iPhone 5 Review
A new iPhone release is always fun but as a travel photographer the most exciting aspect is new & improved abilities of the new camera. The 4S was a pretty big upgrade from the 4 and the iPhone 5 has been expected to be an even bigger jump.
Edited in Snapseed.
We had our hands on iPhone 5s just minutes after their release on Friday… hours later, we were on a flight to Iceland (where we are now) to test out it’s widely-hyped camera upgrades, including it’s all-new panorama feature, low light capability and unbeknownst to us even it’s “dropability.”
Unedited.
After about 48 hours shooting here in Iceland… I can definitely say, it’s a pretty incredible upgrade.
Panorama Mode:
I’ve found the panorama feature works insanely well… almost too good. Panoramic images are going to be the next thing and I predict an Instagram-esque service/app that can features iPhone panoramas will explode. It makes it so fun and easy. As you can see in the image from the plane above, it hands close proximity environments very well but of course any time there are moving objects in your frame there’s going to be trouble (aka people’s faces look morphed.)
It settings like the one below, it works beautifully. This panorama was shot in about 15 seconds, just panning the camera across the landscape as if I was shooting video. The result is a surprisingly sharp, 28 megapixel image.
Panorama mode – unedited
Edited in Snapseed.
Panorama Mode – unedited
Holding the iPhone 5 is a tad bit unwieldy to any previous iPhone user… For starters, it’s lighter and just feels like a toy but secondly the taller proportion just feels strange and takes awhile to get used to (haven’t yet.) When shooting the panoramas, the on-screen arrow makes it super easy to stay level and it shows you a live preview of your pano as you create it… a feature I have yet to see in any dSLR. I did find that holding the phone with cold, wet hands it was very difficult to keep images sharp.
Low-light Capability:
Probably the most impressive aspect of the new phone is it’s low light performance. It’s a drastic improvement from it’s predecessor, the 4S. Noise-level are much more subtle and w/ it’s much faster lens it’s ability to focus in near dark is really wonderful.
I did find that the though the panorama feature was able to stitch together an image well in low light, the grain was significantly higher and the image all around darker than a single frame.
Fast Shutter Fire
Shooting speed has SIGNIFICANTLY increased… One of the big bummer with the iPhone 4S was the ability to shoot frames in rapid succession was very limited. With the iPhone 5 I’ve found I can hit the shutter about as fast as possible and it keeps up pretty well. See the series of images shot very quickly below:
Ruggedness
Late September in Iceland is not a friendly place for any electronics… this is a time that puts your gear to the test whether you like it or not. Just in the last 2 days of shooting here, I’ve had my iPhone 5 covered in water from shooting near a waterfall and Jordan has dropped his directly in the mud. Both seem to be working fine.
World Phone
One huge bonus of traveling and shooting with the 5 is it’s “world phone” capabilities… meaning it comes carrier unlocked. We were at Nova shop (major wireless provider here in Iceland) shortly after landing getting new SIM cards. After the staff “ooed and awed” over seeing their first iPhone 5, we had data an voice rockin’ in no time. One minor issue is the iPhone 5’s new Nano SIM but it was nothing a pair of scissors couldn’t fix. After we received our Micro SIM from the carrier, we were able to successfully cut down the Micro and fit it into the Nano SIM slot with no problems.
You might wonder why I even mention this in a review primarily geared toward the camera but I see them as one-and-the-same. The truth is that most images from many photographers, professionals and hobbyists alike, are being seen somewhere on the web minutes after being created. The ability to easily connect your device in a foreign land is huge. It not only means easily posting images to Instagram but also staying in contact with people on the ground and navigating your course of exploration!
Snapseed
I used Snapseed almost exclusively for my iPhone editing. It’s super capable, easy-to-use and fun. On the iPhone 5 I found the Snapseed edits are super fast but a little unstable… not sure if it’s an iOS6 thing or something related to the iPhone 5 itself. Whatever it is, NIK needs to push out a software update pretty quick… some of the glitches are just annoying and others apply weird pixel patterns to images when you save them rendering them unusable.
