The million dollar question. Just how good is the camera on the new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge? If you want to read my first impressions, that comes tomorrow.
And how does it compare to the Apple iPhone 6S Plus?
So for part 1 of my camera comparison, all shots were hand held. Each shot is the first shot except in a few cases where I needed a second shot for the red berries. It was a dull rainy day with mist.
At the end of the article, I have provided a link to the originals. You will notice that despite both phones having 12mp cameras the file size of each photo is a lot larger on the S7 Edge.
The sequence is iPhone 6S Plus first then the S7 Edge photo.
So below is the shot from the iPhone.
Next up the same shot from the S7 Edge.
The differences between these two shots are minimal and most people would be content with either although the S7 is brighter.
So let’s start again with another shot from the iPhone.
And now the same shot from the S7 Edge. The S7 looks more saturated but again is brighter and has more detail.
Back to the iPhone. A close up of a tap. Looks ok.
Well it looks ok until you see the shot from the S7 Edge. To emphasise the level of detail I have included a crop as well from the S7 Edge.
And now for the crop from the S7 Edge of the tap.
Ok let’s go back to the iPhone. Some red berries. I had to take several shots to get the one below.
So how did the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge perform? Much better.
And to emphasise the difference in quality I took a crop from the iPhone. See below.
So now let’s look at the crop from the S7 Edge. See below. So much better. I couldn’t dream of getting anything close like this shot below from the iPhone despite my best efforts.
Another photo from the iPhone 6S Plus. Looks like a reasonable shot.
And now from the S7 Edge. See below. Again the level of detail from the S7 is better.
Remember these are real life photos, not staged shots. These are photos you could end up taking.
So back to the iPhone 6S Plus. Again the photo looks good but it’s not on par with the S7 Edge.
Below is the S7 Edge photo. I have noticed with this shot that it’s heavily sharpened probably too much for my liking. This could be resolved shooting in raw and then post processing it yourself.
And finally, just to highlight the quality from the S7 Edge again. My dog Tiggy was moving around at home in lowish lighting. Here’s a crop of her face.
I have to say that based on my preliminary tests, if you want a camera that takes good photos in all conditions, the S7 Edge really does a great job.
Not only that, it’s focus speed is near instant. This means kids and pets will be so much easier to snap in focus quality shots.
I have plenty more content on the S7 Edge, it’s camera , audio and more. I will also be pitting it against the LG G5.
And one last thing. Remember there’s more to a phone than just its camera 🙂
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 
Ohhh 🙂 The Galaxy S7 Edge is a phone ? After many years, with the extra volume option, finally !: it’s seems to be the first Samsung Smarphone with good talk voice volume.
With the future review of the LG G5, we know already the difference between the two camera. More details for the LG G5 in all the cases, but it is important for most people ? it’s an another question.
.
LikeLike
That f1.7 aperture is definitely helping quite a lot here and rightly so. If Apple ever hope to compete they have to look into improving this side of the hardware.
LikeLike
Nice shots. The S7 makes the grass looks an unnatural neon green. It’s especially evident in the graveyard shots. Is the grass really that color?
LikeLike
Depends. Sort of. Some over the top saturated. But some areas spot on. It’s the HDR mode.
LikeLike
Great shots – got my S7 Edge yesterday and got rid of the Note 5. Have to say, early tests of the S7 camera have me really impressed. Look forward to your full impressions/review.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The auto focus looks really quick, which as you say is great for pets and kids, but what matters just as much for a moving target is the shutter speed once the target is in focus (to avoid motion blur).
How does the S7 perform in this respect compared to other phones Gavin?
LikeLike
Really well. I got loads of dog photos in focus.
LikeLike
Thanks. Brilliant article as always btw.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks 🙂
LikeLike
Looks like Samsung is using two different sensors for the S7, like they did for the S6. I’m not a massive fan of this practice (I swapped my ISOCELL sensor S6 for a Sony sensor S6 last year because of this).
http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-s7-edge-isocell-sony-sensors-678779/
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve checked. Phone has ISOCELL.
LikeLike
Excellent review Gav. The S7 is definitely looking really good!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers 🙂
LikeLike
Which camera sensor is it Gav? Samsungs or Sony?
LikeLike
Samsung’s.
LikeLike
Mine S7 Edge has the Sony sensor. Be good to get a comparison done. I’m only in Saltash Gavin – if you ever want to try to compare the two sensors perhaps we could arrange something?
LikeLike
Hm yeah but IPhone sucks… Against G5 or even G4 in lowlight, I wait for it =)
LikeLike
Just read a review on iMore comparing these two cameras. In nearly every picture the S7 was clearly the winner. The reviewer said that overall the 6S was the clear winner. Made me laugh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well it’s an Apple website. Lol.
LikeLike
The comments on that thread are hilarious, with about 95% of them (including many, many iphone owners) questioning what planet the reviewer must be on to think that the iPhone shots are better overall.
LikeLike
I’m not that familiar with the reviewers (Daniel Bader) other work but I am surprised with Rene Ritchie’s comments “I’m sure everyone who loves the GS7 will be disappointed, and some will cry foul”.
Personally I think Apple needs to be concerned and ensure they bring more to the table than just hype and hoorah!
LikeLike
It is a rather silly article and I do wonder if it was a click bait too. The S7 is by no means perfect as you will read tomorrow, but I do know that Apple are really impressed with the S7 Edge more than any other Samsung phone.
And without a doubt, I am sure the next iPhone will re-address some of the camera differences. It is the way of the world!
LikeLike
Different metering modes on both means slightly different look. S7 is default CW, iPhone went multi. Always like to see the same metering as it reduces exposure differences. The iPhone got slightly better histograms as a result over the s7.
The tap shot the s7 got off a five times faster shutter so sharper. I think the iPhone could have been more sharper in that one. The odd thing is the pillar is sharper than the tap, implying focus was attained slightly behind the pillar. Whereas the s7 got both sharp so focus was perfect, which is impressive considering the still narrower dof of the f1.7.
The berries has the iPhone in spot mode so it overexposed the red.
Not seeing the over a full stop advantage the s7 has here, will become more apparent in lower light.. S7 seems to pull back a bit unlike the s6 which would purposely use slower shutters to get things brighter. In a number of shots the LV’s of the iphone photos are higher than the s7 as if it saw more light.
Not sure when the s7 used HDR if at all, but I only found one iPhone photo that used HDR, the perspective of the hedges. Presumed you had HDR off in this comparison.
S6 already had an edge in the sharper dept, s7 takes it little further.
Lovely portrait of Tiggy 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person