Apple iPhone 7 Plus camera showcase. This week I released a video showcasing the Huawei Mate 9 camera and I was asked by several people if I could create a similar video for the iPhone 7 Plus. So I did.
The video includes a range of photos, shot using various different modes, and a selection of photos shot in raw using ProCam 4 app. Other apps used for long exposures included Nightcap Pro. Details of the modes, if raw used and apps are noted on the photos too.
When Apple launched the iPhone 7 Plus, Portrait Mode was not available publicly. Then it arrived as a beta but as time has moved on a few more software updates have improved its results.
Below is an example of a shot I took of a wonky road sign on Dartmoor. I imagine the bending of the sign was done by a free roaming cow that wanted to scratch its back and in the process bent the edges.
What I like about this photo, is how crisp the edges are including where the metal of the sign has bent at the corners.
Do you agree?
Below are the most recent and favourite photos snapped with my Apple iPhone 7 Plus.
Shooting in to the sun with Fury and Tiggy running isn’t the easiest shot to take, but the iPhone did a good job.
Here George and Tiggy are keen to get some dog treats.
The Duchy Hotel was host to a Royal Wedding in the 1950’s. Now its part of the High Moorland Visitor Centre in Princetown. This is only half of the building.
This is a crop of a live photo, snapped through my car windscreen.
Postbridge, Dartmoor. This is the main road through the village. As you can see, not many cars pass along this route.
I really like the above sunset shot taken on Dartmoor. The sky was as black as anything, ready to deliver a huge storm.
As you can see some lovely photos from the Apple iPhone 7.
With the release of iOS 10.1, along came portrait mode beta for everyone to use and take great photos.
However, as amazing as the photos are it is worth paying attention to a few aspects of your scene when you take the photo.
If you want to see any of these photos full size, remember you can click on them, select full size or original and pixel peep to your hearts content.
With the roses, if you look closely enough around the edges you will see some of the blurring is uneven.
Looking at the tree trunk the edges when zoomed in reveal the same issues. Portrait mode works better when there is a defined edge and not bits of hair.
If you look at the crosses the portrait effect works quite well. The shot that worked better out of the two cross shots had less strong light interfering with the scene. The sun was the culprit.
I really like the shot above and the first shot with the roses.
When you look at the shot above and below, having a defined edge helps improve the final result.
You will also see that there is good lighting. It was ultra bright but just decent daylight. Once it gets too dim, portrait mode will struggle.
Ultimately the portrait mode allows for some super bokeh photos to simulate a DSLR camera!
One of the perks of using iOS is the range of third party apps, and the speed at which many get updated to work with the new iPhone 7.
So for this post, I am looking at two apps. Procam 4 and Adobe Lightroom. Procam 4 has been updated to support both the iPhone and iPhone 7 Plus. There are tons of options on Procam 4, but for today I am looking at the new 3D Mode.
Using the 3D Mode is similar to the Portrait mode on Apple’s on camera app, except it can saved as a GIF, a JPEG + GIF or VIDEO + GIF. It is more suited for people but it worked fine with a stone on a fence.
The next 2 photos were both shot in raw, using ProCam 4.
In terms of editing raw photos, Procam 4 does offer basic editing options. A free option is snapseed app. However, from my time with Adobe Lightroom for iOS, its raw editing options are the best. After my 30 day trial finishes, it will cost my just over £8 a month if I want to carry on using it. This will give me access to Adobe Lightroom on all my devices along with cloud sync.
The raw images from the iPhone 7 Plus do allow for some superb editing.
In terms of video, Filmic Pro just got updated to support the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and the results using this app are superb too. Unfortunately, with the loss of the headphone jack, I am having to use the lightning adaptor to 3.5mm to plus my Rode Mic into, meaning I am unable to charge my iPhone whilst shooting video, unless I buy the Belkin audio adaptor for £34.99. Hmmmm.
So how good is the camera on the Apple iPhone 7 Plus? Is it worth upgrading just for the camera on the Apple iPhone 7 Plus? What’s my view versus the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge and Note 7? Read on for all the answers …
Firstly, let’s take a look at the photos I have snapped with the iPhone 7 Plus in a multitude of conditions. As before, if you want to view the original photo, click on it, select original or full size.
Low Light Conditions
So the above 3 photos are a selection of photos testing the low light capabilities. The second shot uses the telephoto lens. Shortly after snapping the above church shots, darkness really started to set in. At this point, when I selected the 2x zoom for the telephoto lens, the iPhone actually decided to override my choice and used the wide angle lens. It did this as it knew the f/1.8 of the wide angle lens would produce a better result, even though it was using digital zoom. The results from the digitally zoomed photos were still excellent. At the end of the article is a link to the flickr album set where you can view more photos from all of the scenes shown.
