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iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

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Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#21

Post by ajdude »

shortcake27 wrote: post #9

I ditched all my cameras 5 years ago in favour of convenience. I’m a bit disappointed that the difference is still so large. I was convinced phones were going to approach crop sensor quality but it’s not even close, the 80D completely smoked it. > There is a notable drawback for the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the 3X to 4.9X range (~72mm to 119mm full frame equivalent), as it’s stuck using the main sensor, rather than switc…

I quite often find myself in situations where I'm wishing I had my Sony HX400V. Despite having a recent iPhone that can take stunning shots, it absolutely falls down when trying to take photos of dramatic landscapes or low light (try taking these[1] photos of the moon on an iPhone!).

I may have to just keep a normal camera charged and sitting in my car for when I'm out.

[1] Some random photos I've taken of the moon https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAVLCE

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#22

Post by stu2b50 »

foldr wrote: post #16
throw0101b wrote: post #10

Tony & Chelsea Northrup just posted a video on a recent trip to Italy where they generally left their photo gear at home (taking only some 'token' equipment), and where generally not happy with the results. "My iPhone Camera FAILED me!": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ38JusO-JA Partly it's because while the 'computational photography' stuff can give good results, if you disable it, and go with a 'raw' format: *…

The audience of content creators like this is the ever-dwindling number of people buying expensive dedicated photographic gear. The vast majority of photography now is being done by people who aren't photo gear heads, because almost all of the gear is more than good enough.

I don't think that's a fair characterization of the market. $300 point and shoots are indeed dead, but the prosumer photography market is as alive as ever, especially since the pandemic, during which every white collar worker seems to have decided to get a hobby of some kind.

Analog film photography, famously, had a huge resurgence the last 5 or so years, and is quite popular.

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#23

Post by foldr »

hammock wrote: post #20

Sensor size matters and it’s not included anywhere in the specs (red flag) Along with all the other comments in this thread and based on the media outlet that published this, this is clearly a rigged comparison

I mean, the pixel size and resolution of the iPhone 15 camera are public information, so a little bit of math will get you the dimensions of the sensor if that's of interest for some reason.

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#25

Post by losvedir »

Has anyone discussed the so-called "spatial video" (and presumably photos) yet, and how those might look or work? That's the most compelling upgrade to the iPhone to me. I'm generally satisfied with the quality of my photos now, but as someone with a 2yo and 2 week old, I'm eager to enter the "grainy 80s VHS home video" era of a new medium. Like, yeah, those old home movies were bad quality, but home video was a whole new thing and gives an insight into childhood that photos didn't. (And probably something similar for black and white to color photos, but that was before my time.)

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#26

Post by master_crab »

DSLR (and now mirrorless) will always prevail because of the amount of glass they can work with.

But there is a saying more important than the above fact: the best camera in the world is the one you have on you in the moment. And that will - more often than not - be the smartphone in your pocket.

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#27

Post by stu2b50 »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #4

It’s incredible - but still, if I was doing professional photography, I’d have a professional camera if only to avoid the generic “iPhone look” that can’t quite be quantified. Also because, if I showed up to a shoot with an iPhone… my reputation would be suspect.

I mean, you'd also probably want to shoot at something other than 26mm. The image quality from the "telephoto" lens and wide lens on the iPhone (and any other flagship) is so bad it's distinctly noticeable even on an iPhone sized screen, compared to just the iPhone's main shooter, let alone a discrete camera.

Traditionally, the "default" focal length, for being close to the amount of distortion the human eye has, is 50mm - so quite a lot tighter than the iPhone's main shooter.

The iPhone look is a combination of extremely deep depth of field, not particularly pleasing bokeh, and digital sharpening and smoothing. Image stacking can make up for the lack of light on a tiny sensor with a slow lens, but it can't make up for the depth of field.

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#28

Post by endisneigh »

these comparisons are always amusing. no one takes their DSLR everywhere, so the "real world" comparison would be iPhone vs nothing.

heck, even if you had your full frame DSLR in a bag with you all of the time. Unless you're photographing something "slow" like a sunset, you would lose your shot by the time you get to your bag and pull out your camera.

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#29

Post by throw0101b »

foldr wrote: post #16
throw0101b wrote: post #10

Tony & Chelsea Northrup just posted a video on a recent trip to Italy where they generally left their photo gear at home (taking only some 'token' equipment), and where generally not happy with the results. "My iPhone Camera FAILED me!": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ38JusO-JA Partly it's because while the 'computational photography' stuff can give good results, if you disable it, and go with a 'raw' format: *…

The audience of content creators like this is the ever-dwindling number of people buying expensive dedicated photographic gear. The vast majority of photography now is being done by people who aren't photo gear heads, because almost all of the gear is more than good enough.

> The vast majority of photography now is being done by people who aren't photo gear heads, because almost all of the gear is more than good enough.

And Chelsea said in that video that for around town her phone makes more than adequate shots, and it's an easy way for to simply capture a memory.

But given that they often frame pictures of their trips to help remember them, they won't be printing and hanging up any photos from their Italian trip from their phone.

Re: iPhone 15 Pro Max vs. DSLR photos: Real world camera comparison

#30

Post by jrockway »

kurthr wrote: post #18
nayuki wrote: post #8

It's an interesting topic and I agree with the conclusions. But I really dislike the testing methodology - the comparison photos have clearly different poses and people/animals moving around. I've done my own smartphone vs. DSLR image quality comparisons, and I photographed a static city skyline, and it made comparing and pointing out the differences much easier and more defensible.

It was weird to me that even the static images would be noticeably different scales (The Chocolate Factory and even the cropped BeatBuilder).

I think that the author was trying to stand in the same position for both photos, but didn't have a wide enough lens on the DSLR to match the iPhone. It's actually much weirder if the two photos were taken from different locations to approximately fill the same amount of the frame with the subject.
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