has face-detection, takes its first photo in just 1.1 seconds and the rest of its photos in less than one second – capturing those candid mean the differences between tenths of a second! Additionally, there is better white balance, too.
The iPhone 4S camera can also shoot 1080p videos and comes with image stabilization and noise reduction, two huge nuisances in the iPhone 4’s camera. Very impressive on paper, hopefully equally impressive in the real world.
In all, coupled with the new in-app photo editing features, it seems like this is a huge upgrade to the iPhone’s previous camera. The iPhone has always had excellent photography capabilities, and has generally been better than most other smartphone cameras except maybe the Nokia N8, but I think the iPhone 4S camera is going to take the cake. And with all those iOS photo-editing apps, this is a mobile photographer’s dream!
[Image courtesy of The Verge]