Published by Steve Litchfield at
18:11 UTC, September 17th 2016
With the Nokia 808 and Lumia 1020, the way of the near future was set in terms of handling zoom on the smartphone - take action digitally, whether by smart cropping in to a high resolution array as about the Nokia pair, or with a high dynamic range sensor and some really smart interpolative zoom, as on the likes of the recent Samsung Galaxy flagships. But along comes Apple (with a few ex-Nokia help ) to interrupt the rules, by using a two-lens, two-sensor solution inside the iPhone 7 Plus - one which is a 2x telephoto. Gulp.
The classic Nokia 808 PureView, showing how great camera phones have err... slimmed down! I use the 808 for that first test below only - it is simply a data point here!
The various solutions needed testing naturally. So I headed out with the aforementioned phones plus the ubiquitous Lumia 950 XL, to snap some scenes with interesting detail that could be examined when zoomed (to varying degrees).
Now, there's a problem in relation to exact comparisons, in that the Nokia 808 and Lumia 1020 both shoot 5MP and zoom in by only over 2.5x with PureView digital/lossless zoom, even though the Lumia 950 'only' has 1.5x zoom at 8MP after which tries to go beyond this digitally. And then the brand new iPhone 7 Plus shoots at the full 12MP regardless if using the 2x 'telephoto' lens. And all with assorted fields of view across the board. In other words I can't always compare pixel for pixel, so please allow some leeway in the framing here!
Test 1: Sunny-ish suburban landscape
Here's the total scene, unzoomed, as shot with the Lumia 1020:
The goal, obviously, would have been to zoom in to view as much detail as possible without straying past an acceptable limit into 'ugly' lossy digital zoom territory (inside the 950's case, without any on-screen indicator, so even matching one other devices here was pure guesswork). Here then are fragments in the zoomed images from, consequently, the Nokia 808 PureView, the Lumia 1020, the Lumia 950 XL, last but not least the iPhone 7 Plus:
There's a variety of image processing techniques and philosophies above - the Nokia 808 and Lumia 1020's outputs are 'pure', by definition, since there's no making up pixels in any way - are showing the info at 1:1 on his or her sensors. The 1020 just pips the 808, but it is arguable in any event since some individuals may prefer the far more neutral colours from your old classic. The Lumia 950 is clearly in last place here, because of it being forced to use almost exclusively lossy digital zoom to acquire close towards the others.
It's factual that the iPhone 7 Plus does over-do the contrast a little, with the brickwork (in shadow) darker and uneven as a result, but I was impressed from the detail on the leaves and washing line. Does the iPhone 7 Plus out raced the Lumia 1020, I'm not sure, the treatment depends which detail you peer at and what your needs are for image processing, so I'm going to refer to this as one a draw.
Lumia 1020: 9 pts; Lumia 950: 5 pts; iPhone 7 Plus: 9 pts The Nokia 808 would get 8 pts, but I only tried it for this one data point, so it will be not scored officially!
Test 2: Overcast, distant clock detail
Here's the total scene, unzoomed, as shot from the Lumia 1020:
Here then are fragments in the zoomed images from, consequently, the Lumia 1020 , the Lumia 950 XL (cranked to roughly the identical zoom factor, digitally), and lastly the iPhone 7 Plus having its 2x telephoto lens: (click the links on this para to grab original JPGs)
The Lumia 1020 output is, again, impressive at this distance - the old warhorse still coming good inspite of the four second shot to shot time(!) In contrast, the newer but more resolution-limited Lumia 950 is struggling having its lossy digital zoom and there is a blockiness to its output that I look for a bit ugly - I still think Microsoft could enhance the zoom algorithms if they had the will to do so.
The iPhone 7 Plus does pretty well, with noticeable extra detail and clarity initially, the more you peer at elements within the image, the harder the shot looks a lttle bit over processed. Maybe my range of subject, using the mass of regular patterns, didn't help, Overall, I prefer the 1020 image, but I have to acknowledge that there's slightly more genuine detail in the iPhone photo, even when it has become slightly (and unnecessarily) enhanced. A draw overall - again!
Lumia 1020: 9 pts; Lumia 950: 6 pts; iPhone 7 Plus: 9 pts
Test 3: Overcast, plane detail
Here's the complete scene, unzoomed, as shot by the Lumia 1020:
The enforcement of the fence I was shooting through emphasised the requirement of zoom! Here then are fragments from the zoomed images from, in turn, the Lumia 1020 , the Lumia 950 XL, and finally the iPhone 7 Plus :
The story is much the same here, while using Lumia 1020 operating a decent snap without any artefacts, yet while using iPhone 7 Plus getting 'closer' (optically and digitally) with just a rather processed look like a penalty. It's a tough call. On balance, one more draw, I think, with the Lumia 950 lagging behind by one method or another again.
Lumia 1020: 9 pts; Lumia 950: 6 pts; iPhone 7 Plus: 9 pts
Test 4: Overcast again (pah!)
