Sports Illustrated shares NFL gameday photos promoting dual-lens iPhone 7 Plus

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in iPhone
Having been given an early promotional unit by Apple, Sports Illustrated on Sunday published a series of photos shot with the iPhone 7 Plus, which includes a second lens for 2x optical zoom.




The photos were snapped by professional SI photographer David Klutho at yesterday's Titans-Vikings NFL matchup, and highlighted on Twitter by Apple CEO Tim Cook. While a few of them are in-game action shots, many concentrate on pre-game moments, such as Billy Ray Cyrus singing the U.S. national anthem.




Apple made the Plus' camera technology a highlight of its iPhone 7 announcement last week, pointing out the new images possible with optical and digital zoom technology. Combined the Plus can achieve 10x zoom, although digital zoom simply blows up and enhances sensor data.




Preorders for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are already underway, in advance of the first units shipping on Friday. People ordering online now will find many shipments delayed by weeks, and some models -- namely jet black versions of the iPhone 7 Plus -- won't arrive until November.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    Just an FYI, folks... The NFL is a notoriously litigious organization and any reproduction of their photos without permission are a legal problem. I'd recommend you only provide a link and remove all photos in this case. Consult with your own lawyer if you don't believe me. Thanks.
    edited September 2016
  • Reply 3 of 16
    I bought the 7 Plus with 128 g specifically because of the camera so I'm happy to see how great the camera is and that it's worth it.
    My current SE and 5s both only have 16 g storage and I'm fine with that because they were never my main camera and uploaded everything to the cloud. But I expect to use my 7 more for photography, video and basic editing as my main photo rig from now on.
    edited September 2016 watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 16
    Just an FYI, folks... The NFL is a notoriously litigious organization and any reproduction of their photos without permission are a legal problem. I'd recommend you only provide a link and remove all photos in this case. Consult with your own lawyer if you don't believe me. Thanks.
    SI owns these photos and surely has proper credentials to be in the field to shoot. 
    mike1lolliver
  • Reply 5 of 16
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,032member
    I don't know much about this stuff and my vision stinks too (I need glasses to find my glasses.)  Can you all tell the difference between these pictures and "what would have been" with the iPhone 6+ camera?  I'm not criticizing or anything, just asking for your opinions on how much difference the new tech really makes here.  Some of you really know and care about this stuff.
    cali
  • Reply 6 of 16
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    williamh said:
    I don't know much about this stuff and my vision stinks too (I need glasses to find my glasses.)  Can you all tell the difference between these pictures and "what would have been" with the iPhone 6+ camera?  I'm not criticizing or anything, just asking for your opinions on how much difference the new tech really makes here.  Some of you really know and care about this stuff.
    With a 6 you'd need to be 1-2 ft away to get them. With the 7+ you can be on the sideline out of harms way. 
    cali
  • Reply 7 of 16
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    Nice link - thanks!
    But dang, I guess I'll have to get myself a MBPro now, to do those pictures justice - my old MBAir just doesn't.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 16
    fracfrac Posts: 480member
    williamh said:
    I don't know much about this stuff and my vision stinks too (I need glasses to find my glasses.)  Can you all tell the difference between these pictures and "what would have been" with the iPhone 6+ camera?  I'm not criticizing or anything, just asking for your opinions on how much difference the new tech really makes here.  Some of you really know and care about this stuff.
    Well from what I can ring out of the iPhone 6, these look to be much much better. Though these are tiny ~170 kb, opening them in Snapseed reveals:
    Vastly improved highlight and shadow detail. 
    Vastly improved edge accutance with better sharpening. 
    Better gamut. 
    Much wider dynamic range.
    Greatly improved signal to noise ratio.
    And bigger file sizes of course...
    Its a whole world of difference really.
    I'm expecting great things with raw based on these samples.
    I prefer the smaller 7 size wise but these could convert me.


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 16
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    Actually the colors are too saturated and there is too much contrast. For example the last photo:

    Titan Blue is supposed to be RGB 100, 143, 204
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 24, 170, 243

    Vikings purple is supposed to be RGB 59, 1, 96
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 89, 7, 17

    (that shot was probably using the telephoto lens)

    There are several conditions that could cause this, but when shooting outdoors in direct sunlight there is not much you can do. It is all up to the camera. Of course you can probably correct most of it post production in a photo editing app.

    The ESPN shots were a little more accurate.

