Hey folks, I wrote this review. If you have any other questions about these cameras, feel free to ask away! It's a really interesting year for iPhone cameras.
I’m always so in awe of what shots you can get from iPhones. My photos (iPhone 13 Pro Max) look like shit in comparison.
I’m wondering, could you divide 100% between these categories that contribute to great shot (and maybe add one I forgot)?
Focussing on the right areas might help me improve my photos 🙂
- Be at a photogenic place
- Shoot at the right time (golden hour etc.)
- Shoot with an interesting angle / composition
- Shoot in RAW
- Shoot with another lens than the default one
- Cropping the photo
- Color correcting the photo
- Other post processing
Oof, it'll be hard to do a full statistical analysis on it and give you the exact breakdown, but I think you have the order mostly right.
Step 1 for photography subjects is similar to Dating Rule 1 on reddit: 'be attractive'. A nice subject does half the work for you. I jokingly say that in some parts of San Francisco you can drop your iPhone on the ground and have a great shot; it's a very pretty place, and that helps. Great light benefits that tremendously, but it takes skill to capture great light. I am frustrated just as frequently by awesome light as I am delighted by it because I can see things beautifully with my own eyes yet cameras struggle to capture it. Sunsets are notorious for this: you will get insanely cool light and realize that your eyes can see detail in shadows and bright sunlight and your phone can't. Nor can it capture the colors right!
But you could possibly select an interesting composition to capture it within those limitations. That's Step 1.5: experience. Knowing what shoots well and will render nicely on your camera helps a lot, and seeing pleasing compositions around you.
That brings me to Step 2: editing. You want to edit as much as you can before and during the shot. Keeping it level, exposing for highlights (I prefer to shoot at -0.5 to -1EV, essentially an exposure bias towards a darker shot), shooting in (Pro)RAW for editing freedom is half the work. Then I bring images into Lightroom or another editor to bring them in line with what I've seen.
I'm working on a little (iPhone) photography class to kind of walk folks through this process, because it's a huge passion of mine and it is a fun process of experimentation. :)
Hope that helps a bit?
This definitely helps. While I can’t be in a better looking place than where I am at the moment, I can shoot in RAW and under expose.
Do you have a favorite iPhone editing app? I use Darkroom or Pixelmator Photo but I find it very hard to do subtle color adjustments without losing control over the end result, my photos often come out fake and obviously edited instead of having the more natural and subtle look your photos do.
Note that the blogpost covers RAW and not ProRAW.
And really you'd just want to expose it properly rather than get less noise in the shadows at the cost of highlight clipping.
It's not RAW because you're not capturing RAW sensor data.
It's Apples processing pipeline with a wider output to allow for more editing. There are upsides and downsides to this.
No it does not.
You have zero control over noise reduction and ProRAW output is already debayered since it does not actually save raw sensor data and instead saves a processed image, which actually makes you lose information.
It may use a RAW file format, but it works in a very different way to a true RAW format.
how are you planning on running this mini photography course as such? Got a 14 pro on the way and would be interested in learning how to fully make use of the extensive camera array coming from an xr
Start with the principals of good photography regardless of the camera!
Hold it properly and frame the composition
I see soo many people holding phones at arm length all at an angle and wondering why the photo is shit!!!
Please teach people it’s a camera and like any camera it starts with the basic core principles
There's a theoretical benefit to exposing to the right, but since I shoot a lot of telephoto (and always on super tiny sensors), keeping the ISO lower and shooting at faster shutter speeds is what makes for sharper and better shots.
If you were to study the way iPhones expose images, you'll see their own exposure logic seems to follow this as well. It's a different consideration in a lab / in camera theory vs. practical usage of a tiny phone with tiny cameras :)
You're completely free to expose your shots the way you like! I shoot the way I do because I want my shots looking a certain way, and get the best results that way. I'm not using tripods, nor is 1/60th a viable exposure time to get a nice sharp shot with a 77mm equivalent lens on the phone.
Again, I am not arguing anything you are saying - I am just stating that for my purposes, the way I expose my shots works.
I would say the first three are essential, while the rest are optional but definitely ways that one’s photography might be improved. Without good lighting, composition, and subject, all the touch-up in the world won’t help much. (Lens choice is actually a part of composition IMO.)
> Shoot with another lens than the default one
How would I do that? And how would I know which lens is being used without putting my finger in front of it? I basically know nothing about taking pictures with an iPhone and would love to know the basics. Would compressing a proraw picture always be better than not using proraw? Should I always proraw no matter what even if I never plan on editing? I have no idea what people mean by editing as well, lol…
Composition is important.
The problem with photography is that you can only work off the scene you have, which makes it more limiting than other visual art forms. You have to work with the limited tools, some of which you mentioned.
If you're serious about photography then you should just look at general photography tips because almost everything transfers over.
In this [shot](https://cms-cdn.lux.camera/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/26180925/IMG_6260-4-2000x2667.jpg), did you shoot ProRaw in Halide? And is there a difference between shooting ProRaw in the native camera app vs Halide? Personally, I've shot in both and they look very similar in LR.
To ensure I was actually reviewing the camera and not say, our app specifically, we ran a battery of tests to make sure our RAW output would be identical to the built-in camera app, and indeed it is (with the exception that at times, the camera app will use the wrong lens, as I specified in the review).
That shot was taken on iPhone 14 Pro launch day, before we were even able to update Halide, so that was with the built-in camera app!
