Daylight was disappearing fast and before you knew it, it was pitch black in the haunted graveyard of the Church of St Michael & All Angels, Princetown, Dartmoor, UK.
Fortunately I was not afraid as I was armed with 4 of the latest and top flagship smartphones to protect me from the ghosts and spirits.
The task was simple, take a number of shots using the 4 smartphones to decide a clear winner. There were a few surprises on the way with this test too. With all the phones I shot in auto and where available pro modes. I have shown the exif data with each shot, and if you want to pixel peep, you can click on each photo to explore the full size photo.
Each photo has the exif data and time taken. The photos are in order of time. Please be patient as there are 25 shots in total to view.
HTC 10 – Auto – 1/25 ISO 500 – 9.23pm
The HTC 10 produced a very realistic shot in terms of how dark it was at the time and the colours and white balance.
LG G5 – Auto 1/13s ISO 350 – 9.24pm
Oodles of detail from the G5. Great shot.
LG G5 – wide – auto – 1/15s ISO 550 – 9.24pm
With just a little light the wide angle lens on the G5 does a good job.
Samsung S7 – Auto – 1/13 ISO 200 – 9.24pm
These dusk to darkness shots are excellent from the S7.
HTC 10 – 1/6s ISO 100 – 9.26pm
A cracking shot from the HTC 10. I really like this.
HTC 10 – 1/2s ISO 100 – 9.26pm
A great shot again from the HTC 10.
Samsung S7 – Pro Mode – 0.5s ISO 50 – 9.26pm
The difference of 0.5 seconds. A good shot from the S7.
LG G5 – Manual mode – wide – 2s ISO 50 – 9.27pm
The 8mp 135º wide angle lens of the G5 looks amazing but pixel peeping reveals its weaknesses.
LG G5 – Manual mode – wide – 2s ISO 50 – 9.27pm
It wasn’t daylight but at 2 second shutter even with the wide lens, a great picture is captured.
Apple iPhone 6S – f/17 ISO 640 – 9.28pm
An average shot from the iPhone 6S, but not at the same league as the other phones.
Apple iPhone 6S – 1/17s ISO 400 – 9.29pm
Once it got too dark, the iPhone 6S was really struggling as this is evident when you pixel peep.
Apple iPhone 6S – 1/17s ISO 640 – 9.29pm
So with the ISO increased, the photo looks brighter but its still falls short compared to the other phones.
Samsung S7 – Pro Mode – 1s ISO 50 – 9.30pm
A vivid and sharpened shot from the S7, but one that look good.
Samsung S7 – Pro Mode – 2s ISO 50 – 9.30pm
One extra second shutter time from the S7 shot above and it looks too bright. But lots of detail.
HTC 10 – 1s ISO 100 – 9.32pm
A good photo from the HTC. Lots of detail.
HTC 10 – 1s ISO 100 – 9.34pm
An average shot with the HTC 10. I had thought I had pushed a 2 second shutter, the max in pro mode, but the exif data only shows 1 second.
LG G5 – Auto – 1/9 – Night mode activated – 9.36pm
A wide angle lens shot again, lots of noise and artefacts.
LG G5 1/9s ISO unknown AUTO – 9.36pm
Like the wide angle shot above, in auto mode at night, the G5 activated some photo mode to obtain the best shot.
LG G5 – Manual mode – 5s ISO 50 – 9.37pm
The G5 is doing a good job again this late at night.
LG G5 – Manual mode – 8s ISO 50 – 9.37pm
Wide lens at 8 seconds shutter is not enough to stop noise and artefacts.
Apple iPhone 6S – 1/17s ISO 1250 – 9.37pm
Very high ISO and a loss of detail from the iPhone 6S.
Samsung S7 – 1/10s ISO 1000 Auto – 9.37pm
In this shot the S7 made the photo appear not as dark as it really was. Lots of noise and artefacts in this shot. At ISO 1000 this is to be expected.
LG G5 – Manual mode – wide – 8s ISO 50 – Edited WB – 9.37pm
With a bit of fun with the white balance I created the shot below.
Samsung S7 – Pro mode – 4s ISO 50 – 9.38pm
As it became near pitch black, the street lamp just outside of the perimeter of the church wall played havoc with the white balance. Not very good and the processing is all over the place.
Samsung S7 – Pro mode – 8s ISO 50 – 9.38pm
Again when it got very dark the S7 just failed to cope with the white balance as above but there is detail in this shot despite noise and processing.
In terms of ranking the Apple iPhone 6S comes last. When it was pitch black except for a nearby street lamp, the S7 lost control of the white balance. So that left the G5 and HTC 10. Very close call and sometimes in between pitch black and dusk the S7 did a good job.
Also, if any of the shots from the iPhone were shared to twitter or social media, nobody would be any the wiser.
So in terms of the HTC 10, LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 its a close call. The G5 has more pixels and up to a 30 second shutter speed. It also has the amazing wide angle lens. The HTC 10 has the largest pixels and at times it shows. And the the Samsung Galaxy S7 with its f/1.7 and fast focussing is superb until it gets pitch black.
So who is your winner?
