[Article]"To beat the iPhone, you have to beat the iPhone's camera."

BreakingKayfabe

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I came across this today and thought I'd share it here.

To beat the iPhone, you have to beat the iPhone?s camera | The Verge

The reason why I'm creating a thread about this is because I often questioned Apple's claim over the years that a lot of their customer wants and needs for better and improved features were the camera. I didn't really buy into that because I only looked at it from a narrow point of view (my own needs) and have realized that the ability to take seamless great pictures on a camera smartphone is arguably the most wanted feature for consumers. That's not based on any hard numbers or even evidence. That's just 'ol Heisenberg's hypothesis.

As 2015 gets going in earnest and phone makers resume their annual quest to oust the iPhone from its dominant position, I offer this advice: don’t worry about the phone, focus on beating the camera. This is a familiar refrain, as true today as it was three years ago, and it’s frankly embarrassing for the mobile industry to lag so badly for so long on such a fundamental aspect of the modern user experience. The pursuit of gimmicks like UltraPixels and laser autofocus goes some way to explaining this conundrum, but I’d rather we just fix it.

I really hope other smartphone manufacturers can improve camera quality as well because we all, as consumers, benefit from it.
 

Just_Me_D

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I use my iPhone's camera for scanning receipts, contracts, warranties etc., more than taking typical photos. Maybe because I have my trusty old Nikon D90 at the ready is why having a smartphone camera is not all that important to "me". Nice article, though, and I appreciate you posting the link....:)
 

Ledsteplin

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More and more people are relying on their smartphone camera for most of their photos. The smartphone cameras have improved a great deal and they are convenient to use. Thanks for sharing!


Sent from my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5.
 

CDG

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I always carry my Sony Nex 6 and a 18-200 mm zoom lens with me on my trips. Lately though other than wildlife video, I have been using my phone mostly.

As the article says, it is quick and easy and the pictures are of quite decent quality for sure.


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BreakingKayfabe

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I think the biggest advantage Apple has from making the A chips are how they can get them to work exactly as they want with their camera hardware and the software behind it. The way the processing works with all those by far produces some the easiest one-snap good quality pictures.
 

iEd

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Seems Apple has focused on ease of use and getting the most out of their cam along with software at 8 megapixels. Other makers boast specs with higher megapixels to get attention but in actual use they fail to compare to the iPhone camera in quality.




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CDG

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[Article]"To beat the iPhone, you have to beat the iPhone's camera."

Absolutely agreed. Some people erroneously believe that the higher the megapixel, the better the photo will be without considering any other variables.

Often people have said to me "only 8"? Then they see the picture and typically say "are you sure it's only 8"? :D


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anon(4698833)

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In my opinion, other companies rely on the uneducated consumer buying into gimmicks instead of real world performance. The iPhone consistently offers a top tier camera with each no iteration...and while it may be missing certain options that the other contenders flaunt all around the market (Laser focus, 4K video capture, comically high megapixels, etc), the actual response (by consumers) to the performance of the camera on the iPhone is always considered top tier.

I think this reflects a lot of Apple's decisions within their devices...RAM for instance on the iPhone is a place where people always seem to make a big stink when a new model comes out, but every year the iPhone performs just fine under stress. People get up in arms about how the iPhone's pixel density is lower than other products on the market...yet when the real reviews come in AFTER release, they almost always reflect the iPhone's screen as one of, if not THE, best screens on the market (especially with the last generation).

I think it's one reason why I stay so loyal to Apple even amidst their faults in other areas...Apple, in all the years I've stuck with them, has never made me feel like they viewed their consumer base as easily fooled by gimmicks, because they don't rely on any. Do they get sensationalistic about what IS in the iPhone? Sure! But why wouldn't they? They're proud of their product...I'd boast about it too if it was my creation.

I think the real way Apple's competitors will start making ground where they fall behind years after year is when they start showing some respect for their consumer base and they stop relying on fancy "toys" to sell their products. Just make a great product with top tier performance and let the product speak for itself.
 

BBFunGuy

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Camera is a huge selling point on mobile phones. If other manufacturers could persuade consumers their cameras were just as good they would be 'in the pink'.

