The iPhone 6s camera – a need to know guide for photographers

Sure, our DSLR or system camera is the ideal choice, but there’s a reason the iPhone is the world’s most popular camera. The best camera is the one you have on you, and with our smartphones in our pockets more often than our DSLR, it’s worth noting some of the intriguing new features introduced in the new iPhone 6s camera.

Those who laugh last, laugh longest, goes the old adage, so you can’t blame Apple for at least smiling knowingly at all the nay sayers who sneered at the iPhone for not having a ‘proper’ camera.

Indeed, the iPhone is now the world’s most popular camera, a sobering thought for the Japanese makers who’ve dominated the market since Kodak’s demise, or anyone who’s just bought a pricey new DSLR.

This week Apple announced the iPhone 6s, and although the response to ‘s-grade’ iPhones is usually muted, there are some interesting new features for photographers…

iPhone 6s Camera: Sensor and video
The iPhone 6s now sports a 12Mp sensor, up from 8Mp, so there will be an obvious improvement is the already impressive resolution with stills.

Meanwhile, videos are shot in 4K resolution, so you could theoretically freeze frames from the footage to print at a reasonable everyday size.

The Retina display lights up the screen three times brighter than normal for extra lighting, with Apple claiming this “Retina Flash” is ideal for taking selfies in poorer light.

iPhone 6s Camera: Live Photo 
This is a brand new feature which enables you to take short bursts of moving pictures and sound. Live Photos are automatically turned on for the camera, capturing 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 second after you press the shutter button.

Pressing down on the 3D Touch screen (see below) brings them to life, or you can see the effect as you swipe through your photo gallery.

The effect is a bit like moving eyes on a painting in old horror movies, or those moving photos in Harry Potter, but it’s less creepy than that; think very quick decisive moments, rather than a single decisive moment.

Live Photos may sound gimmicky, Facebook and Instagram have already announced support, and it doesn’t seem to adversely effect shutter-speed performance. Live Photos are one to watch – literally!

iPhone 6s Camera: 3D Touch
The new touchscreen feature, 3D Touch, works a lot like Force Touch on the Apple Watch or new MacBook trackpad.

It uses pop-up windows and translucent backgrounds once you have gently pressed on the screen to open an email, for example. You never really need to navigate away from the inbox to read and even reply to your messages.

At the launch, an Apple bigwig was able to make calls, view directions from an address given to him in iMessages and take “emergency selfies” right from the front facing camera, all without opening the usual app menus.

Needless to say, 3D Touch also works seamlessly with the new Live Photos feature.

iPhone 6s Camera: Other improvements
Apple claims that Wi-Fi will be twice as fast when using the new iPhone 6S, though you are still at the mercy of your home and work connection.

The phone is powered by the new A9 processor with with embedded M9 motion coprocessor, which should make it faster to edit images or video with the many apps now available.

iPhone 6s Camera: So should I buy one?
If you are already in the middle of an iPhone 6 contract it’s probably not worth the cost of breaking it just for Live Photos and a few more megapixels.

Still, the iPhone 6s is a good choice if you are due for an upgrade, as you get more than just a better camera.

Just remember, however, that the iPhone 7 is likely to be a more radical refresh, so it might pay to be patient…

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