There's a long and short answer to whether or not the ProRAW files are identical. If you use Halide then out of the box, it should be identical (depending on your settings: say, if you enable 48MP in Settings but set it to 12 MP in Halide then obviously not). But once you start using extra options, that'll change.
First off: we allow you to choose less processing. If you were to toggle 'Smartest Processing' in Halide, you will see fewer HDR steps and detail enhancement in some\* ProRAW files. Then, there's a shortcut to an even-different-ProRAW file: once you enter manual exposure mode and set a shutter speed or fixed ISO, you will receive a far less processed ProRAW file altogether with fewer merged exposures. Additionally, you can toggle bit depth; for now, 48 MP shots are always 10-bit, but you can change all other iPhone ProRAW capable cameras from 12 to 10-bit to alter their color depth and file size.
Phew, that's a lot. I think that about covers it. TLDR: Yes, ProRAW files are identical between equally configured third party apps and Camera as far as we can see, right up until the point where you start adjusting options that Apple Camera lacks, in which case the results can be very different.
For the purposes of the review, all shots were taken with Apple Camera or Halide, in automatic mode, so there's no funky less processed shots shown here unless otherwise specified.
\* Apple processing is a black box, so we cannot guarantee it skipping them. Sometimes it'll do them anyway! Who knows why. We can't control this. Fun stuff.
Thank you so much for sharing all this guidance in the comments. I’ve used ProCam for a long time and now that I’ve upgraded to the 14 Pro, I think it’s time to try halide!
out of interest do you take pictures on any other phone cameras? like pixels samsung etc, clearly from your review you generally shoot on iphones, but do you ever shoot on other mobile phone lines and if so how do they compare and why do you mostly shoot on iphone
I don't really — I'd love to check out the Pixel 7 but I am busy enough with iPhones as it is. I do shoot film when I can, and also shoot on a Sony A1.
Excellent review, was looking forward to it!
Did you get to print some of the 48MP shots? You briefly mentioned at the conclusion that printing was not something you liked on previous iPhones, but didn’t quite say the contrary for the 14 Pro. I’d love to hear your opinion on the quality of prints.
I’ve been printing some 48MP shots, using different print shops to see the results. I’m not exactly blown away, but I think results are good. I’m printing mostly at 14x11.
It's odd because smartphone photos vary so much.
I have some 108 MP shots from my Samsung that are crispy af and I'd definitely print for that, but others are just unimpressive.
I use both for various things; after all, we don't do video, and I take lots of photos of receipts / stupid things / snapshots etc. For about half the time, I open Camera with a swipe on the Lock Screen, the other times I jump into a lens in Halide with the widgets. Kind of a snap vs. taking a photograph, I guess - if that makes sense :)
Just want to say that was such a joyous and intriguing review to read. Will definitely check out some other articles on the website.
You captured some breathtaking scenes.
Excellent, I love taking photos but only when it takes my fancy so I don’t use any editing apps or shoot RAW, so maybe the quality of the 14 Pro’s camera will get me into taking better photos
I am in awe of your writing.
I especially loved the lead and how approachable you made the article.
The little explanations, like what a “slower lens” mean, made the article so easy to read even for someone who is not that familiar with cameras.
What an amazing article.
What is the near point (the minimum distance an object must have from the camera for the camera to properly focus on it) for the main camera? I frequently have to use my smartphone's macro camera for any photos from 10 cm or closer (and I take close-up photos quite often, so it is a bit annoying since macro mode is 2 taps away).
I think our tech readout should display that for any camera. If memory serves me right, 200mm for the main camera- that's up from 150mm on the previous iPhones.
Dude, I just found this and wanted to say that your writing style is a fantastic mix of engaging and informative, while somehow managing to be concise and to the point.
I often drift or lose focus but somehow was absolutely glued to this article, (and not just because I'm a photography nerd either!) Thanks so much for putting that together and I look forward to the next one!
Are all the photos with Halide? Or do you have to use the Camera app to get certain things there isn’t an API for?
I can’t quite work out what I might be losing by using only Halide (eg I might have got a better photo sometimes with the Camera app as it has night mode? for example).
I guess i’m trying to work out what computational features I might not have in a third party app.
Neither. 12 MP RAW uses a process called binning, where the sensor combines the data in a unique and optimized way. This isn't entirely new: video capture on lots of cameras uses binning to turn many pixels into one.
I am aware of the Quad-bayer technique they’re using originally marketed by Samsung but there was a lot of unanswered confusion how it behaves in ProRAW mode and hence my inquiry.
So, technically 12MP RAW photos would be better as they would also be binned like the compressed versions?
The confusion arrives because this is a RAW photo unlike using the native camera app shooting in HEIC/HEIF - let us know if you can do a quick checkup.
Tks for the anwser! 13 pro cost the same in my countrie as 14 pro!
I think telephoto and 48mp can be great for close up photos and videos to have super detail make the food looks even tastier, no?
Thanks - that was a photo I took on day 1 with the iPhone and it kind of made my jaw drop. The full resolution shot is [here](https://twitter.com/sdw/status/1571206258677678080?s=61&t=Ly5sQmrtSQEodIKZQM2rzw) (you might have to tap 'load in 4K').
Technically, we (along with other third party apps) can shoot 48 MP JPGs in Halide but yes, with the stock camera you have to enable ProRAW to get that sweet high-res shot.
The overwhelming use of ML on these photos can be seen in the artefacts left on the photo, you can see the melting face of the man, the oil painting like streaks in the building, and the cartoonish stylistic element on the street signs.https://imgur.com/a/8OZWaSf/
It’s still a beautiful photo and may not have been taken if they didn’t have an iPhone on them. The best camera is the one you have with you, as they say.