Summary
The era in which people specify “shot on iPhone” is coming to end. It doesn’t matter any more… you can no longer say “look what I did with this crippled device!”… because, well, it’s no longer crippled. In fact, it does things your big fancy SLR can’t. Apple hasn’t let us down with the capabilities of the 5 and I can’t wait to see the images you all create on this thing this next year.
twitter & instagram: @austinmann
travel blog: austinmann.com/trek
video & tons of help from: jor.by
omgomgomgomg i want it i want it i want it all! ….the iphone, the iceland, the jor.by……
The panorama mode on iPhone 4S is already superb. Can’t wait to get the iPhone 5!
Austin Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
You’ll really love it!
Wait till you see the Nokia 920.
Austin Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
I hear great things — wish I could have had my hands on one to test it!
Wait 4 sony xperia V
Thanks for this post and low light test, now i can`t wait to get mine
Austin Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Of course – the low light continues to impress me! No match for an SLR but killer for the phone
People will now come here and say it’s a horrible device because of Apple Maps.
So how’s the navigation going in Iceland?
Really good work and hope to see more of your pictures.
Austin Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Well — I will say — the maps are a pretty huge bummer. Have been using an older device with regular maps for navigation. It’s pretty much worthless on the 5. More pictures to come soon…
Well done!
Thanks. I’m still disappointed in iPhone 5. iPhone owner since first edition. But I expect Apple to be a great LEADER, not just a great FOLLOWER (i.e., making other phones’ stuff better 2 years after the fact). And I don’t like having my MP3s locked into the Apple store. Thinking of switching to an SG3. But this review was very informative. Enjoy exploring!
Just Cause Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Wow, music hasn’t been DRM’d in iTunes for years, you can play it in any player that supports m4a. FUD
BB Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
I am having a hard time seeing how Apple is being a “follower” with the iPhone 5. Best-of-breed screen, camera, weight, comparable screen dimensions to the “big” phones (many of which are TOO big), continued access to iTunes and the App Store… Apple isn’t two years behind on these, they set the game in motion and have been at the top of it ever since.
Mobile handset tech development over the past couple years has been about optimizing the experience for the user — areas in which EVERY touchscreen smartphone manufacturer owes to Apple. They choose which technologies and features they feel are or will be important to the consumer (and their batting average is pretty stellar) – not just a small bunch of pasty critics. The device has been out for a little over a week now, if you’re “still disappointed” you likely set yourself up for it and are just living out the expectations.
joebob2000 Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
obvious fanboy is obvious
Azure Reply:
September 28th, 2012 at 12:34 am
Why the hell you should have your Mp3s in the Apple Store? I stored thousands of Cds in my Hard drives and then I imported them (in Aac at the maximum bitrate) in my iTunes Library…I now have 25.000 tracks which are MINE, not Apple’s…They never asked me anything…so….
Apple proved once again that a technology, if not properly implemented is Nothing… And as usual they didn’t remark one of the best and definitive features of iPhone 5: its display! Which smokes any other Amoled, Superamoled display, because it covers the 100% of RGB SPectrum for the first time…It’a a “Photographic” Display..Apple Knows how ignorant are users, so during the keynote Schiller focused on the Camera, the mics, and the “dimensions”, both physical and inner..
They could have told that iPhone 5 Display is even one of the best if not the best Display available in a smartphone…But they didn’t… To answer to the crowd always yelling that Apple is MARKETING, MARKETING, MARKETING…So are the others….The tried to convince people (and they succeeded) that AMOLED is the best Technology, but It’s WRONG. Samsung Galaxies are HORRIBLE, compared even to iPhone 4/4s… I cant’ even imagine compared to iPhone 5… It’s only “a lot of talk and badge”….Amoleds should/will eventually surpass TFT IPS, but not now, sorry…..
Let’s wait for Nokia Lumias, but I seriously doubt it… To be a HELL of a Display it’s not a matter of Brightness, contrast and Vivid colors…That is what “subhumans” think… An augmented reality? Com on….
The Best Display is about accuracy, FIDELITY (as in music home equipments)…Fidelity to what the Display, the screen show, and to what has been captured by the optical device who “watch” reality…
And iPhone 5 has all these elements….
Regards
Hi Austin,
Really impressed with these pictures, could you drop me an email when you get a moment and i’ll explain a project of mine you might like to work on.
Best wishes,
Steve
Austin Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 12:13 am
Thanks Steve — will do!