Just to up the ante, I used a third party app, nightcap pro that allows awesome night shots, light trails, stars, meteors and more. This is the beauty of iOS with the wide selection of third party camera apps on offer that push the boundaries of what is possible with the camera. There are some exciting options in development too which I am testing.
The low light photos from the iPhone 7 Plus are excellent. When I tried this test with the Samsung S7, the white balance was all over the place. The S7/S7E/Note 7 can produce sharper shots in low light compared to the iPhone 7 and with less noise, but I actually prefer the iPhone photos as they are better balanced overall.
Daylight Conditions
The photos above are shot into the sun as is the photo below. The two photos above show the results with the wide angle lens and then the telephoto lens. The 2 x optical zoom on the telephoto lens makes a huge difference and I love the option to use this lens as the quality is so much better than using digital zoom.
One of my favourite type of shots is shooting into the sun, with the sun caught between the tree branches. I was pleased with the result here.
Above is another great shot from the iPhone. Nicely balanced but based on my time with the S7/S7E/Note 7 I do think the dynamic range from these Samsung phones is better. However, the final post processed from the iPhone appears in my mind to be more realistic and natural. The Samsung post processing goes for a heavier saturated and contrasted shot.
Flowers & Close Up
The above shot is just using the normal wide angle mode. The new portrait mode is in beta, so I won’t be testing this until it is out of beta. However, from results shown over the internet from other people, used correctly, the portrait mode is fantastic and makes the 7 Plus even more compelling.
Now just be switching the the telephoto lens, the berries become even more appetising.
The above shots are with the wide and then the telephoto lens. Again you can see the difference the telephoto lens makes to getting closer to the flower.
Above, another shot with the telephoto lens.
Action Shots
In the 3 shots below of my labradors, it is worth noting the weather conditions were not the best for this type of action shot. The UK weather at the moment is dreadful. After taking these photos, Dartmoor had 33.4mm of rain in 4 hours. So not only was it overcast when snapping these, there was also a light mist too.
What you will see from the above 3 photos, which have all been marginally cropped to a 16:9 format, are some good photos considering the weather conditions. The iPhone 7 Plus was able to capture my dogs running extremely fast.
The above shot if you look closely has spots of mud on the photo. This was caused my Fury (black labrador) running so fast through the mud, that she was kicking it up as she went along 🙂
So how do these action photos compare to the Samsung S7/S7E/Note 7? Well the Samsung phones have a slightly faster focus system, meaning more of the action sequences would have been snapped in focus. The Samsung faster focus system has benefits across all types of shooting photos as well. However, once again I prefer the post processing from the iPhone 7 Plus. It did a better job distinguishing my dogs and their 3 different colours, light, brown and black. Same story as all the other shots really, I prefer the post processing from Apple. But like everything in life, there are pros and cons with each choice of phone.
Shooting in RAW
I took several shots in RAW using ProCam 4 and Adobe Lightroom for iOS. Editing on the iPhone 7 Plus using snapseed and Lightroom showed how much more data the iPhone 7 Plus captured using RAW. For a special show I would always take on in RAW as well as using the standard camera app. There are 3 samples shots from RAW in my Flickr Album. Link at the bottom of the article.
Final Verdict
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus camera is a marked improvement from the iPhone 6 Plus. The 2 x optical zoom of the telephoto lens opens up many more options to photography without the need of carrying add on lenses. The new portrait mode is another benefit. Third party developers are already looking to add their software prowess to stretch the boundaries even further.
The telephoto lens is usable is all shooting modes too ie video, time lapse, panorama and more.
Compared to the Samsung S7/S7E/Note 7 it boils down to 2 key differences. Maybe 3. First is the fast focusing system from Samsung is faster than the iPhone 7 Plus. This will produce benefits in certain scenarios. The Samsung phones post processing leans more to a heavier saturated and contrasted shot. In certain scenarios these will make photos pop on the screen to stand out even more. However, so far I am preferring the more natural, realistic post processing coming out of the iPhone 7 Plus. This is a personal opinion/choice. Should you move from a Samsung S7/S7E/Note 7 to the iPhone 7 Plus? Personally, you really need to get a grip if you are even thinking about this! A phone is not just about the camera, it is about everything else. The phones are different, each has pros and cons. When it comes to very low light/night shots the Samsung phones have the slight edge using the default camera app. However, switch to a number of impressive iOS third party apps, and the advantage switches to iOS. Once again pros and cons.