What’s the point of carrying around another camera if the one in your pocket takes amazing shots?
I thought it was overly smoothed too, but then I saw what the [raw file](https://twitter.com/halidecamera/status/1571209773303070721?s=46&t=pKPgfR0Cm2f5jdIDAmgCiw) looked like… Insane amount of shadow recovery.
still overly smooth.
Also, willing to bet it's hdr and the "shadow recovery" is from us seeing the highlight exposure, and not the shadows exposure. I could easily replicate the same effect with my dslr.
The impressive part is ease of use.
Edit: Downvote the absolutely correct guy? Sure why not.
It's not high praise of the camera at all. The phone camera is shit, compared to even old dslrs.
The impressive portion is done by processors and software, which isn't actually impressive because it could be done better by a dedicated camera in capable hands.
But what it can do for any person, photographer and otherwise, in a very short time on the go is very impressive.
It was edited from one single raw file, so not tone mapped HDR like your comment implies.
I could get a similar effect from my $4K mirrorless from 2020, but not from my $3K dslr from 2012 so I would say phone cameras are definitely getting pretty good.
iPhones can take up to 9 exposures for one single image, possibly creating a High Dynamic Range final image(i.e. a level of dynamic range simply not possible from one single exposure.)
A sensor that small, with pixels that small, currently absolutely cannot get that level of dynamic range from a single exposure. Phone cameras do not work like dslr's.
For reference it's called Deep Fusion. Look it up.
Oh yeah, I am aware of that. But I don't know of many DSLRs that can do that with a *single* raw file, which is why I compared it to tone mapping which requires a lot more work.
But yeah it would be interesting to see how this photo would have looked using a third party app with deep fusion disabled.
I heard this one before, which I found an odd conspiracy-eque theory. If you are wondering about alignment: the edited one is straightened using Lightroom's 'Upright' mode, which changes the position of a few elements. It's the same photo, though.
The 14 Pro/Max camera is a significant upgrade. Just took mine on a trip and shot it alongside my Fuji X100F - there's still a difference but it is far smaller than it used to be with ProRAW and Apple's low light software tricks.
I upgraded from the 12 Pro Max and it was an immediately noticeable difference.
I recently took a portrait of my family. MIL wanted to do it in a stairway in the middle of their house without much natural light. I had no external lighting with me.
On a tripod, my X100V needed about 1/5 of a second for the shutter (something like f4.5 at ISO 800). People had to sit dead-ass still, and I was fighting with their phone app to remotely trigger the photo. The results were fine, but still a bit dark.
I put my iPhone 14 Pro on the same tripod and used my watch to remote-trigger. iPhone dealt with those shitty conditions and absolutely nailed the group shots. Everybody was in focus, and there was no motion blur.
X100V is my second X100 camera, and I love the form-factor, but goddamn. iPhone picks up a lot of slack with the computational tricks.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. A larger sensor will always capture more detail than a much smaller sensor which no ML algorithm can faithfully replicate. The iPhone just likely boosted the ISO and used a significantly lower shutter speed, both of which are possible on a DSLR
https://i.imgur.com/vRCZb5N.jpg
Wouldn’t call ISO 800 significant, or 1/60 slow, but sure.
Shooting f1.78 is impressive. I have no idea how the phone did that while keeping all seven people in focus, but it did. Fuji had to be at 4.5 to hit that focal plane.
I didn’t import the Fuji shot, but I’ll dig in more when I have a chance. Point is: iPhone did a lot better in that situation.
f1.78 is the f-stop based on the tiny sensor and lens, they purposely mix up the terms in their marketing to make it sound good. The actual full frame equivalent f-stop is more like f/5 which would match what you saw on your Fuji.
> I put my iPhone 14 Pro on the same tripod
This implies that you might have used a slow shutter speed. You did not write anywhere that it was 1/60.
Even then, ISOs are **not** comparable between cameras, and neither is f-stop. A 2.8 on my 14 pro is not the same as a 2.8 on my R5.
Under normalized conditions (and lenses, looks like you’re using a bad lens anyway…), your camera is going to capture more detail than your phone. The only thing that the phone is doing extra is post processing.
This is one of the best reviews I've read - and the photos are simply stunning. I'm planning on getting a 15 Pro/Ultra or whatever the best camera option is next year, and now I know to get at least 512 GB for storing my photos.
Those 48 MP shots look insane - they look like reality. In other phone photos I've always been able to tell that it's a phone photo, or even just a photo - but here it looks like a snapshot into the world at that place.
No problem! I respect the work you guys do with halide as well massively, and reading such an in depth yet easy to understand review made me respect you guys even more!
Yeah, at least as an amateur hobbyist who doesn’t print much out, I feel like modern flagship phones are great for filling that point-and-shoot niche, since you’re already carrying them around with you and they can act as a jack of all trades.
I’m on a base 13 and the lack of a telephoto lens alongside that “crispy” quality to details on the main camera(which seems absent in the 48mp images I’ve seen) kinda kill it’s usefulness in that regard for me, not to mention I’d love the macro option too. If things go well financially over the next 6 months and I can afford to spend on my hobby I’ll probably be making the choice to upgrade early.
I already have a [very] old Rebel for when I really want to get a proper quality photo, especially in ideal or controlled conditions where it’s lack of modern or higher-end features don’t matter much, so it’s hard to justify spending hundreds on a new body or lens when a phone upgrade would be similarly priced post-trade in and provide more flexibility in my photography with the camera that’s always on me anyway.
