Vacationing with the 6P - does it pass the Disney crucible?

[LeoRex]

Do you have a link to Amazon or something for those interested?

Of course!

http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-2010...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5019336

I got the QC 2.0 on a lightning deal for $44 a month or so ago. There is a QC 3.0 version as well. I'd suggest getting some 1' cables as well (less messy)

 

[LeoRex]

OK... as promised... here are some shots I took from the trip. These were all done with the Google Camera, most of them with HDR+ enabled. No manual fussing, or post editing work. The only modifications occurred due to me forgetting to set the photo quality to 'original' and not 'high quality' in Google Photos. But to be honest, I've poured over several pictures trying to find a difference between the HQ and original... even blown up to the pixel level... not a lot of difference. So to those worried if the HQ setting (which allows for unlimited storage in Photos) is good enough, it is...

One thing that always kind of impresses me is the details that the 6P's camera maintains. It may not have the raw number of pixels that the G4 and S6 have, but after looking at pics, the larger 12MP sensor maintains fine details closer to the pixel level... you start to see pixels before you start to see things blur.



Here's Main Street USA's train station terminal.. the first building you come to when you enter the Magic Kingdom. It was a crystal clear day, sky as blue as you'd ever see. Sky is pretty tricky for digital cameras as the richness of the sky can sometimes lead to obvious color gradients. But the blues do transition well... a little bit of noise and jpg artifacts when you blow that sucker up. If you look at the full res, you'll see pixels before you see blur or the 'oil paint' effect that you see on some lower quality cameras.



I really like this pic... Cinderella's castle is the iconic shot for the "Happiest Place on Earth". But here, the angle and the lights.... I think it looks pretty ominous and imposing.



Hall of Presidents, night. A good shot showing the dynamic range the 6P has at night. It still picks up the last of the light in the sky...



One of my favs... this is the hub for the Magic Carpet ride. It was long after sundown and much darker than it looks in this picture. No way in hell I would have got this with my Nexus 6.



This is an example of a a 'quick shot'... double tap, point and shoot.



Because steampunk dragon



Another daytime shot in Hollywood studios... (morning, before the crowds). Like I mentioned in the OP... Lots of detail... you can almost make out the Roman Numerals on the clock waaay off in the distance.



A shot of one of the interactive displays at Test Track in EPCOT. Room is bathed in dim blue light and the displays are bright. One thing that stands out to me is that the camera has enough dynamic range to not only catch the picure well, you can actually see the grain of the display.



Disney does night lighting really well



In the interest of symmetry....



Peace out, Orlando! This was basically took with me holding the phone at arms length in the portal, in a little bit of turbulence.

(I think the forum software compressed the pics a fair amount...I apologize if you aren't able to see the full res)

 

[dc52ltr]

Yet again, thanks for sharing your experience with your 6P, excellent write up and brilliant photos, cheers, David

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Those are absolutely stunning photos! They remind me of the last time I went to Disneyland in California way back in 2011. I didn't have a proper camera at the time and my only device (a first-gen iPad) didn't have a camera at all, so we just relied on an iPhone 3GS and a Galaxy S2, owned by my parents. The 3GS is missing, and I'm not sure if the GS2 kept all the photos even though I still have it.

I particularly enjoy putting my devices through the gauntlet. My G4 (the original one, not my replacement) went through 2. A trip to Thailand and filming an event. The G4 went through the former without much issue, though battery life wasn't great but its camera more than made up for it.

The latter was the big one. I needed not only a battery cradle + spare battery but also a battery bank. It was considered very heavy usage since I kept recording 4K video for about 2-3 hours. The best thing was that the phone didn't overheat. It was pretty warm (as expected when taking 4K video) but it never blasted any heat messages. The only con was, you guessed it, that "Jell-O" effect from OIS. I bet if they combined it with DIS, it would have been perfect.

Anyhow, I'm on my second G4 because my first one died to the bootloop issue. I'm positive that I'm getting a Galaxy S7 Edge (or the flat one if issues arise) if my G4 dies again, and then I'll be thrusting it back into the gauntlet.

BTW, the biggest gauntlet for all my devices is coming; A trip to Northern Europe.

 

[LeoRex]

One thing I was most surprised and disappointed with was the battery performance of the G4. It chewed through a charge 2-3 times faster than the 6P. The LG was never known for its endurance, but this was rather poor.

 

[mogelijk]

Thanks for the pictures, they really show the abilities of the 6P's camera. One question for you, as we've read the complaints about Google's camera software, are there features you missed having on the 6P's camera app that you wish you had while at Disney?

 

[Morty2264]

... I love these photos. And your original post was amazing. Thank you!

 

[Vaas]

Thanks for the very detailed review. I will be getting my 6P later this month and sometime in July going to Hilton head and using Project Fi.

Now I am not worried about battery or camera

 

[LeoRex]

are there features you missed having on the 6P's camera app that you wish you had while at Disney?

Not really, I mean, I'd love for the Google Camera app to have manual controls, like the G4 app. (I love using the G4 camera app). There are a few third party apps that are close, but I rarely use them. I wasn't out there, light meter in hand, checking ISO values and setting up my shots, etc.

I just had to get a decent picture quickly and without any fuss, and the Google Camera accomplished that time after time.

 

[Ara Wagoner]

I'm looking forward to my first Disney trips with an Android smartphone (my last stay was my Disney College Alumni Program, with a Samsung Jack on Windows Mobile in 2011), and radio management is going to be huge. Amazed at that camera quality from the 6P, I know how hard it can be to get shots off in time and in the proper exposure at the park.

Great write-up!

 

[LeoRex]

I'm looking forward to my first Disney trips with an Android smartphone (my last stay was my Disney College Alumni Program, with a Samsung Jack on Windows Mobile in 2011), and radio management is going to be huge. Amazed at that camera quality from the 6P, I know how hard it can be to get shots off in time and in the proper exposure at the park.

Yeah... radio management.... Man, that used to be a pain in my ****. I made some custom automation profiles in Tasker to try to get my previous phones to last as long as possible. It was a REAL chore. But having to worry about active management while on vacation sucks. Now that I have a good power bank, that wouldn't be as much an issue, but the less I need to charge the better. So I was pretty stoked at how well the 6P handled things. It'd hung in there like a champ and would only be down about half around dinner... just a quick top off while we ate was enough to push it to nearly full, which was overkill by that point in the evening... but I am a "charge early, charge often" kind of person as you never know when the next chance will be.

To repeat the point for emphasis... a good quality, high capacity battery pack that can charge whatever you have quickly is a MUST on vacation. No matter how good your device does on a charge, it's never enough.