Has Apple made a comeback with its iPhone 6s Plus’ camera? You tell us

UPDATE: We’ve tabulated the votes for the shootout. Jump straight to Page 4 to find out which is the best as voted by you

New devices,  call for new camera shootout tests and our latest camera blind test will pit the newest iPhone 6s Plus against the iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy Note5 and LG G4. The last smartphone that took home the best camera as voted by you guys was the LG G4, but will it come to an end today?

The newcomer of the group, the iPhone 6s Plus doesn’t pack a high megapixel count – only 12 on its rear iSight camera but its pixels come in at 1.22µ pixels, helping it somewhat. Storage might be an issue for the aforementioned device if you love those Live Photos, since the extra “moving picture” takes up roughly the same amount of space as the photos you take.

Distinctive to the “Plus” is OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation), allowing you to take more stable shots when compared to its little brother, while its aperture is listed at f/2.2. For the first time we decided to include the front camera for our shootout and the iPhone 6s/6s Plus has a 5-megapixel sensor up front, with the same aperture as its rear camera. It also has the new Retina Flash, Apple’s alternative to putting an LED flash at the front like some selfie-centric phones in the market.

Edging out the competition in the last shootout, does the 16-megapixel (rear) LG G4 camera have what it takes to hit the podium again? Well, the f/1.8 aperture rear camera has some tricks up its sleeves – similarly it has OIS as well but laser autofocus is what sets it apart. In terms of the front sensor, 8-megapixels makes its way on the top half of the display.

A close second was the Galaxy Note5, that boasts the same megapixel count as the LG G4 and it also has OIS to back up its camera’s capabilities. On the front however, it isn’t so pixel hungry, as the selfie camera is only 5-megapixels.

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Can Apple make a comeback thanks to its 50% extra pixel count upgrade (over the iPhone 6) on the iPhone 6s Plus? Or will the competition still prevail?

Keeping it easy to understand and following the same mechanics as our older shootouts, we’ll need you to choose 3 photos from each set, descending in rank; e.g. 1 = best, 2 = good, 3 = decent. Each image corresponds with a letter so from A – D just choose the letters and order them accordingly. Photos are randomised so don’t try to spot any trends 😉 no brownie points if you guess correctly. Below is an example of how you’d write in your choices:

Scene 1. C, D, A (C is the best > descending order)
Scene 2. B, A, D
Scene 3. D, A, C
Scene 4. B, A, C

We’ll run this poll till this coming Monday (12^th October), so be sure to submit your votes in our comment section and tune in after to see which phone took the top seed. Check out the next page for the blind test and start voting!

[nextpage title=”Blind Test”]

Note: Click for larger view

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Set 6

Set 7

Set 8

[nextpage title=”Smart Phones Revealed”]

Note: Click for larger view

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Set 6

Set 7

Set 8

[nextpage title=”The Results as Voted by you”]

Apple has up the stakes with their latest iPhone 6s (Plus)

Note: Click to see larger image

Performing dismally in our previous camera comparison, Apple had a lot to prove this time around. Last time we touched on how smartphone cameras value their megapixels, based on the past it was relatively true but the main difference was the how much light could enter the shutter, hence aperture size.

Luckily, this time around we had only 4 devices, making it a little simpler for us, though we added in an additional 4 scenes to take a look at a wider array of situations; this time even adding the front camera portion to the mix.

We’ve counted the votes and again followed our old formula, so if a device was your first choice, it would score 3 points, second choice – 2 points and third choice – 1 point.

Tallying it all up, we had a close race for the top spot; eventually earned by the Galaxy Note5 (votes), followed closely by the iPhone 6s Plus (votes). A disappointing result for the LG G4, which sought to retain itself at the top of the podium. We’ve noticed for quite some time that the G4’s front camera doesn’t earn it any applauses, one of its clear weaknesses.

Scene 4 was another catalyse to how the LG failed to live up to its name, only earning it 9 points compared to the iPhone 6s Plus’ 80 points.

