Samsung Galaxy S5 vs. iPhone 5S vs. Nexus 5 – Camera Comparison
The S5, the iPhone 5S and the Nexus are the leading flagship smartphones from Samsung, Apple and Google.
Galaxy S5 – What’s New?
The Galaxy S5 has a 16 MP ISOCELL camera whereas the Nexus 5 sports an 8 MP camera. The S5 camera comes with double the resolution of the Nexus 5 as well. The sensor on the S5 is ½.6 inches as compared to the 1/3.2 inches on the Nexus 5. The S5 also has a 2 MP secondary camera for capturing selfies and for video chatting.
Samsung’s camera comes with its in-house ISOCELL sensor, which means that the pixels are isolated in the sensor, so that the light that is captured by one pixel is not leaked to the other nearby pixel cells. In addition, Samsung has also used the phase detection technology coming from the world of DSLR. This makes it possible for the S5 to perform an autofocus within 0.3 seconds.
The camera has several manual settings combined with different shooting modes. The user interface is also friendlier. The camera has separate buttons for video and still mode, and a mode button for switching between modes. Manual settings include features for controlling the white balance, the ISO and the exposure along with the effects.
As for video recording, the S5 offers support for capturing 4K Ultra HD with a resolution of 3840 x 2160p at 30 fps. Samsung makes use of electronic video stabilisation but it does not offer as much stability as the OIS.
iPhone 5S – New Features
On the other hand, the iPhone 5S has a rear camera of 8 MP with flash and a front camera of 1.2 MP. The new iOS 7 brings with it many new ways of capturing and editing photos. The camera application of the 5S has been given a complete makeover. You can easily switch between video and panorama or still mode just by swiping on the main screen. A square format option is also available to use in Instagram. There are many color filters as well as black and white filters that you can apply before taking the shot to get a preview. You can also apply them to the photos in the gallery.
Image Metadata can group videos as well as still images based on their date and their location. There is also a Years filter within which is the Collections and then the Moments. Image sharing has also become much easier. Users can use the share sheet for adding images and the recipients in a single screen. Flicker can also be used for sharing. The pixel size is large and therefore, it performs better in low light. The lens is also faster with F2.2 and a dual LED flash, offering improved white balance for indoor conditions. Exposure features are also advanced, such as stabilization mode for multi-images.
Nexus 5 Camera – Special Features
The interface is not too intuitive and the fine adjustment settings are fewer as compared to the camera of the S5. Images are great on this 8 MP shooter but the detail is not as good. However, the Nexus 5 also has optical image stabilization feature. This eliminates problems related to shaking hands when recording videos. The Nexus 5 has a 1.3 MP front camera, and therefore, the quality of the videos and images are not too good.
The camera comes with an 8 MP rear shooter with an aperture of f/2.4. The sensor is quite small at 1/3.4 inches. It does not have a secondary flash. ISO levels are at higher levels in the Nexus 5 and this results in increased noise in the pictures. It is not a “wow” camera and it only sports the basic features, such as controls for white balance, for the exposure and so on.
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