• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

iPhone 4 owner, seriously considering on switching to Vibrant.

Camera quality: The reason why I love the iPhone 4 is the camera. It takes magnificent pictures, even in macro mode. Does the Vibrant's camera compare?
Click to expand...
Not even close. I own both phones and the only thing I'll add that hasn't already been said is that the HDR photo feature they just added in ios4.1 owns all...

High dynamic range imaging - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quantity of pixels is irrelevant. If they're under/over-exposed, they're useless. Digital photography has been plagued with LOUSY dynamic range since they first appeared many years ago and cmos/ccd tech has done little to improve it since then, but the iPhone4's HDR photos literally rival that of film. I'm blown away. If you were ever into 35mm film photography, you know that the wide exposure latitude is orders of magnitude better than digital. The HDR feature they just added almost bridges that gap. And NO, the "night shot" feature in the Vibrant is not the same thing. :p

For those who don't understand dynamic range, I could take a picture with bright white clouds and dark shadows in the same frame, if I meter somewhere in between, the Vibrant will blow out all the clouds (overexpose) and lose all detail in the shadows (underexpose). The iPhone4 with HDR turned on will perfectly expose all of it, the way any decent photographer would want it. No post-processing needed, just perfectly exposed pics. It's almost worth buying it just to use as a freakin' camera. Samsung really needs to implement HDR too.
 
The phones themselves, on paper, are comparable... but it all boils down to one simple, yet important deal breaker every time.

Limited vs unlimited. You choose.
 
duc916 said:
Not even close. I own both phones and the only thing I'll add that hasn't already been said is that the HDR photo feature they just added in ios4.1 owns all...

High dynamic range imaging - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quantity of pixels is irrelevant. If they're under/over-exposed, they're useless. Digital photography has been plagued with LOUSY dynamic range since they first appeared many years ago and cmos/ccd tech has done little to improve it since then, but the iPhone4's HDR photos literally rival that of film. I'm blown away. If you were ever into 35mm film photography, you know that the wide exposure latitude is orders of magnitude better than digital. The HDR feature they just added almost bridges that gap. And NO, the "night shot" feature in the Vibrant is not the same thing. :p

For those who don't understand dynamic range, I could take a picture with bright white clouds and dark shadows in the same frame, if I meter somewhere in between, the Vibrant will blow out all the clouds (overexpose) and lose all detail in the shadows (underexpose). The iPhone4 with HDR turned on will perfectly expose all of it, the way any decent photographer would want it. No post-processing needed, just perfectly exposed pics. It's almost worth buying it just to use as a freakin' camera. Samsung really needs to implement HDR too.
Click to expand...

HDR on the iPhone4 is a bit of a gimmick. It just takes two pictures at different exposures and combines them. This can have interesting effect when there are moving objects in the pictures. It might be better than nothing but it is by no means any close to a HDR mode in a SLR. Here is an interesting article about it:

iPhone 4 HDR: Just A Smokescreen? | ConceivablyTech
 
That's what HDR is! The combining of multiple images of different exposure levels to make the perfect image. It's not a gimmick! That review is a joke... If that blogger posing as a photographer was dumb enough to try it with moving cars, then he obviously doesn't understand the principle of HDR at all or was on a mission to discredit it. All he succeeded in doing was exposing himself as an idiot. Not surprising in the digital age where any dumbass blogger can call himself a professional journalist. Maybe I should look to the author's other professional works, like the one where he theorizes about what Halo Reach will do for the gaming industry. :p

I could post a link to an article stating that it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I prefer to speak on my actual experience living with the feature, and so far most pics I take with my iPhone+HDR next to my wife's Vibrant results in the wife getting pissed off at her phone's shyte pics. Turn the lights down low and she won't even bother to pull the Vibrant out. That's how it's been since before and after HDR was enabled. Sorry if that's too real. I wouldn't begin to know any reputable bloggers to refer to.... I'm the hands-on type.
 
duc916 said:
That review is a joke... If that blogger posing as a photographer was dumb enough to try it with moving cars, then he obviously doesn't understand the principle of HDR at all or was on a mission to discredit it. All he succeeded in doing was exposing himself as an idiot. Not surprising in the digital age where any dumbass blogger can call himself a professional journalist. Maybe I should look to the author's other professional works, like the one where he theorizes about what Halo Reach will do for the gaming industry. :p

I could post a link to an article stating that it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I prefer to speak on my actual experience living with the feature, and so far any pic I take with my iPhone+HDR next to my wife's Vibrant results in the wife getting pissed off at her phone's shyte pics. That's how it's been since before and after HDR was enabled. Sorry if that's too real.
Click to expand...

Certainly real, but not definitive. Nothing personal, photography is subjective. HDR is an effect, and most of the time it's much too obvious and not natural looking for my taste. I understand done properly it can be impressive, but it's no panacea, just like every other photo tool.

How's the image stabilization on your i4? :)

I hope phone cameras will get to the point where I don't have to carry a real camera, but that's not likely anytime soon.
 
That pic would be a perfect candidate for an HDR pic. The before and after would have you throwing this one away.
 
I agree it can be severely overdone. I see people going crazy with it in Photoshop doing 10-15 F-stops of exposure and it just makes it weird. But like I said, the iPhone only approaches the range of film, nothing unnatural about film. If anything's unnatural is the lack of range of today's digital equipment.
 
duc916 said:
That pic would be a perfect candidate for an HDR pic. The before and after would have you throwing this one away.
Click to expand...

You know, I saw the actual scene in real life (since I took it) and the picture is a very very good representation of reality.
 
I thought the sky was a bit blown out. for better composition you should always try to keep the horizon perfectly horizontal.
 
duc916 said:
I agree it can be severely overdone. I see people going crazy with it in Photoshop doing 10-15 F-stops of exposure and it just makes it weird. But like I said, the iPhone only approaches the range of film, nothing unnatural about film. If anything's unnatural is the lack of range of today's digital equipment.
Click to expand...

What's "natural" is a big topic. Just comparing the cameras on the two phones though I've had more photos ruined by a lack of image stabilization than too little dynamic range. Given that choice of features I would take stabilization.

I understand there's an iPhone app for that, but there's one for HDR on Android as well. What would be a good test is to outfit the i4 and a Vibrant with the respective app upgrades and do some side-by-side shots. The iPhone could well win that contest, but the question is whether the results satisfy the user. There's always some other camera that's better in some respect than what you have. That's just one factor in a phone purchase decision that each person has to weigh.
 
True enough... The dynamic range of digital compares best with 35mm slide: very narrow. Slide colors can really pop, but are much less forgiving if you don't get the exposure right. I guess that's why I always preferred film over slide. A subjective preference. To me, what's natural is what looks closest to what my eyes see, which is the widest exposure latitude film has to offer.

Yes there are many factors to weigh when considering the phone, but as the OP stated, his #1 issue for sticking with an iPhone4 was the camera, so my intent was to address only that one point.
 
I love my phone.

Sometimes I think I love it too much.

Because I feel so empty inside when my phone is not around or dead.

Cheers, to Samsung!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom