This is my final part of my camera shootout / comparisons with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera. This is the part that surprised me the most. The photos were taken just before light disappeared and then at night. All shots were on a tripod.
For these tests I used the best apps on iOS to help the Apple iPhone 6S. Sadly not a single third party app on android works yet with the new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera.
iPhone 6S – ISO 200 1/4s – Default Camera App
Same shot but using LowLightMode+ on ProCamera+ for iOS which combines upto 64 exposures into 1.
ProCamera+ makes a huge difference, so now it’s time to try Nightcap Pro for iOS. See below. Nightcap Pro does a great job too.
Ok so now over to the Samsung Galaxy S7. First shot below is in auto. It chooses an ISO 1250 and a shutter of 1/10s. However, I imagine it’s done multiple exposures as the noise level seems low.
So now to using the Pro mode in the S7 Edge. Shot below is ISO 100 and a 2s exposure.
So same ISO 100 but now 4s in Pro Mode for the Samsung S7 Edge.
So let’s go back to the iPhone 6S Plus. It’s a lot darker now.
The default iPhone camera app picks ISO 160 and 1/4s exposure for the shot below. It’s really dark now and the default camera app shows it that way.
So next I tried ProCamera+ for the same shot. See below. And it does a much better job.
So it’s only fair to now try Nightcap Pro for iOS for the same shot again. This was a 22s exposure.
Ok so that was the iPhone. Now let’s switch back to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Below is auto mode. Now remember it was getting darker all the time so the S7 always had the short straw. In full auto it was too dark so I just used Pro Mode. Shots are in order of exposures at 100 ISO. First 1s, then 2s and finally 4s.
And now 2s. See below.
And finally 4s. See below.
Ok let’s try some light trails. First up iPhone 6S Plus using Nightcap Pro. Light trails cannot be done using the iOS default camera app.
And now let’s try with the Samsung Galaxy S7 using Pro Mode. See below.
Right let’s try a night shot with strew lamps. First up the iPhone 6S Plus. Using the default camera app, ISO 1,600 and a 1/4s exposure is selected. Shot below.
Let’s try ProCamera+. Shot below. As you can see it does a better job in its lowlight+ mode.
And finally on the iPhone I used Nightcap Pro. Shot below.
So let’s switch back to the S7 Edge. In auto mode it choose ISO 1,600 and 1/7s. Shot below.
I didn’t use Pro Mode as it started to rain so I had to abort. But I don’t like the yellow effect from the S7 auto shot. Also when zooming in the details were not as good as those from the iPhone.
So which phone is your winner and why?
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 
Unfortunately I am really pushed for time but in my initial findings I have to say with a little and I do mean little editing with the iPhone first shot I ended up with a better final picture than that of the S7.
I can only surmise the S7 does some PP by lifting light levels (again what I easily performed on that first shot).
However, where the iPhone is better is colour casting ~ I noted with the last few shots the S7 performs strong orange levels which makes for a non accurate result.
Hopefully I’ll be able to look at these shots again this evening.
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Mike one thing that I have always seen with a IPhone 6 plus or 6s plus is the color as well I understand the over saturating of colors but I also see in shooting with a 6s plus it has a tendency of producing a lot warmer picture than the Samsung I currently use a Note 5 and me personally I think neither the s7 or 6s plus takes a better overall picture yes by the numbers the s7 will be better in low light but as far as taking a picture in normal conditions I think the Note 5 is just about as good as it get ls but mobile photography has became so good a normal person couldn’t tell the difference
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The Note 5 is indeed a very good shooter Ben.
What I do believe though is where photography has jumped in leaps and bounds it is not so much with the hardware as with such a small sensor this is always going to be an incremental increase in performance but it’s the software that makes each case stand out.
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The S7 is better at the low light. With the apps the it appears the Plus at least makes it quite competitive ….I like all the pics! Thanks for your work Gavin your S7 coverage has been stellar!!
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Thanks Jeff.
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Prefer S7, but I hear the head amp is poor. Audio test soon?
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Audio tests coming. Head amp vol is restricted by EU law.
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At first I thought the S7 shots easily beat the iPhone shots (except for the last one that is overly yellow), but upon closer inspection, the iPhone is really preserving a lot more detail. The S7 shots look blurry and painted at full zoom. I hope Samsung can come off of the post processing some to preserve more details, but maybe the sensor just isn’t as good as everyone hoped and the photos would look bad if they took out some post processing.
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Samsung have strong post processing as you mentioned. I was surprised how well the iPhone did all things considered.
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If you read the post Gavin wasn’t able to use Pro Mode in the last shot which would have been able to correct the orange color because using manual controls for that type of scene makes a difference which I am assuming using night cap pro he was using manual controls on the iPhone and wasn’t able to do so on the s7
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The iPhone didn’t need any changes, even using special apps like Nightcap Pro, it still is in auto, although long exposure mode.
And very correct. Using the S7 in Pro mode would fix the yellow. I have some hand held night shots tomorrow using the Pro Mode which will show the difference.
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Exactly… As I mention elsewhere if you tweak very slightly as in edit the iPhone shot you can lift the darkness as light is still preserved.
The only occasions I see the S7 better and I do mean much better is with focus speed and DOF, which for an f1.7 over the iPhones f2.2 the S7 will always deliver.
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“Look blurry and painted at full zoom”
I find this particularly true of the front facade of the church. It’s on a tripod there is no shake her it seems softer for some reason than the side of the building which looks better.
I think the g4 got these sharper.
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Good comment. I did not realise the iP kept so much detail until you said that. I had assumed a darker photo had less detail.
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The 64 shot lux+ is the brightest the iPhone can manage in that situation.
Nightcappro seems better at day time ND filter shots than for night time shots of the church. It makes a marginal difference over stock in that situation compared to procamera.
Which is better ? I think the s7 should do better here but the processing does not seem to have advanced much beyond the s6.
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Argh, wish you had taken the church shots in RAW too on both devices.
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I still can. I have my 6S Plus and S7E so it just means another trip to the church when it’s not raining and dark 😀
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Got to say looking at the images from a mobile the s7e wins… and lets be honest 95% of the time you will be looking at the images of a mobile device now a days.
Im sure the iphone has better software processing but samsung this time just gave regulare users a easy phone to capture great images fast and well ready for instagram blogs or facebook… and thats exactly what a camera phone is for at this current time.
Honestly before this i always thought the iphone camera was the overal best with speed , quality and ease of use but this year samsung is on top in my mind.
Just dont know if i should upgrade my s6e for the s7.
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