iPad 2 - camera

[anon(153966)]

I hardly take my iPad 'out and about'. But, in the times that I have, I've been testing the camera.

And, to be honest it's either me, or it's simply just not the best camera.

What say you? Maybe there is an app that helps make it take better photos?
I expected the camera on it to be as good as the camera on the iPhone.

 

[phinx404]

the camera in the ipad 2 is horrendously crap!! the biggest and only fail on the iPad 2 so i let it slide because i use my iphone for pics.

 

[anon(153966)]

I actually wished they'd made two versions of the iPad 2, i.e. one with a camera, and one without. I would have returned mine and bought one without a camera. I feel weird as it is holding it up to take a photo.

Albeit, I used if for a FaceTime the other day, and surprisingly it was impressive. Even the refresh rate [Atlanta-to-Atlantic City] was very good...

 

[Hup55]

No doubt about it the weakest part of the ipad 2 is both the cameras. To be honest now that I have the iPhone 4 I use its camera all the time and not so much my ipad2. I do believe you will see at the very least the 5Mega-pixel camera on the ipad 3.

 

[sandie]

Navi, I use my Ipad with Facetime to all over the world, I am in Europe and talk to my daughter in Ohio twice a day, its perfect. We've lived here for 20 yrs so now our family is together exactly when we want.

But you are right about the camera for photos, no good, use my Iphone for pics.

 

[Eileen89]

the camera in the ipad 2 is horrendously crap!! the biggest and only fail on the iPad 2 so i let it slide because i use my iphone for pics.

While the Camera isn't the best on the iPad 2, I certainly wouldn't categorize it as horrendous crap. I have taken a few good pictures with mine while out in direct sunlight. Optimal lighting is always the best when taking any pictures with the iPad 2.

 

[p2kart]

While the Camera isn't the best on the iPad 2, I certainly wouldn't categorize it as horrendous crap. I have taken a few good pictures with mine while out in direct sunlight. Optimal lighting is always the best when taking any pictures with the iPad 2.

Nope I agree with Phinx404... Horrendous Crap is very good description of the iPad2 camera...

 

[Massie]

Yep, it's truly awful, shooting at less than one megapixel. (To be fair, it was really designed for FaceTime video, not stills.) Read this for an interesting review:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/03/just-how-bad-is-the-ipad-2-camera/

 

[Eileen89]

Yep, it's truly awful, shooting at less than one megapixel. (To be fair, it was really designed for FaceTime video, not stills.) Read this for an interesting review:
Just How Bad Is the iPad 2 Camera? | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

I am definitely not saying here that the iPad 2 takes great pictures, because it doesn't. However, I've been on several other sites where people have posted pictures that they took with their iPad 2 and the ones that I found in post 4, and 8 in this thread are definitely not bad that bad, IMHO. Post a picture that you took with your iPad! - Apple iPad Forum
Some of my old camera phones in the past took a lot worse pics than those. I wouldn't go around taking pictures with my iPad 2 anyway due to its large size.... Like you said here, I don't think the iPad 2 was designed to replace a point and shoot camera, but rather for things like FaceTime video.

 

[Singlestick]

I am definitely not saying here that the iPad 2 takes great pictures, because it doesn't. However, I've been on several other sites where people have posted pictures that they took with their iPad 2 and the ones that I found in post 4, and 8 in this thread are definitely not bad that bad, IMHO.

Some of my old camera phones in the past took a lot worse pics than those. I wouldn't go around taking pictures with my iPad 2 anyway due to its large size.... Like you said here, I don't think the iPad 2 was designed to replace a point and shoot camera, but rather for things like FaceTime video.

Apple might have to improve the camera on the iPad in part because users are insistent that every device, from phones to laptops to tablets, simply must have a camera. But you are right that taking pictures with an iPad is bothersome because the device is too big to be easily used for that purpose. I've even seen a guy almost drop his iPad while taking a picture.

 

[Dperks17]

the ipad 2 camera is great for around the house sending tweets..sending quick emails or ebaying stuff..I mostly use the camera for sending tweets to my girlfriend when im layin around the house and the dog is doing funny stuff..if i need a serious picture i use my iphone 4 or my canon slr no big deal..maybe in the ipad 3 they could throw the 5mp on the back

 

[UkimeNikushimi]

Nope I agree with Phinx404... Horrendous Crap is very good description of the iPad2 camera...

This is true from a consumer's view I suppose and not so true in reality.

The iPad 2's camera is, as is on the 4th Generation iPod touch, a video camera which records at 720p30. The front facing camera, also on the 4th Generation iPod touch, is a VGA video camera, designed specifically for FaceTime.

That is, the iPad 2's camera records at a maximum if 1280x720 pixels in one video frame, but is reduced to 960x720 pixels (I think), to better suit a photo. They reduce this as photos are usually in the ratio of (horizontal pixels to vertical pixels) 4:3.

That is the equivalent of about 0.675 Megapixels. So not only are there less pixels to capture a picture, but the camera itself wasn't intended to take pictures.

The camera on the front, being VGA is also a video camera, capturing at 640x480 pixels also isn't meant to take photos.

People have said however that it IS somewhat impressive with FaceTime. This is because Apple uses it's software (for which it is known) to obtain a better video and reduce noise to obtain a clearer/better picture.

However, when it comes to still pictures, VGA provides the equivalent of 0.3 Megapixels.

While it is true that the sheer number of megapixels does not determine the quality of an image, render the pixel count too low on a camera that wasn't intended to take photos in the first place and you'll wind up with 'horrendously crap' photos.

So therefore, it should be understandable (for what the iPad 2 is made of) that its photo quality is not top-notch, as the photos could look even worse should Apple's software ingenuity was not in play.


For consumers though, who I guess shouldn't even have to care about this stuff, it is true that the 0.68 Megapixel and 0.3 Megapixel quality is something that should be 'fixed'.

 

[UkimeNikushimi]

I'd also like to mention: Most of what I had said is purely self-calculation (such as the values of the megapixels) and my own opinion, so please do not take them to be fact.

Also, that Apple's software is what they are 'known' for and that the photos would look worse should it be that Apple's software ingenuity were not in play. So for the cameras that aren't even supposed to take photos, the photos aren't the WORST.

Lastly, if you will notice, when the iPad 2 swaps between still camera and video camera, there is little delay in comparison to the iPhone 4 when it does the same thing. I'd definitely characterize this to the fact that that the iPad 2 is not changing how it senses light (still a video camera just taking photos after all) where the iPhone 4 was intended to do both.

 

[macjacky11]

I wont really use my ipad2 for taking photos, so I wont complain too much about the camera. However, I think not to make everything perfect is always Apple's strategy as in that way, they can always have sth to improve every year.