These days, the iPhone is one of the most popular cameras in the world – but it’s hard to think that it launched with a relatively terrible camera back in 2007. The original iPhone launched with a fixed focus 2MP camera, which did not even have a flash.
The camera has been steadily upgraded, and has been a big focus for Apple since the iPhone 3GS, which was the first iPhone with a decent auto focus lens system.
The camera interface has not changed much though. Despite the massive upgrades in lens and photo quality, the actual UI of the camera is as simple as ever.
To test out the evolution of the iPhone camera, photo comparisons were conducted with all iPhone version cameras (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5) taken with the Camera+ app for iPhone and iPad.
Photos were taken in three situations:
- A well lit macro setting to test detail and quality of the cameras.
- A skyline shot to test sharpness and saturation.
- A candle lit low light macro photo to test noise.
Below are the results that show both the original image and a detailed view, zoomed in 100%, of each photo.
It’s clear from the detail shots that the iPhone 5 produces sharper photos with more accurate white balance, contrast, and saturation demonstrating that the iPhone camera has indeed improved tremendously since its launch back in 2007.
Macro comparison:
Macro – original phone:
Macro – iPhone 3G:
Macro – iPhone 4
Macro – iPhone 4S:
Macro – iPhone 5:
Skyline comparison:
Skyline – original iPhone:
Skyline – iPhone 3G:
Skyline iPhone 3GS:
Skyline – iPhone 4:
Skyline – iPhone 4S:
Skyline – iPhone 5:
Low light macro comparison:
Low light macro – original iPhone:
Low light macro – iPhone 3G:
Low light macro – iPhone 3GS:
Low light macro – iPhone 4:
Low light macro – iPhone 4S:
Low light macro – iPhone 5:
Source: reddit