The UK weather not playing ball, here's another distant aircraft. Here's the entire scene, unzoomed, as shot from the Lumia 1020:
I was concerned with letting any device stray into lossy digital zoom territory in any respect, so I did this test using just the 1.5x PureView zoom about the Lumia 950, and the opposite two devices could have been lossless, needless to say. Here then are fragments from the zoomed images from, therefore, the Lumia 1020, the Lumia 950 XL, last but not least the iPhone 7 Plus:
Despite the gloomy light levels, all three smartphone cameras did well here, with the Lumia 950 perhaps taking a win on colours, the 1020 creating a good crisp 2.5x zoom but (typically) with all the brightest detail blown out, as here about the engine cowling. While the iPhone 7 Plus takes the most points here, with stunningly good zoomed detail and just a slight question mark over digital noise.
Lumia 1020: 8 pts; Lumia 950: 7 pts; iPhone 7 Plus: 9 pts
Test 5: Indoors, very low light
Wanting to evaluate performance of the zoom facilities in low light, I headed indoors - the iPhone 7 Plus hasn't got OIS because of its telephoto lens and I wondered if this type of would have a direct impact. Here's the entire scene, unzoomed, as shot through the iPhone 7 Plus's 1x lens (rolling around in its native 4:3!) - note that the scene to my eyes was MUCH darker - I couldn't figure out detail about the picture with my naked eyes - the wonders of OIS on modern devices, eh,:
Low light is often a real challenge for detail and colouration. Here then are fragments from the zoomed images from, therefore, the Lumia 1020, the Lumia 950 XL, and lastly the iPhone 7 Plus:
Despite the absence of OIS rolling around in its zoomed lens Well now, this is interesting, and I'm updating this paragraph as soon as the discussion thread below. In low light, the iPhone's software generally seems to know that the lack of OIS and f/2.8 aperture in the 2x lens won't supply a good or stable enough image. So, although I'd manually tapped the 2x control, the iPhone Camera app stayed with all the main (1x) lens and used traditional digital zoom to get to 2x, with all the larger f/1.8 aperture and OIS producing better results. Fascinating, even though it's foiling the aim of my test here!
Objectively, the iPhone 7 Plus still arrives on top here, with all the correct wall colour (it's white) and also while using most frame detail. It's factual that some of this really is artificial, look the sting enhancement as well as other digitsl processing, in addition to the (fake) gold frame is really a bit muted, but it is hard to disagree that it is image is best from the three. The Lumia 950 and 1020 both introduce a reddish tint to the wall and over-saturate the frame a bit too much. The Lumia 1020 frame detail looks one of the most natural and it is image could apt to be post processed in Photoshop or much like correct the shades and bring out some additional contrast, but out of the phone there exists a small overall win for your iPhone 7 Plus - again.
Lumia 1020: 7 pts; Lumia 950: 7 pts; iPhone 7 Plus: 8 pts
Verdict
Every time I think concerning the dual lens set-up inside the iPhone 7 Plus, i.e. one normal then one telephoto, I have the strangest feeling that this is the sort of tech solution that Nokia would have pulled off, had they still been going (and never bought up and then largely sold off by Microsoft). Just as the 41MP sensor and PureView zoom system was groundbreaking, do i think the this - approaching 'zoom' from a totally different angle (pun intended, again!) to each other smartphone around. Or at least until someone copies the concept. No one ever copied the Nokia PureView system verbatim partly since it became unfashionable to have thicker phones (though Sony got close using their Xperia Z line, before screwing up the software), however you can bet your bottom US dollar that Apple's solution here is going to be cloned in the next year or two.
Adding inside the points for your 5 test shots above provides:
Apple iPhone 7 Plus: 44/50
Lumia 1020: 42/50
Lumia 950: 31/50
Now before Lumia 950 fans howl in protest, I want to remember that I still suspect the 950 may be the best smartphone camera within the world, total lighting conditions and make use of cases - it's just that zooming is its Achilles heel. Plus the likes in the (now tweaked) Samsung Galaxy S7 now Apple iPhone 7 Plus are nipping at its heels really real way for the more general title.
But the core takeaway here's that in an explicit test of zooming in camera phones, the champion Lumia 1020 has become overthrown. Just. By a photo finish. It has taken a mobile phone with two physical lenses and a couple sensors (1/3" and 1/3.6", in case you are interested) to do it, but the iPhone 7 Plus might be now the best option if you do a great deal of zooming (e.g. at sporting or music events). Plus it needs to be noted that the) the iPhone takes these zoomed shots a HUNDRED TIMES FASTER than the 1020, to help you bang off individual or burst shots as fast as you like if there's action happening; and b) I haven't even touched on the digital zoom on top in the 2x optical zoom around the 7 Plus. Admittedly, in my tests, this can be as lossy as you might imagine, but also in good light you can probably search for a genuine 4x zoom without a lot of degradation (ignore the 10x mock-up within the recent Apple keynote - that has been faked!)
Leavine some more questions to answer, and several topics for future features, of course, if you'd like to determine them. For example, indoor/party/people shots - how does the iPhone 7's quad-LED flash compare to Xenon around the 1020 and triple LED with Dynamic Exposure/Flash around the Lumia 950, Then there's the vanilla single-lensed iPhone, still three times the price in the Lumia 950, but eminently up for the more traditional 'comparator' feature.
Watch this space!
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