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Comment by cloudwalking | Hacker News Reader

Blind testing swings the other way: http://www.androidauthority.com/blind-camera-shootout-winner...

Taste is subjective, I have no doubt you like the Samsung more. But subjectively, on average, people like iPhone photos more often than they like Android photos.

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It turned out to be quite a close-run race between the iPhone 6S and the Galaxy Note 5 for the title but Apple’s latest just beat Samsung’s latest with 38.2 and 34.1 percent of the 7810 votes respectively.

On an internet poll. When the results are this close, details matter. Not to mention there are no Android photos, only Samsung, Nokia, &c. And even then, different models.

Not saying you're wrong (I think you're right). But if you're going to quote something, choose a believable source that sustains your point, not a dodgy one that almost refutes it.

Both of these phones have great cameras, but they don't hold a candle to the performance of even crop sensor entry level DSLRs and mirrorless bodies. It seems pointless to me to split hairs over picture quality between two strong options when anyone who _seriously_ cares about pixel peeping wouldn't use a smartphone for photography in the first place

This is just plainly false. There are now serious photographers and movie-makers using the iPhone for serious photography. A lot of them.

"Both of these phones have great cameras, but they don't hold a candle to the performance of even crop sensor entry level DSLRs and mirrorless bodies. "

That part is definitely not false... My Sony RX100 II blows these cameras out of the water and its a pocket camera.

I think you misunderstand me... I'm not making a judgement about the art produced with any device. The art of photography is only tangentially related to camera gear quality. I'm saying that comparing smartphone camera quality at the high end is an exercise in futility since these cameras are designed to be pretty good general purpose point and shoots, and they both clearly accomplish that.

Ultimately, smartphone cameras have very small sensors, so their "technical" performance (the pixel peeping I mentioned) is inherently inferior to that of larger format cameras.

And a semi truck carries more cargo than a Camry. So what? It may be true that typical flagship phones have comparable photo quality. That's a valid point. But throwing in the old "but an SLR is better than any phone" trope has nothing to do with typical flagship phones having comparable cameras. Since a typical phone customer has no interest in carrying around a dedicated camera with a huge sensor, it makes no difference how performant the large camera is, just like a Camry buyer does not care that a used U-Haul truck would have so much more cargo capacity.

Amen.

It would even be valid suggesting that a point and shoot outclasses mobile phone cameras.

Also, please before someone does, do not use the “The best watercolors are the watercolors you have on you” trope.

DXOMark rated the iPhone 6s camera #10 on its list. Far below the Android flagships. Taste may be subjective, but testing isn't.

As a big photo person with art background, I thought B and D were consistently better. I never would've guessed C was iPhone as some shots were downright poor.

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