Scene 1

Clearly any 100% cropped photo will utilise the cameras megapixels and here’s why the iPhone 6’s camera suffered. The other 3 were quite close to call with the iPhone 6s Plus getting 74, followed by 60 and 52 for the Galaxy Note5 and the LG G4, respectively.

Scene 2

This scene was similar to the 1^st taking an image of Avenue K and blowing it up 100% to focus on the H&M store sign. Performing slightly better this time around, the LG G4 earned your seal of approval with 61 points; then again this scene the votes were pretty spread out evenly – Galaxy Note5 (52 points), iPhone 6 (44 points) and surprisingly the iPhone 6s Plus (35 points) was last.

Scene 3

We took the nostalgic route and decided to visit KLCC once again for the 3^rd scene. The same motive as the two earlier scenes, we wanted to see how the smartphones handled 100% zoomed images. With no honor 7 to steal the show, the Galaxy Note5 gracefully accepted the highest votes (74 points), subsequently followed by the iPhone 6s Plus (47 points), iPhone 6 (36 points) and the LG G4 (29 points).

Scene 4

The clear difference here was the amount of light that the sensor let in, raising some concern as to why the LG G4 didn’t perform up to standards. Unfortunately, all of our sample photos taken during this scene on the G4 were as dark as the photo chosen – bear in mind that this photo was taken outdoors, placing the RM 50 note onto a bench and snapping the picture. The clear winner was the iPhone 6s Plus, which handled the macro shot well, earning it 80 points; following which, was the Galaxy Note5 (53 points), the iPhone 6 (44 points) and the LG G4 a long way behind with 9 points.

Scene 5

Here we looked at a macro shot again but in low light conditions. Based on the photos and results Apple still has some catching up to do with the size of their sensors, as 12-megapixels didn’t cut it this time. A close battle for the number 1 spot saw the Galaxy Note5 (78 points) edging out the LG G4 (76 points) by 2 points. Trailing way behind were the iPhone 6s Plus with 20 points and the iPhone 6 with 18 points.

Scene 6

For this scene we took to test the low light capabilities by placing Lego figurines inside a box then snapping a photo from the opening of the box. Again the iPhone(s) struggled in these low light conditions. Something we anticipated, since the iPhone 6s Plus only has an aperture of f/2.2. In terms of points, the LG G4 saw a chance to redeem its mediocre scoring earlier on by getting 1^st with 81 points. It was followed closely by the Galaxy Note5 that managed 73 points. 3^rd and 4^th went to the iPhones, as the 6s Plus had 31 points, while the iPhone 6 only earned 7 points.

Scene 7

When mentioning earlier that the LG G4 struggled in its front camera department, it seemed that scene 7 and 8, it would find it tough to even the playing field. The objects captured often looked red (even outdoors) on the G4 and you’ll notice it right away in this scene. Paving the way to the top was the Galaxy Note5 that captured 69 points. Number 2 went to the iPhone 6s Plus (58 points), while the 3^rd and 4^th spot belonged to the iPhone 6 (42 points) and LG G4 (17 points).

Scene 8

Coming to a close, this scene was a front camera shot in low light conditions. A combination of the right megapixels and image processing allowed the iPhones to snatch away 1^st (iPhone 6s Plus, 73 points) and 2^nd place (iPhone 6, 53 points). Spot number 3 and 4 were taken by the LG G4 (35 points) and the Galaxy Note5 (25 points). Here’s a classic example of how sometimes pixels don’t matter, as the G4 boasts an 8-megapixel sensor compared to the iPhone 6s Plus’ 5-megapixel sensor and the measly iPhone 6’s 1.2-megapixel FaceTime front camera – seems like image processing is king in this situation.

It’s safe to say that Apple might mount a comeback as their image processing has always been superior. Once they catch up in hardware (might take a while) they could really blow everyone away. Though, it might struggle in low light we feel that the iPhone 6s Plus held its ground when considering other aspects.

Share with us your thoughts on the smartphone cameras of today’s flagships, do they stand a chance against some basic point and shoots? Let us know in the comments below.