    Tennis ball is supposed to be RGB 198, 237, 44
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 209, 235, 40

    (the shot I measured was a close up so shot with the wide angle lens.)


    edited September 2016 anantksundaram
  • Reply 10 of 16
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    volcan said:
    Actually the colors are too saturated and there is too much contrast. For example the last photo:

    Titan Blue is supposed to be RGB 100, 143, 204
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 24, 170, 243

    Vikings purple is supposed to be RGB 59, 1, 96
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 89, 7, 17

    (that shot was probably using the telephoto lens)

    There are several conditions that could cause this, but when shooting outdoors in direct sunlight there is not much you can do. It is all up to the camera. Of course you can probably correct most of it post production in a photo editing app.

    The ESPN shots were a little more accurate.

    Tennis ball is supposed to be RGB 198, 237, 44
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 209, 235, 40

    (the shot I measured was a close up so shot with the wide angle lens.)


    I wonder if Sports Illuatrated played with the photos?
  • Reply 11 of 16
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    cali said:

    I wonder if Sports Illuatrated played with the photos?
    Let's hope not. When you are boasting about the quality of the camera, the photos should be untouched except for cropping or scaling, but nothing that would affect the color or contrast.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    volcan said:
    Actually the colors are too saturated and there is too much contrast. For example the last photo:

    Titan Blue is supposed to be RGB 100, 143, 204
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 24, 170, 243

    Vikings purple is supposed to be RGB 59, 1, 96
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 89, 7, 17

    (that shot was probably using the telephoto lens)

    There are several conditions that could cause this, but when shooting outdoors in direct sunlight there is not much you can do. It is all up to the camera. Of course you can probably correct most of it post production in a photo editing app.

    The ESPN shots were a little more accurate.

    Tennis ball is supposed to be RGB 198, 237, 44
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 209, 235, 40

    (the shot I measured was a close up so shot with the wide angle lens.)



    Could this have anything to do with the P3 ColorSpace used in the iPhone?  I assume some tone mapping is being done in the editor unless it was output RAW.

    james

  • Reply 13 of 16
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    jbilgihan said:
    I assume some tone mapping is being done in the editor unless it was output RAW.
    DCI-P3 might explain the problems with Titan blue but P3 should be very accurate in the purple tones.
     
    Even if it was output as RAW, in order to be fair and transparent about discussing the quality of the camera, you should export it "as shot". So whatever is the cause of the poor color rendering in direct sunlight, it is just coming from the camera.

    I am starting to wonder if it is some extra software processing being used in the telephoto zoom, perhaps beyond 2X, that is causing some unwanted color and contrast because the close ups with the wide angle lens look fantastic and the color is accurate.
    edited September 2016
  • Reply 14 of 16
    volcan said:
    Actually the colors are too saturated and there is too much contrast. For example the last photo:

    Titan Blue is supposed to be RGB 100, 143, 204
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 24, 170, 243

    Vikings purple is supposed to be RGB 59, 1, 96
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 89, 7, 17

    (that shot was probably using the telephoto lens)

    There are several conditions that could cause this, but when shooting outdoors in direct sunlight there is not much you can do. It is all up to the camera. Of course you can probably correct most of it post production in a photo editing app.

    The ESPN shots were a little more accurate.

    Tennis ball is supposed to be RGB 198, 237, 44
    iPhone 7 + shot RGB 209, 235, 40

    (the shot I measured was a close up so shot with the wide angle lens.)


    But, that's a perfect shot under neutral lights that gives you the REAL colors, that's not what you'd get outside in bright sunlight with all sort of reflected light of various tints.
    Only taking a DSLR shot from a very expensive camera side by side could tell you if truly the colors are off.

    Shooting in bright sunlight is truly a pain in the neck and there are reasons that even under that kind of light, photographers often use diffusers.

    I often find the colors over saturated and off even with the most expensive cameras under that kind of baking sun.
    edited September 2016
  • Reply 15 of 16
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    foggyhill said:

    Only taking a DSLR shot from a very expensive camera side by side could tell you if truly the colors are off.
    If you go search for professional photos from news outlets of that same game, you will not see any of that posterizing color contrast.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    David Klutho is a great photographer but I preferred the US Open images. A bit more artistic. I don't think the iPhone is going to replace a DSLR for stuff like football anytime soon but sure is a viable 2nd or 3rd camera for occasions where you want that huge depth of field. Amazing how far we've come. I still remember shooting with a 3Mpix D30 and being amazed at the results.
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