According to Apple, the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus boast of the very best cameras that the company's flagship smartphones have ever offered, with features that are similar to those that can be found in DSLR cameras worth over $1,000.
According to a review from Jefferson Graham of USA Today, taking pictures on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are a definite improvement compared to taking pictures using their predecessors.
In addition, despite advertising and hype which state that the ultimate mobile phone photography experience can only be had with the iPhone 6 Plus, Graham found that pictures taken with the iPhone 6 are not that far off from the pictures taken with its larger counterpart, with two features that can only be found in the iPhone 6 Plus.
The said two features are dual pixels, which makes auto focus work faster when taking videos, and optical image stabilization, which steadies the picture being taken by users to alleviate the need for a tripod.
Both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus features the new iSight camera, which has the same 8 MP sensor that can be found in the iPhone 5S. However, Apple said that the new cameras use bigger individual pixels.
There is also the new "Burst" mode that can be used for taking selfies. The feature, which can be activated by simply holding down a finger on the iPhone's shutter button, takes shot after shot as long as the button continues to be pressed.
The new iPhone cameras also have the Slo-Mo feature that lets users take slow motion videos of up to 240 frames per second, which is double that of the previous 120 frames per second. The opposite feature, Time Lapse, which makes time fly by over seconds, can also be found on the new cameras.
"But as good as the iPhone cameras have gotten, I still wouldn't dream of leaving my real camera, with a fine glass lens and true optical zoom," said Graham.
"I'd miss the manual controls and zoom lens, for getting closer to the action."
Austin Mann, a travel photographer, also tried out the new iPhone cameras, putting the smartphones to test in difficult conditions. Mann was able to take pictures that he says is enabled through the use of the iPhone that no other camera can.
"After shooting with both new iPhones, I'm unsure which I'll get. I'm such a sucker for the small and nimble, but I love the giant screen on the 6 Plus. At first I found the 6 Plus a bit too large for my taste, but I've quickly grown to like it, especially when I can make it my primary focus instead of just whipping it out for a quick task. I also suspect the Apple Watch will streamline the experience using the 6 Plus, as it will allow me to remove the phone from my pocket less and less," said Mann.
Lance Ulanoff of Mashable said that smartphones boasting cameras that have higher megapixels do not necessarily translate to better quality pictures. However, Apple's new iPhone cameras are proving to be major competition.
"In the end, it's a kind of alchemy that produces the best imagery and in many cases, Apple's image magic leads the pack," Ulanoff said.