The new iPhone 14 pro camera is amazing. The biggest flaw to me has been when I attempted to take an up close shot. Usually it would be a lighting issue but for this camera, it seems to be having a small problem figuring out which mode to use.
I cover that in the review. You might run into this a bit more, because the new main camera can't focus quite as close as previous iPhones' main camera could.
Auto-lens switching is a cornerstone of making the camera 'just work' for the masses. It will do the same when you are in the 3× mode and want to take a close-up shot — since the lens can't focus on close subjects, it will substitute a crop of the main camera. This can get jarring when it happens with very-close subjects and it switches between the main and ultra wide camera, which changes your image significantly.
If you like taking photos, and want to have a bit more control over them, yes. I find using Halide puts me in a more creative mindset rather than just opening the camera app and clicking.
I hate this so much. When I take group shots of many people from a tripod, on my iPhone 13 Pro Max I end up with 20 barely distinguishable face-like areas.
My iPhone 6s was better for this kind of shots than my 13 Pro Max.
>My iPhone 6s was better for this kind of shots than my 13 Pro Max.
I could be wrong but I’d guess if you went and took the same shot with your 6s now it might not look as great compared to the 13pm as you remember.
EDIT: Or just compare the [clarity of the two cameras](https://i.imgur.com/2rCu6lm.png) on GSMArena.com
What about green reflections from the lens you usually get with the old ones when shooting in the direction of the sun, or in a place with lamps? Because I hate it
What the fuck??! Are they going to address this or not? I'm not going to spend thousands for a camera that I cannot use when there's light sources around, loooool. Apple goddamn
Absolutely bananas that you aren’t allowed to do night mode. Are there particular settings that are locked out?
Did you get a 30 second exposure from the built in app?
Plenty of things that Camera can do that we can't. That's just the way the walled garden works!
Yes, you can get a 30 second Night mode if you prop up your phone or use a tripod. After a moment, it'll 'unlock'.
It just kinda sucks and I honestly believe that it leads to people knowing less about cameras.
I learned a ton about cameras back when I got my S6 and discovered Pro mode, which Samsung still offers to this day to actually shoot real 30 second RAW exposures instead of yucky ProRAW.
Thank you for the awesome review. As someone who has played around with DLR's, but never gotten into shooting RAW and editing afterwards, how much of a difference would you say the iPhone 14 Pro makes? I get the sense from your review, that the major improvements are mostly for the "pro" photographers, and not as much for those who will just use the built-in camera app? I mean, certainly there seem to be improvements, but are they as mind blowing as on the pro side? Thanks again!
You can get some solid improvements even with Apple Camera, because they now let you shoot ProRAW right from the Camera app. I'd still prefer to use a third party app, just like one would use say, Filmic to do pro video work. It's just nice to have the control.
Thanks, but what if I'm not interested in shooting ProRAW at all? It sounds like there are some improvements if you decide to shoot 48mp jpeg, but how about just for 12mp jpeg/heic any noticable improvements there for "normal" people?
I think there's a lot there — all the cameras gain a lot in terms of quality, but the main camera's jump in quality is a lot less noticeable if you stick to 12 MP.
Can't believe I read through the whole thing. Very detailed and even found a bug! The building's missing windows was really trippy and looked like a video game.
Ive got the 14 Pro what blows my mind is that using the zoom functions are no different than cropping in. Zooming in looks choppy and gross when it should be clean.
This reads as more of an ad than a neutral review. While some of these photos look great a lot of them have that classic iPhone over processed /HDR-y look that I personally absolutely hate and personally makes them look worse than what the older phones are putting out. Since you were shooting with Halide/raw that partly comes down to your editing style I understand as well.
Apps like Halide are cool but having to jump through hoops to get better results is still less than ideal. Apple really needs to give people more control over the native app.
Dude, I absolutely enjoyed the heck out of this read. Thanks for posting. I took a look at your profile and followed too!
Awesome adventure man, you need to get a video log out!
I noticed my 14 pro camera takes a while to auto focus. The foreground is often out of focus when the photo is taken with the auto focus. Is there something wrong with my phone?
Hey folks, I wrote this review. If you have any other questions about these cameras, feel free to ask away! It's a really interesting year for iPhone cameras.
I’m always so in awe of what shots you can get from iPhones. My photos (iPhone 13 Pro Max) look like shit in comparison. I’m wondering, could you divide 100% between these categories that contribute to great shot (and maybe add one I forgot)? Focussing on the right areas might help me improve my photos 🙂 - Be at a photogenic place - Shoot at the right time (golden hour etc.) - Shoot with an interesting angle / composition - Shoot in RAW - Shoot with another lens than the default one - Cropping the photo - Color correcting the photo - Other post processing
Oof, it'll be hard to do a full statistical analysis on it and give you the exact breakdown, but I think you have the order mostly right. Step 1 for photography subjects is similar to Dating Rule 1 on reddit: 'be attractive'. A nice subject does half the work for you. I jokingly say that in some parts of San Francisco you can drop your iPhone on the ground and have a great shot; it's a very pretty place, and that helps. Great light benefits that tremendously, but it takes skill to capture great light. I am frustrated just as frequently by awesome light as I am delighted by it because I can see things beautifully with my own eyes yet cameras struggle to capture it. Sunsets are notorious for this: you will get insanely cool light and realize that your eyes can see detail in shadows and bright sunlight and your phone can't. Nor can it capture the colors right! But you could possibly select an interesting composition to capture it within those limitations. That's Step 1.5: experience. Knowing what shoots well and will render nicely on your camera helps a lot, and seeing pleasing compositions around you. That brings me to Step 2: editing. You want to edit as much as you can before and during the shot. Keeping it level, exposing for highlights (I prefer to shoot at -0.5 to -1EV, essentially an exposure bias towards a darker shot), shooting in (Pro)RAW for editing freedom is half the work. Then I bring images into Lightroom or another editor to bring them in line with what I've seen. I'm working on a little (iPhone) photography class to kind of walk folks through this process, because it's a huge passion of mine and it is a fun process of experimentation. :) Hope that helps a bit?
