QUICK SHOT: iPhone 6 By Guy Briselden

QUICK SHOT: iPhone 6

By Guy Briselden

A quick grab of a moment with low winter sun and steam coming off the horses…Duke of Beauforts Hounds near Badminton. iPhone 6 shot, cropped and converted to B&W in iOS photos.

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44 Comments

  1. Very nice photo… and I’m a bit skeptical of folks who are saying that this is so low quality. I’m not seeing the noise that others are talking about here. It actually looks very sharp with some nice gradations of tone. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were able to blow this image up fair amount and still have it look pretty good…

    It seems obvious that there are plenty of situations that a dedicated camera is going to be better for… Equally obvious to me though is that there days the tech has gotten so good that in the right circumstances even a cell phone is capable of great IQ. The challenge then of using something like a cell phone is understanding just what the limitations are and working around them…. the thing to remember though is that every camera has some kind of limitation. A FF DSLR isn’t going to have much in the way of IQ limitations, but it has limitations on the kind of circumstances that you’d be likely to have it with you and use it…

  2. A really great shot, i think what makes it even better or more striking to me is that it is of a subject I despise…. “The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable!” as Oscar Wilde put it so well.
    Well done on a very impressive image.

  3. Steve – thank you I agree….I have the M9 and Nikons for the planned shoot but when the phone is all you’ve got…..it works.

  4. Thanks for the comments guys…it was a grab in a 10 second pause to wait to get through a gateway – in my view a case of the best camera is the one in your hand…and had to be taken one handed as I was holding on to Ross the horse…(his ears were pointing the wrong way and therefore got cropped!). The light was incredibly harsh. I like it and it really got the moment.

    For those with an issue with the subject, live animal hunting with hounds is banned now in the UK and this is “trail hunting” of a scent laid by man. I don’t agree with the ban but I respect your view if you don’t agree with me…anyway – no foxes hurt in the taking of this photo!

  5. This is a wonderful shot. It’s also technically great, too. It is so free of aberrations that I would not be able to guess what camera took it.

    Yes, I’m an Apple fan, but the camera in the iPhone is the smartest compromise between pixel count and sensor size. The lens is also brilliant. I am still ‘stuck’ with a 5S and it’s great, given the technology at the time.

  6. This is an amazing shot for an iPhone. I gave up on trying on mine. I have total respect for someone who can make beautiful images on a smartphone. It is like the Russian photographers who like to shoot landscapes with hacked 5mp Canon IXUS/IXYPowershot point-and-shoots.

    Screw the people who say “Nice image but…”. 99% of images are not intended for large print. And if they are printed on the side of a bus, it’s pixelated when viewed up close anyway.

    I hope you have more to share. Make those camera companies sweat a little more.

      • I agree. And there are also those who try to focus on “both”!
        I enjoy this site because of the subjective, insightful articles, reviews, and the education I derive from the entire site, including comments! Thank you all.

    • Jorg – Thanks, my daughter is a horse obsessive since about that age – I am on Flickr as Guy Briselden but I haven’t put much up for a while….spoiler warning – no hunting pictures but a few from Kuwait in ’91 if anyone doesn’t agree with that!

    • Jorg – I am on Flickr, but not much put up recently, Guy Briselden. My daughter has been horse obsessed since about that age!

  7. Love it! It is a great reminder that the right person in the right situation can make a great photo. It is also a reminder to get out and shoot with whatever camera you have, even if it is an iPhone.

    • Why? It is all still very valid. This photo opportunity had everything going for it to be a great iPhone/Smartphone photo opportunity: A lot of brightness, slow moving subjects, Dark shadows make it look more dramatic (less DR needed), B+W so color problems are eliminated, foggy (making lack of sharpness less of an issue) and bigger dof needed for the shot to work.

      Try using a smartphone for indoor portraiture, fast moving subjects, high DR situations, etc.
      That is when bigger sensors (must not be full-frame) will show clear advantages over an iPhone.

      • Forgot to mention: It still is a great shot and the photographer certainly showed how someone capable can get great images out of an iPhone.

  8. Great shot! Shame about the need to hunt a defenceless creature in order to prove ones superiority.

    • Old Republic, hunting with hounds in the UK is now (by law) of a man laid scent….no foxes were hurt in the taking of this picture…..

  9. I agree, it is a “kodak” moment shot. However, it would have been a much better shot if it was taken with, say, a Sony RX1r mk2. Looking at the photo up close, its got terrible noise and compression artifacts. Certianly not suitable for a large print. Downsized and viewed on a web page, it hides all the nastiness.

    • I think very few people, especially people reading comments on this site, who would expect that iPhone photos are suitable for a large print, or even a medium size print. I appreciate this photo, the photographer, and the iPhone that made it for what they are, accepting that there are known limitations.

  10. Very nice image, Guy! I too, use the iPhone camera for casual photography. However, as “good” as these images are, for serious work I still prefer the ergonomics, dynamic range, sharpness, clarity, and of course, the “control” that only a dedicated “camera” provides. Thanks for sharing!

    • actually this photo looks like serious work to me. I think serious work requires using the right equipment to get the results that you are going after.

  11. Really beautiful photo! When you can get photos of this quality from an iPhone, it’s clear why the bottom has fallen out of the camera market in recent years.

    • Andy, I think it’s because we who love cameras like fiddling with the controls and having more control of the photo taking process. Plus some cameras are just plain nice to hold and look at – a beautiful piece of engineering. But I do agree – there is no doubt that current smart phones are capable of producing great images.

      • Yes – it’s more expensive than an A6000! So you are not wrong. But – most people are going to have a smartphone anyway, and it can save you from buying a dedicated camera.

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