:rotfl:
 

iOS Gravity

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In my opinion, other companies rely on the uneducated consumer buying into gimmicks instead of real world performance. The iPhone consistently offers a top tier camera with each no iteration...and while it may be missing certain options that the other contenders flaunt all around the market (Laser focus, 4K video capture, comically high megapixels, etc), the actual response (by consumers) to the performance of the camera on the iPhone is always considered top tier.

I think this reflects a lot of Apple's decisions within their devices...RAM for instance on the iPhone is a place where people always seem to make a big stink when a new model comes out, but every year the iPhone performs just fine under stress. People get up in arms about how the iPhone's pixel density is lower than other products on the market...yet when the real reviews come in AFTER release, they almost always reflect the iPhone's screen as one of, if not THE, best screens on the market (especially with the last generation).

I think it's one reason why I stay so loyal to Apple even amidst their faults in other areas...Apple, in all the years I've stuck with them, has never made me feel like they viewed their consumer base as easily fooled by gimmicks, because they don't rely on any. Do they get sensationalistic about what IS in the iPhone? Sure! But why wouldn't they? They're proud of their product...I'd boast about it too if it was my creation.

I think the real way Apple's competitors will start making ground where they fall behind years after year is when they start showing some respect for their consumer base and they stop relying on fancy "toys" to sell their products. Just make a great product with top tier performance and let the product speak for itself.

True that. Samsung just slapped a crappy fingerprint sensor that can barely read prints on their phones just because the iPhone 5S had one. Other companies are full of gimmicks.
 

iN8ter

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True that. Samsung just slapped a crappy fingerprint sensor that can barely read prints on their phones just because the iPhone 5S had one. Other companies are full of gimmicks.

The Samsung scanner actually works well, at least on the Note 4. I've tried it. The only thing that's a bummer is that its a swipe scanner and that's fine only if you haven't used a TouchID scanner before. Then, it does seem a bit too old-fashioned.

But the scanner on their phones actually work pretty well and I don't think they did it simply because the iPhone 5S had one. I mean, that would imply they designed the Galaxy S5 and had it in production within months, which is comical.

The Note 4 camera is the real deal. But, I cannot handle photos that large. Those 16MB photos are huge (in size, like storage size) and it's too annoying to have to shuttle pictures that big around. It does capture more detail than the iPhone cameras and it has some lossless zoom functionality as well. Where samsung is weaker than apple is in their on-device processing. Apple is clearly stronger there.

All these phones use dedicated imaging chips so that's less of a "selling point" than it was back in the iPhone 4/4S days :p Remember when having an BSI sensor in a phone was a selling point?!

I do think many of the features in the camera software are gimmicky, but 4K video and laser focus (if you truly understand how that is beneficial, especially in low light) aren't.

iPhones do need more RAM :p They finally gave the iPad Air 2 2GB (and an extra processing core) which clearly shows that Apple isn't as dismissive of the benefits of the better hardware as many of their users tend to be...
 

cardfan

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Camera is a huge selling point on mobile phones. If other manufacturers could persuade consumers their cameras were just as good they would be 'in the pink'.

:rotfl:

No they wouldn't. Cameras hardly matter. Nokia put in what was a pretty innovative camera at the time in their phones. It didn't matter.

Here's what matters. Having control of everything down to marketing. Laying the foundation which takes time. It's not just the camera that just works with iphone. It's everything. It's the app store. It's the OS. It's the seamless integration within their ecosystem. It's the ability to design the software with the hardware down to the internals in the hardware. It's the dev support. It's the marketing. It's the control and refusal to make cheap products.

This didn't happen overnight. Gaining dev support, marketing, it all takes time. I actually liked the idea of Samsung buying Blackberry. But it would only be a first step in a long process. I'm not sure Samsung is that company. MS doesn't seem to be either with their schizo approach. Now their strategy is to sell cheap windows phones.

Apple is leveraging foundation upon foundation with Apple Pay being the latest and soon Apple watch. There's others like touch id, itunes, Siri, carplay, icloud, integration with Macs, etc. Foundations (or layers of a foundation) these other companies just don't have and can't easily put into place. MS is closest to having that ability but just can't seem to figure it out.

More foundations..http://www.imore.com/apples-siri-investment-and-watch-and-homekit-payoffs These are things that don't happen overnight. It took years. The apple watch isn't just something done overnight. It began a few years back. Each year, these companies have to go back to the drawing board and try to cram something together that they might think can compare to what Apple has announced. It's becoming a joke.
 