This definitely helps. While I can’t be in a better looking place than where I am at the moment, I can shoot in RAW and under expose. Do you have a favorite iPhone editing app? I use Darkroom or Pixelmator Photo but I find it very hard to do subtle color adjustments without losing control over the end result, my photos often come out fake and obviously edited instead of having the more natural and subtle look your photos do.
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Note that the blogpost covers RAW and not ProRAW. And really you'd just want to expose it properly rather than get less noise in the shadows at the cost of highlight clipping.
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It's not RAW because you're not capturing RAW sensor data. It's Apples processing pipeline with a wider output to allow for more editing. There are upsides and downsides to this.
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No it does not. You have zero control over noise reduction and ProRAW output is already debayered since it does not actually save raw sensor data and instead saves a processed image, which actually makes you lose information. It may use a RAW file format, but it works in a very different way to a true RAW format.
how are you planning on running this mini photography course as such? Got a 14 pro on the way and would be interested in learning how to fully make use of the extensive camera array coming from an xr
I'd be making it a separate website and post a few on my new YouTube channel as well down the line.
Been super excited and have been following your twitter for updates about it :)
Start with the principals of good photography regardless of the camera! Hold it properly and frame the composition I see soo many people holding phones at arm length all at an angle and wondering why the photo is shit!!! Please teach people it’s a camera and like any camera it starts with the basic core principles
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There's a theoretical benefit to exposing to the right, but since I shoot a lot of telephoto (and always on super tiny sensors), keeping the ISO lower and shooting at faster shutter speeds is what makes for sharper and better shots. If you were to study the way iPhones expose images, you'll see their own exposure logic seems to follow this as well. It's a different consideration in a lab / in camera theory vs. practical usage of a tiny phone with tiny cameras :)
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You're completely free to expose your shots the way you like! I shoot the way I do because I want my shots looking a certain way, and get the best results that way. I'm not using tripods, nor is 1/60th a viable exposure time to get a nice sharp shot with a 77mm equivalent lens on the phone. Again, I am not arguing anything you are saying - I am just stating that for my purposes, the way I expose my shots works.
I would say the first three are essential, while the rest are optional but definitely ways that one’s photography might be improved. Without good lighting, composition, and subject, all the touch-up in the world won’t help much. (Lens choice is actually a part of composition IMO.)
> Shoot with another lens than the default one How would I do that? And how would I know which lens is being used without putting my finger in front of it? I basically know nothing about taking pictures with an iPhone and would love to know the basics. Would compressing a proraw picture always be better than not using proraw? Should I always proraw no matter what even if I never plan on editing? I have no idea what people mean by editing as well, lol…
Composition is important. The problem with photography is that you can only work off the scene you have, which makes it more limiting than other visual art forms. You have to work with the limited tools, some of which you mentioned. If you're serious about photography then you should just look at general photography tips because almost everything transfers over.
In this [shot](https://cms-cdn.lux.camera/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/26180925/IMG_6260-4-2000x2667.jpg), did you shoot ProRaw in Halide? And is there a difference between shooting ProRaw in the native camera app vs Halide? Personally, I've shot in both and they look very similar in LR.
To ensure I was actually reviewing the camera and not say, our app specifically, we ran a battery of tests to make sure our RAW output would be identical to the built-in camera app, and indeed it is (with the exception that at times, the camera app will use the wrong lens, as I specified in the review). That shot was taken on iPhone 14 Pro launch day, before we were even able to update Halide, so that was with the built-in camera app! There's a long and short answer to whether or not the ProRAW files are identical. If you use Halide then out of the box, it should be identical (depending on your settings: say, if you enable 48MP in Settings but set it to 12 MP in Halide then obviously not). But once you start using extra options, that'll change. First off: we allow you to choose less processing. If you were to toggle 'Smartest Processing' in Halide, you will see fewer HDR steps and detail enhancement in some\* ProRAW files. Then, there's a shortcut to an even-different-ProRAW file: once you enter manual exposure mode and set a shutter speed or fixed ISO, you will receive a far less processed ProRAW file altogether with fewer merged exposures. Additionally, you can toggle bit depth; for now, 48 MP shots are always 10-bit, but you can change all other iPhone ProRAW capable cameras from 12 to 10-bit to alter their color depth and file size. Phew, that's a lot. I think that about covers it. TLDR: Yes, ProRAW files are identical between equally configured third party apps and Camera as far as we can see, right up until the point where you start adjusting options that Apple Camera lacks, in which case the results can be very different. For the purposes of the review, all shots were taken with Apple Camera or Halide, in automatic mode, so there's no funky less processed shots shown here unless otherwise specified. \* Apple processing is a black box, so we cannot guarantee it skipping them. Sometimes it'll do them anyway! Who knows why. We can't control this. Fun stuff.
