This year, Samsung and Apple both released a new generation of devices. If you don’t have a particular operating system preference and photography is your thing, then this article is for you.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge both have the same cameras with the following specifications: Dual Pixel Auto Focus 12 mp rear camera, F1.7 aperture, Records in UHD 4K resolution(3840 x 2160) @ 30fps, flash on rear camera.
Dual Pixel Auto Focus was introduced on smartphones for the first time with the Samsung Galaxy devices. All of the pixels in the camera’s sensor are allocated to phase detection and sensing light, whereas in previous smartphone cameras less of the pixels were used for phase detection and auto focus.
Aperture is the opening of the lens and it is measured in F-stops. These numbers correspond to the size of the opening in the lens. A smaller F-stop is a larger opening in the lens, and a larger F-stop is a smaller opening. With an aperture of F1.7, the 7th generation Galaxy devices have the largest smartphone aperture. This enables the camera to take in more light, resulting in better low-light photos.
The rear camera on the Samsung devices records in 4K resolution, which is the resolution that newer consumer TVs display in..
This information about Samsung devices and any further specifications can be found on their website at http://www.samsung.com/us/
Unlike the seventh generation of Galaxy devices, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have slightly different features, but they also have many similarities.
The iPhone 7 camera boasts the following features. For ease of comparison, the features that can be most easily compared to the Samsung Galaxy devices have been bolded.
12 mp rear camera with F1.8 aperture Digital zoom up to 5x Optical image stabilization
Six?element lens
Panorama (up to 63 megapixels)
Sapphire crystal lens cover
Backside illumination sensor
Hybrid IR filter
Autofocus with Focus Pixels
Tap to focus with Focus Pixels
Live Photos with stabilization
Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
Improved local tone mapping
Body and face detection
Exposure control
Noise reduction
Auto HDR for photos
Auto image stabilization
Burst mode
Timer mode
Photo geotagging
Video Recording
4K video recording at 30 fps
1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
720p HD video recording at 30 fps
Optical image stabilization for video
Quad-LED True Tone flash
Slo?mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
Time?lapse video with stabilization
Cinematic video stabilization (1080p and 720p)
Continuous autofocus video
Body and face detection
Noise reduction
Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
Playback zoom
Video geotagging
In addition to these features, the iPhone 7 Plus also features a telephoto lens with an F2.8 aperture. 2x optical zoom and digital zoom up to 10x are also available.
The F1.8 lens is a slightly smaller aperture than the 7th generation Samsung devices, but it is a very small difference. The additional telephoto lens and optical zoom on the iPhone 7 Plus make it capable of taking better pictures at a distance.
This information about Apple devices and any further specifications can be found on their website at http://www.apple.com
Digital and optical zoom both accomplish the same job, they just do that job different ways. Optical zoom is based on the lens itself. Different parts of the lens move to zoom and focus, which is why smartphone cameras have limited optical zoom. Digital zoom is entirely computer based, so it’s very similar to zooming in on an image you could find on Google. The processing unit is what manages the zoom.
Overall, both manufacturers make very capable cameras. The information is available on their websites and here for you to compare. For me, the decision would ultimately come down to operating system preferences and preference of user interface.