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anon(4698833)

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Cameras hardly matter.

I absolutely disagree with this statement. While the rest of your post is spot on, and no one thing MAKES a phone line successful in the long run...the camera on the device is absolutely a top of the totem selling point. I'd hazard to say that the Lumia line of phones found it's footing via the camera specs...otherwise, it was just another Windows phone that people passed up. It may not be on the level of the iPhone in terms of sales, but the Lumia series has been a decent success for Nokia...this is taken from an article from the Lumia 800 release...

Nokia spokesman James Ethridge said, "Based on earliest data, the sales start of the Lumia 800 is the best ever first week of Nokia smart phone sales in the U.K. in recent history." He also indicated that according to Net Promoter Scores – a measure of how likely an owner is to recommend the product to a friend – the Lumia 800 is the most successful Nokia device in recent history.

I get what you're saying here...and I agree that the iPhone's success has certainly not been based solely on the camera. In that though, I do think the camera is a significant piece of the pie.
 

co_mtn_grl

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I am an avid "iPhoneographer" and I am sometimes amazed by the quality of photos one can get from an iPhone, considering the lack of "gimmicky specifications." One of my co-workers just purchased a new Android phone with 41 megapixels, the pictures, when viewed on a large screen, are not impressive at all.

Photography is very important to a lot of smartphone users, ESPECIALLY iPhone users. If it wasn't these sites wouldn't exist:

Apple - Start Something New

iPhone Photography School | iPhoneography Tips & Tutorials

IPPAWARDS | 8th Annual iPhone Photography Awards? | Celebrating the creativity of the iPhone users since 2007

And the list goes on. I CANNOT wait to see what new camera developments Apple will come out with in the future. At least we can bet that whatever the developments they will be well made and well thought-out, not just "sparkly gimmicks" that don't deliver :)
 

sting7k

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The article is spot on. In 2015 the camera rules the smart phone. I can't stop taking photos with my iPhone 6. It's never been easier and photos have never looked better. Apple needs to put some work into the front camera now too and give us a selfie monster.
 

iOS Gravity

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No they wouldn't. Cameras hardly matter. Nokia put in what was a pretty innovative camera at the time in their phones. It didn't matter.

Here's what matters. Having control of everything down to marketing. Laying the foundation which takes time. It's not just the camera that just works with iphone. It's everything. It's the app store. It's the OS. It's the seamless integration within their ecosystem. It's the ability to design the software with the hardware down to the internals in the hardware. It's the dev support. It's the marketing. It's the control and refusal to make cheap products.

This didn't happen overnight. Gaining dev support, marketing, it all takes time. I actually liked the idea of Samsung buying Blackberry. But it would only be a first step in a long process. I'm not sure Samsung is that company. MS doesn't seem to be either with their schizo approach. Now their strategy is to sell cheap windows phones.

Apple is leveraging foundation upon foundation with Apple Pay being the latest and soon Apple watch. There's others like touch id, itunes, Siri, carplay, icloud, integration with Macs, etc. Foundations (or layers of a foundation) these other companies just don't have and can't easily put into place. MS is closest to having that ability but just can't seem to figure it out.

More foundations..http://www.imore.com/apples-siri-investment-and-watch-and-homekit-payoffs These are things that don't happen overnight. It took years. The apple watch isn't just something done overnight. It began a few years back. Each year, these companies have to go back to the drawing board and try to cram something together that they might think can compare to what Apple has announced. It's becoming a joke.

Disagree with the camera part. The Nokia ONLY had a 42MP camera. The camera on the iPhone is good, AND it has other good features.
 

qbnkelt

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Love the pics on my iPhone 6. My Lumia takes amazing photos too but I find the interface on my iPhone to be more streamlined.
The Note 4 takes great pics but takes too long to focus where the iPhone locks instantaneously.
As far as BlackBerry.....please......they're jokes.


Sent from my SEXY GORGEOUS AWESOME GOLD 128G iPhone 6
 

claygraffix

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Agreed, we have basically stopped Android development on our current app because the front cameras just don't look as good as the iPhone's. Hope they get better soon!
 

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