HDR photo examples with iPhone 4 and iOS 4.1 [updated with more photos]

Apple’s latest update for iOS, 4.1, has just been released moments ago and I was fanboi’ish ready to update as soon as I could – and I just did.

What I was mostly looking forward to trying out was the built-in HDR photography function in the camera and how it would measure up in real life. So, here are two examples I’ve just shot. Click on the pictures to see a larger version – there’s both the standard picture and the HDR picture.

Standard: Nikon D5000 by iPhone 4 (indoor)
HDR: Nikon D5000 by iPhone 4 (indoor)
Standard: Bose QuietComfort 15 by iPhone 4 (indoor)
HDR: Bose QuietComfort 15 by iPhone 4 (indoor)
Standard: Palm tree with a bright background by iPhone 4
HDR: Palm tree with a bright background by iPhone 4
Standard: Red Bull cans in the window by iPhone 4
HDR: Red Bull cans in the window by iPhone 4

The pictures have not been edited in any other way than being resized. I think the HDR version of the Nikon D5000 is better but I prefer the non-HDR version of the Bose QC15 headphones, to be honest, the HDR version is simply a bit too overexposed.

As for the daylight pictures, it’s easy to see how the sky is completely blown-out on the standard picture which is something that HDR does fix. The same with the Red Bull cans (which didn’t turn out perfect on either picture, but the HDR version is better, I think). HDR is most useful if taking pictures of something with uneven lightning or big contrasts, like a subject with backlight. HDR is pretty much useless if you’re shooting something that’s evenly lit.

Read more about all the other new features in iOS 4.1.

8 thoughts on “HDR photo examples with iPhone 4 and iOS 4.1 [updated with more photos]”

  1. Pingback: iPhoneiPad News
  2. *sigh* My 3G looks more and more antiquated with every hardware release or software update. It’s a work phone, so I’m stuck with it for now, but I can still drool I guess.

    Reply
    • On the bright side, Evan, iOS 4.1 should make the 3G perform better than 4.0 and 4.0.1 did – so maybe you should update 🙂

      (If you’re still on one of the 3.x versions and don’t need any of the stuff in iOS 4, then you’re probably better off staying on your current version in terms of how fast the iPhone 3G is).

      Reply
  3. Looks like the quality is cool enough for my blogging purposes. I had been saving up this past months to buy either a 550D or something equivalent to it. I see that you have a Nikon D5000 there. I have compiled a comparison between D5000 and Canon’s 60D. If I can wait another month more, I may be able to buy either 60D or D5000.

    Although IPhone’s camera is cool enough, I think I’ll still push through with my plan for a DSLR though. 🙂

    Reply
    • Don’t go buy a DSLR just yet – you need to check out the new Nikon D7000 first, that’s a really interesting camera 🙂 See link below:

      Reply
  4. Nice comparisons.

    I just got the iPhone 4 today and will be playing with this HDR feature in the coming weeks.

    However, for people like you with your high end Nikon gear, and me with my high end Canon gear, it’s little more than a “ok, not bad, whatever…”

    LOL

    Reply

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