Overall, I am very pleased with the camera results on the iPhone 7 Plus. Add this to everything else on offer and its a compelling device.
Part 2 will focus of video and will be live in due course.
Useful Links
My Apple iPhone 7 Plus Flickr Album
Apple iPhone 7 / 7 Plus Cases on Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 / 7 Plus Screen Protectors on Amazon
Last night I visited my local church and took a number of photos on my Apple iPhone 7 Plus.
Compared to the shots I took last year on my Apple iPhone 6S Plus the iPhone 7 Plus camera is considerably better. I was really pleased with the results from the 7 Plus.
I also used the telephoto lens and for the last photo with the light trails an app called Nightcap Pro.
As usual to pixel peep, click on each photo and then select original.
The first shot is of the church. It is actually darker than it looks. Lots of detail in this photo.
Now using the telephoto lens. The optical zoom is superb. Again lots of detail.
It really is darker than it looks. But here is another shot in auto above.
Now using the telephoto lens. Despite how dark it was, the telephoto lens did get used by the iPhone 7 Plus. Some noise appearing now, but it really is a vary natural looking shot.
Now its even darker, not that you can tell from the above shot. I decided to use my tripod, and selected a 3 second timer. With a timer, the iPhone 7 Plus took a 10 shot burst automatically. This was one of the shots from the burst.
Even darker now. This is shot before the fancier one below.
And finally, light trails. I used Nightcap Pro app to create this shot. This was using the apps light trails mode. This was a 11.34 second exposure.
Overall, despite how dark it was when taking these photo, the iPhone 7 Plus took some superb shots. My takeaway is just how realistic and natural the photos appear.
More to come.
When I got home last night, DPD had delivered my Apple iPhone 7 Plus Black and Apple Watch Series 2 Space Grey Sport with Black strap. I also picked up an Apple black leather case and a white sport band for the watch. In terms of finish, I chose black as opposed to jet black. The matte black looks cool.
I have been using android for ages and picking up the iPhone 7 Plus initially felt alien. My first problem was setting up the iPhone. I have 2 factor authentication on everything, and for some reason my SMS code was not appearing. 40 mins later, a plate of salmon and veg consumed, and voila, my SMS code arrived.
As you will know I had the Note 7 previously, so picking the iPhone 7 Plus up was a shock. The iPhone 7 Plus feels huge in comparison to the Note 7. However, based on the extensive drop tests by people on YouTube who have nothing better to do with their time, the extra bezels protects the iPhone a lot from damage.
Next up was the process on installing my essential apps first, then syncing my photos and music from my mac. Out of all the iPhones I have setup, the 7 Plus has been the fastest to sync everything across. Out of the 256gb, I only have 129gb free and I haven’t yet installed all my apps.
Now on to iOS 10. This is all new to me and I am on a learning curve. I am sure there are some bugs, in particular the iPhone 7 Plus was having some issues holding on to the mobile signal and kept showing every few minutes “no service”. This is worrying as I have a Three signal booster in the house. It should be maximum reception at all times. I will wait until I use the phone outside of my signal booster to see if it registers properly/differently on the Three network. I think this is a wifi bug as the connection held perfectly when I turned wifi off on the iPhone.
While the phone was syncing and downloading apps, I set up the Apple Watch series 2. It is faster than the original watch but not night and day faster. The Apple Watch is such a geeky piece of tech but also fun to use. Apple Pay on the watch is damn cool. Watch OS3 is such an improvement over the previous versions too.
I had a play with the camera, trying out some test shots and using some third party photo apps too. The camera shows a lot of promise. Is it better than the S7 or Note 7? I will answer that soon. In terms of audio, the iPhone 7 Plus is better than the S7 or Note 7 in every aspect – loudspeaker, wired headphones and bluetooth. I connected my Oppo PM-3 using the dongle to the lightning port, and the sound was excellent. Listening to music via my B & O Beoplay H5 over bluetooth was really superb too.
One thing I noticed is just how many more apps I have on iOS than android. Also gaming on iOS is so much smoother. The iPhone 7 Plus is so fast to use in real world usage. I will be testing my iOS game controller at some point as well.
I need to sort out my homes screen layout and folders in terms of positioning and content.Everything is not perfectly organised yet.
So my first 4 hours have been a mix of enjoyment, frustration, and learning the iOS way and getting used to the new home button!
All in all its a positive experience so far and I hope one that continues passed the honeymoon period.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 