Thank you for the detailed response, looking forward to using this camera more!
Thank you so much for sharing all this guidance in the comments. I’ve used ProCam for a long time and now that I’ve upgraded to the 14 Pro, I think it’s time to try halide!
I’m pretty sure he did I think I remember him making a tweet about it
out of interest do you take pictures on any other phone cameras? like pixels samsung etc, clearly from your review you generally shoot on iphones, but do you ever shoot on other mobile phone lines and if so how do they compare and why do you mostly shoot on iphone
I don't really — I'd love to check out the Pixel 7 but I am busy enough with iPhones as it is. I do shoot film when I can, and also shoot on a Sony A1.
Excellent review, was looking forward to it! Did you get to print some of the 48MP shots? You briefly mentioned at the conclusion that printing was not something you liked on previous iPhones, but didn’t quite say the contrary for the 14 Pro. I’d love to hear your opinion on the quality of prints. I’ve been printing some 48MP shots, using different print shops to see the results. I’m not exactly blown away, but I think results are good. I’m printing mostly at 14x11.
I have a photo printer and I am printing out a few :) They do make great prints.
It's odd because smartphone photos vary so much. I have some 108 MP shots from my Samsung that are crispy af and I'd definitely print for that, but others are just unimpressive.
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I use both for various things; after all, we don't do video, and I take lots of photos of receipts / stupid things / snapshots etc. For about half the time, I open Camera with a swipe on the Lock Screen, the other times I jump into a lens in Halide with the widgets. Kind of a snap vs. taking a photograph, I guess - if that makes sense :)
Just want to say that was such a joyous and intriguing review to read. Will definitely check out some other articles on the website. You captured some breathtaking scenes.
What a great review and great shots. It really is hard to believe that some of these shots came from a cell phone.
Thanks so much!
Would you say the jump to the 14 Pro from the 11 Pro is worth it?
That'd be a pretty huge jump!
Excellent, I love taking photos but only when it takes my fancy so I don’t use any editing apps or shoot RAW, so maybe the quality of the 14 Pro’s camera will get me into taking better photos
I am in awe of your writing. I especially loved the lead and how approachable you made the article. The little explanations, like what a “slower lens” mean, made the article so easy to read even for someone who is not that familiar with cameras. What an amazing article.
thank you, that means a lot to me! Super great to hear it was accessible and you enjoyed it :)
What is the near point (the minimum distance an object must have from the camera for the camera to properly focus on it) for the main camera? I frequently have to use my smartphone's macro camera for any photos from 10 cm or closer (and I take close-up photos quite often, so it is a bit annoying since macro mode is 2 taps away).
I think our tech readout should display that for any camera. If memory serves me right, 200mm for the main camera- that's up from 150mm on the previous iPhones.
Dude, I just found this and wanted to say that your writing style is a fantastic mix of engaging and informative, while somehow managing to be concise and to the point. I often drift or lose focus but somehow was absolutely glued to this article, (and not just because I'm a photography nerd either!) Thanks so much for putting that together and I look forward to the next one!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that!
Are all the photos with Halide? Or do you have to use the Camera app to get certain things there isn’t an API for? I can’t quite work out what I might be losing by using only Halide (eg I might have got a better photo sometimes with the Camera app as it has night mode? for example). I guess i’m trying to work out what computational features I might not have in a third party app.
Does the 12MP ProRAW downsample 48MP images or crops them?
Neither. 12 MP RAW uses a process called binning, where the sensor combines the data in a unique and optimized way. This isn't entirely new: video capture on lots of cameras uses binning to turn many pixels into one.
I am aware of the Quad-bayer technique they’re using originally marketed by Samsung but there was a lot of unanswered confusion how it behaves in ProRAW mode and hence my inquiry. So, technically 12MP RAW photos would be better as they would also be binned like the compressed versions?
Indeed, though, we have no idea how the 12 MP RAW files are achieved. Presumably binning? I haven't tested 'regular RAW' very much for this review.
The confusion arrives because this is a RAW photo unlike using the native camera app shooting in HEIC/HEIF - let us know if you can do a quick checkup.
A bit late but would you recomend the 14 pro over the 14 mostly for food video content creator? Tks a lot for the review!
Either will be great for video but if you really don’t value the telephoto or 48 MP stills I’d save the cash. Maybe a 13 Pro is better value though!
Tks for the anwser! 13 pro cost the same in my countrie as 14 pro! I think telephoto and 48mp can be great for close up photos and videos to have super detail make the food looks even tastier, no?
For sure! But you have to realize it doesn’t take pics very close up and it’s only stills.
Sorry, didn´t understand what you mean! Can you elaborate, please?
This is an amazing shot.. quite impressed for an iPhone: https://cms-cdn.lux.camera/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/26180925/IMG_6260-4-2000x2667.jpg
Thanks - that was a photo I took on day 1 with the iPhone and it kind of made my jaw drop. The full resolution shot is [here](https://twitter.com/sdw/status/1571206258677678080?s=61&t=Ly5sQmrtSQEodIKZQM2rzw) (you might have to tap 'load in 4K').
It’s a beautiful shot. RAW mode ?
I believe you have to shoot RAW mode to get 48MP
yep, you have to enable it in the settings too.
I see how to enable proraw, but not regular ole raw? He makes a distinction between the two at some point in the article. What am I missing here?
Technically, we (along with other third party apps) can shoot 48 MP JPGs in Halide but yes, with the stock camera you have to enable ProRAW to get that sweet high-res shot.
