iPhone 6 plus Camera Review: iceland
This year I had the opportunity to be at Apple’s Keynote where they announced the iPhone 6, 6 Plus and the Watch. It was truly a sight to behold, as they unveiled each of these products in a their oh-so-Apple way (and the U2 concert was an amazing bonus!)
Every year, the new iPhone is packed with new features across the board but for us photographers we really just want to know one thing: what does all this mean for my camera and how does it make my pictures better than before?
So the night of the Keynote, in partnership w/ The Verge, I left on a mission to find out exactly that answer and have been comparing the iPhone 5s, 6 & 6 Plus for five days in Iceland!
We’ve run through waterfalls, driven through storms, jumped out of a helicopter, slid down a glacier, and even slept in a cave with an entrance shaped just like Yoda (picture below)… and best of all, the iPhone 5S, 6 and 6 Plus were with us every step of the way. I can’t wait to share the images and results with you!
Focus Pixels are a big deal
This year the iPhone camera's most important upgrades revolve around focus resulting in sharper images than ever before. Apple implemented several new technologies to accomplish this and I want to talk about Focus Pixels first.
The last few days in Iceland have been rather dreary & dark but rarely too dark for the this thing to focus. I was a tad nervous about constant autofocus shifting my focus point while shooting but I’ve found it to be quite intelligent… it has rarely shifted focus when I didn’t want it to and it’s super fast.
Somewhat Extreme Lowlight Scenario
I’d been racking my brain for a great scenario to test this new low light focus capability so when I heard I had the opportunity to join the Icelandic Coast Guard on a night vision training helicopter mission, I decided to give it a go. When there’s night vision involved, never say no! The objective of the mission was to simulate a search and rescue, evacuating an individual out of rough terrain. We played the role of rescued and were hoisted beneath the chopper.
Keep in mind all of these images are shot handheld in near pitch black, on a vibrating helicopter. The image of the pilot's eye lit green by his night vision goggle astounds me… no way my dSLR could pull focus in this kind of light.
(most of these are completely unedited most frames shot at f2.2, ISO 2000, 1/15th sec)
