Hardware,  News

iPhone 5 Does Have Different Image Sensor To iPhone 4S

Dpreview.com are reporting today the iPhone 5 does indeed have a different image sensor to the iPhone 4S. ”Close examination shows the iPhone 5 is using a 4.1 mm lens to give a 33 mm equivalent field of view, rather than the 4S’s 4.3 mm lens, which gave a 35 mm equivalent view’. They have determined this information by looking at the EXIF data of two images, one of their own taken with the iPhone 4S and the other from Apple taken with the iPhone 5. In tests the iPhone 4S selected ISO 64 whilst the iPhone 5 dropped down to ISO 50, inferring ‘the newer model has a lower minimum sensitivity’.

Effectively what this means is that the new sensor in the iPhone 5 is just a tiny fraction larger.

 

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Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)

One Comment

  • Mike Hardaker (Jag.gr)

    It’s not really possible to deduce anything much about the sensor from the EXIF data. The lens may be different (although even that’s not certain); its focal length is certainly being reported as 4.13mm instead of 4.28mm.

    However, iPhone 4S’s 4.28mm lens has a full-frame equivalent of 32.5mm (not the 35mm that Apple writes to the EXIF data) and a 4.13mm lens is equivalent to 31.4mm (not 33mm) so it just goes to show that you can’t trust EXIF data! Maybe the lens is different; maybe it’s just being reported more (or less!) accurately…

    Also, the ISO limits are really defined at the level of the OS, so an ISO 50 setting really tells us little if anything about the sensor behind it all.

    If the lens is slightly wider (as iPhone 4’s lens is wider than iPhone 4S’s), that still doesn’t say anything about the sensor size being different.