By Graham K. Rogers

Although I like to take photographs with my Nikon DSLR and the second-hand Hasselblad I bought a few months ago, I am far more likely in a normal day to take pictures with the iPhone that I am carrying, unless I have a particular need for one of the other cameras.

The cameras in the iPhone have steadily improved since the first iPhone I had: a 3GS. Even then, there was the occasional good shot, sometimes a little grainy. The experience was improved by the arrival of a number of good photo apps, some of which I am still using today.

As I bought the updated iPhones - 4, 4s, 5s and then the iPhone 6 - it is clear that the camera output has improved considerably, despite staying over the last few iterations with the 8 megapixel camera. The apps have also improved. When I discussed the iOS device cameras with an Apple technical manager here a few years back, he suggested that it was the software that made the difference.

This is apparent when looking at the metadata for an image: aperture settings that would be impossible on a DSLR are shown. The software also makes up for what might be deficiencies in other smartphone cameras

Apple has just put online a series on images taken with the iPhone 6 camera by users round the world. These photographs are inspiring: this is what a user could create (and what we could all aim for). Each photo has minor information concerning location, the first name of the photographer and an editorial comment.

The whole collection includes one from Jirasak P. in Mae Hong Sorn, Thailand: a screen shot of that is included (above). The display on this page does not do justice to the original as shown in that Apple gallery, although the clarity and sharpness of that shot are quite evident.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand where he is also Assistant Dean. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life.