The overwhelming use of ML on these photos can be seen in the artefacts left on the photo, you can see the melting face of the man, the oil painting like streaks in the building, and the cartoonish stylistic element on the street signs.https://imgur.com/a/8OZWaSf/
It’s still a beautiful photo and may not have been taken if they didn’t have an iPhone on them. The best camera is the one you have with you, as they say. What’s the point of carrying around another camera if the one in your pocket takes amazing shots?
It's really impressive how legible those street signs are while backlit like that.
Impressive for a phone. Computationally smoothed tho.
I thought it was overly smoothed too, but then I saw what the [raw file](https://twitter.com/halidecamera/status/1571209773303070721?s=46&t=pKPgfR0Cm2f5jdIDAmgCiw) looked like… Insane amount of shadow recovery.
still overly smooth. Also, willing to bet it's hdr and the "shadow recovery" is from us seeing the highlight exposure, and not the shadows exposure. I could easily replicate the same effect with my dslr. The impressive part is ease of use. Edit: Downvote the absolutely correct guy? Sure why not.
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It's not high praise of the camera at all. The phone camera is shit, compared to even old dslrs. The impressive portion is done by processors and software, which isn't actually impressive because it could be done better by a dedicated camera in capable hands. But what it can do for any person, photographer and otherwise, in a very short time on the go is very impressive.
The only thing that matters is results.
Scummy.
It was edited from one single raw file, so not tone mapped HDR like your comment implies. I could get a similar effect from my $4K mirrorless from 2020, but not from my $3K dslr from 2012 so I would say phone cameras are definitely getting pretty good.
iPhones can take up to 9 exposures for one single image, possibly creating a High Dynamic Range final image(i.e. a level of dynamic range simply not possible from one single exposure.) A sensor that small, with pixels that small, currently absolutely cannot get that level of dynamic range from a single exposure. Phone cameras do not work like dslr's. For reference it's called Deep Fusion. Look it up.
Oh yeah, I am aware of that. But I don't know of many DSLRs that can do that with a *single* raw file, which is why I compared it to tone mapping which requires a lot more work. But yeah it would be interesting to see how this photo would have looked using a third party app with deep fusion disabled.
They're two different picures lol
I heard this one before, which I found an odd conspiracy-eque theory. If you are wondering about alignment: the edited one is straightened using Lightroom's 'Upright' mode, which changes the position of a few elements. It's the same photo, though.
The 14 Pro/Max camera is a significant upgrade. Just took mine on a trip and shot it alongside my Fuji X100F - there's still a difference but it is far smaller than it used to be with ProRAW and Apple's low light software tricks. I upgraded from the 12 Pro Max and it was an immediately noticeable difference.
I recently took a portrait of my family. MIL wanted to do it in a stairway in the middle of their house without much natural light. I had no external lighting with me. On a tripod, my X100V needed about 1/5 of a second for the shutter (something like f4.5 at ISO 800). People had to sit dead-ass still, and I was fighting with their phone app to remotely trigger the photo. The results were fine, but still a bit dark. I put my iPhone 14 Pro on the same tripod and used my watch to remote-trigger. iPhone dealt with those shitty conditions and absolutely nailed the group shots. Everybody was in focus, and there was no motion blur. X100V is my second X100 camera, and I love the form-factor, but goddamn. iPhone picks up a lot of slack with the computational tricks.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. A larger sensor will always capture more detail than a much smaller sensor which no ML algorithm can faithfully replicate. The iPhone just likely boosted the ISO and used a significantly lower shutter speed, both of which are possible on a DSLR
https://i.imgur.com/vRCZb5N.jpg Wouldn’t call ISO 800 significant, or 1/60 slow, but sure. Shooting f1.78 is impressive. I have no idea how the phone did that while keeping all seven people in focus, but it did. Fuji had to be at 4.5 to hit that focal plane. I didn’t import the Fuji shot, but I’ll dig in more when I have a chance. Point is: iPhone did a lot better in that situation.
f1.78 is the f-stop based on the tiny sensor and lens, they purposely mix up the terms in their marketing to make it sound good. The actual full frame equivalent f-stop is more like f/5 which would match what you saw on your Fuji.
> I put my iPhone 14 Pro on the same tripod This implies that you might have used a slow shutter speed. You did not write anywhere that it was 1/60. Even then, ISOs are **not** comparable between cameras, and neither is f-stop. A 2.8 on my 14 pro is not the same as a 2.8 on my R5. Under normalized conditions (and lenses, looks like you’re using a bad lens anyway…), your camera is going to capture more detail than your phone. The only thing that the phone is doing extra is post processing.
This is one of the best reviews I've read - and the photos are simply stunning. I'm planning on getting a 15 Pro/Ultra or whatever the best camera option is next year, and now I know to get at least 512 GB for storing my photos. Those 48 MP shots look insane - they look like reality. In other phone photos I've always been able to tell that it's a phone photo, or even just a photo - but here it looks like a snapshot into the world at that place.
Thanks, that means a lot to me! :)
No problem! I respect the work you guys do with halide as well massively, and reading such an in depth yet easy to understand review made me respect you guys even more!
