Which phone camera is best for coloured gemstone

[PrecisionGem]

This is an iPhone X photo of one of those rings in sunlight. There’s no way I can get this detail and luster with the 15 pro max.

But I don't think this is a very good image. I think you could do much better with a real camera, and it doesn't have to be a DSLR.

 

[T L]

But I don't think this is a very good image. I think you could do much better with a real camera, and it doesn't have to be a DSLR.

For an iPhone, I think it’s decent. Well a real camera is always going to be better, but I rather spend the $$ on gems ;-p

 

[T L]

It turns out I can only get semi crisp shots with sunlight. Demantoids were still overly gray though, so I modified the photo to show what color is more true to life. The thing about African demantoids is not so much the saturation of color, but the metallic luster and the fire they have, none of which is captured by this camera all that well. That’s a peachy spinel on the forefinger.

 

[T L]

I did manage to get some decent shots of a stack of rings and colors (spinels, emerald and chrysoberyl). It actually seems decent with yellow. I guess African demantoids are notoriously hard to photograph with this camera. My hand is pink because the suns rays were redder in the late afternoon fall day.

 

[fredflintstone]

One thing to think about. When you look at a gem with your eyes, you are using two eyes. Each eye sees the gem slightly differently. With the camera there is only on lens, so the camera will pick up more extinction than what you see because dark area's to one eye could be lite up to the other eye.

Green, especially the more intense greens like chrome tourmaline, tsavorite or emerald never photograph well.

So very true, Gene. Stones always look more extinct to the camera's eye than the human eye.

 

[PrecisionGem]

I did manage to get some decent shots of a stack of rings and colors (spinels, emerald and chrysoberyl). It actually seems decent with yellow. I guess African demantoids are notoriously hard to photograph with this camera. My hand is pink because the suns rays were redder in the late afternoon fall day.

These look a lot better. I think the problem you were having is not enough light. The iPhone or really any camera that shoot automatically with change the ISO to a higher guide number to keep the shutter speed fast enough that there is no hand held blur. Hi ISO especially with small sensors yield a low grade photo. With a camera were you can shoot manually, you can select a very long exposure and a low ISO. My photos are typically about a 3 or 4 second exposure shot at ISO 100.

I know you like direct sunlight, but indirect will work better for the photos as the dynamic range of the sensor can not handle the sharp contrast of full sun light on the gem.

 

[T L]

I personally think those shots look better because those stones are more saturated, and because demantoids are camera shy. Even some of the Russian ones with horsetails look cloudier in photos than in real life. These demantoids remind me of some icy green diamonds,, and the sparkle, fire and luster just cannot translate in a still photo.

The camera is decent with yellows, pinks and some blues. It also doesn’t help that my iPhone is a dark titanium blue, so I also have to keep the camera shadow off of it.

It made my apple green sphene look muddy.

 

[jahangir121]

Hi,

Sorry for starting my 4th thread in the space of a few days, but wondered if anyone had any input.

For a long time, I didn't spend any money on my mobile but increasingly I got fed up with my old phone's inability to photograph coloured stones well. I recently decided to upgrade to a new phone but it arrived with issues so the seller will refund but Just wondered is the iphone 13 or iphone 13 pro max (with the macro setting) worth it for being able to photograph gemstone colour accurately and jewellery in detail?

I'm not a massive phone user so the camera is the main reason I would consider splashing out for a top end iphone. Or is there another phone camera you would recommend?

Nice......

 

[PrecisionGem]

I personally think those shots look better because those stones are more saturated, and because demantoids are camera shy. Even some of the Russian ones with horsetails look cloudier in photos than in real life. These demantoids remind me of some icy green diamonds,, and the sparkle, fire and luster just cannot translate in a still photo.

The camera is decent with yellows, pinks and some blues. It also doesn’t help that my iPhone is a dark titanium blue, so I also have to keep the camera shadow off of it.

It made my apple green sphene look muddy.

You could try using a cheap white case, just for when taking pictures, or cut out a white poster board to fit the outline of the phone.

 

[JewelledEscalators]

So a bit late to the party but my cheapo phone broke the other day and bought another cheapo phone in a hurry (Samsung A14) - the camera is sooo much better than the cheapo motorola I had before. Still issues capturing correct colour of stones but the zoom function makes capturing detail on jewellery so much better.

 

[Niel]

My daughter uses my old iPhone and I takes photos far superior to my current iPhone. The new photo software distorts the color and blows out every gemstone photo. The RX camera is far more accurate.

 

[JewelledEscalators]

My daughter uses my old iPhone and I takes photos far superior to my current iPhone. The new photo software distorts the color and blows out every gemstone photo. The RX camera is far more accurate.

Yeah, I think a lot of phone cameras are designed to be flattering when taking photos of people which probably doesn't work well for gemstones where you want true to life pictures.

Even when taking selfies, I prefer cameras that don't smooth complexions etc as I want accurate pictures of me so that I can see whether my appearance is improving or deteriorating or just the same.

 

[budmanbudman10]

Hi all,

Checking in to see if anyone has tried out the iPhone 16 on their coloured gems?

I heard a rumour that it's much better than recent iPhone cameras but wanted to get some concurrence here

Thanks!