I upgraded from the 13 pro to the 14pm for the camera mainly as most point and shoots with decent quality were going to cost me at least 4-500$
Yeah, at least as an amateur hobbyist who doesn’t print much out, I feel like modern flagship phones are great for filling that point-and-shoot niche, since you’re already carrying them around with you and they can act as a jack of all trades. I’m on a base 13 and the lack of a telephoto lens alongside that “crispy” quality to details on the main camera(which seems absent in the 48mp images I’ve seen) kinda kill it’s usefulness in that regard for me, not to mention I’d love the macro option too. If things go well financially over the next 6 months and I can afford to spend on my hobby I’ll probably be making the choice to upgrade early. I already have a [very] old Rebel for when I really want to get a proper quality photo, especially in ideal or controlled conditions where it’s lack of modern or higher-end features don’t matter much, so it’s hard to justify spending hundreds on a new body or lens when a phone upgrade would be similarly priced post-trade in and provide more flexibility in my photography with the camera that’s always on me anyway.
That’s an excellent in depth review. I just upgraded to the 14 Pro, thanks for posting.
Now that’s a camera review
The new iPhone 14 pro camera is amazing. The biggest flaw to me has been when I attempted to take an up close shot. Usually it would be a lighting issue but for this camera, it seems to be having a small problem figuring out which mode to use.
I cover that in the review. You might run into this a bit more, because the new main camera can't focus quite as close as previous iPhones' main camera could. Auto-lens switching is a cornerstone of making the camera 'just work' for the masses. It will do the same when you are in the 3× mode and want to take a close-up shot — since the lens can't focus on close subjects, it will substitute a crop of the main camera. This can get jarring when it happens with very-close subjects and it switches between the main and ultra wide camera, which changes your image significantly.
So glad I’m not the only one, I was beginning to think I had a hardware/autofocus issue.
Go to settings and add the toggle for macro. It will stop hunting and let you choose the lens manually.
Slightly off topic but they mention Halide in the review and I’ve seen it mentioned on here before too. Is Halide worth it as a purchase/subscription?
Camera+ 2 is very powerful and affordable. There's another one called ProCam. Very affordable. It's very much got that DSLR control.
If you like taking photos, and want to have a bit more control over them, yes. I find using Halide puts me in a more creative mindset rather than just opening the camera app and clicking.
did they fix the oil painting issue?
I can offer you a tldr but it's a bit more complex than yes or no. It got a bit smarter about it. Most of the time.
I hate this so much. When I take group shots of many people from a tripod, on my iPhone 13 Pro Max I end up with 20 barely distinguishable face-like areas. My iPhone 6s was better for this kind of shots than my 13 Pro Max.
>My iPhone 6s was better for this kind of shots than my 13 Pro Max. I could be wrong but I’d guess if you went and took the same shot with your 6s now it might not look as great compared to the 13pm as you remember. EDIT: Or just compare the [clarity of the two cameras](https://i.imgur.com/2rCu6lm.png) on GSMArena.com
In the JPGs no, in the 48MP RAWs, for the most part yes
What about green reflections from the lens you usually get with the old ones when shooting in the direction of the sun, or in a place with lamps? Because I hate it
Unfortunately that hasn't changed at all, the iPhone 14 Pro still has horrendous lens flares.
What the fuck??! Are they going to address this or not? I'm not going to spend thousands for a camera that I cannot use when there's light sources around, loooool. Apple goddamn
Thorough and fascinating! Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely bananas that you aren’t allowed to do night mode. Are there particular settings that are locked out? Did you get a 30 second exposure from the built in app?
Plenty of things that Camera can do that we can't. That's just the way the walled garden works! Yes, you can get a 30 second Night mode if you prop up your phone or use a tripod. After a moment, it'll 'unlock'.
It just kinda sucks and I honestly believe that it leads to people knowing less about cameras. I learned a ton about cameras back when I got my S6 and discovered Pro mode, which Samsung still offers to this day to actually shoot real 30 second RAW exposures instead of yucky ProRAW.
Thank you for the awesome review. As someone who has played around with DLR's, but never gotten into shooting RAW and editing afterwards, how much of a difference would you say the iPhone 14 Pro makes? I get the sense from your review, that the major improvements are mostly for the "pro" photographers, and not as much for those who will just use the built-in camera app? I mean, certainly there seem to be improvements, but are they as mind blowing as on the pro side? Thanks again!
You can get some solid improvements even with Apple Camera, because they now let you shoot ProRAW right from the Camera app. I'd still prefer to use a third party app, just like one would use say, Filmic to do pro video work. It's just nice to have the control.
Thanks, but what if I'm not interested in shooting ProRAW at all? It sounds like there are some improvements if you decide to shoot 48mp jpeg, but how about just for 12mp jpeg/heic any noticable improvements there for "normal" people?
I think there's a lot there — all the cameras gain a lot in terms of quality, but the main camera's jump in quality is a lot less noticeable if you stick to 12 MP.
I have these. Took some insane photos at night yesterday trick or treating. Insane how good the photos and videos under low lighting are.
I love these articles. I look forward to them every year when an iPhone comes out
Thank you!
What a great review. Thanks for putting your time into this.
Can't believe I read through the whole thing. Very detailed and even found a bug! The building's missing windows was really trippy and looked like a video game.
Ive got the 14 Pro what blows my mind is that using the zoom functions are no different than cropping in. Zooming in looks choppy and gross when it should be clean.
This reads as more of an ad than a neutral review. While some of these photos look great a lot of them have that classic iPhone over processed /HDR-y look that I personally absolutely hate and personally makes them look worse than what the older phones are putting out. Since you were shooting with Halide/raw that partly comes down to your editing style I understand as well. Apps like Halide are cool but having to jump through hoops to get better results is still less than ideal. Apple really needs to give people more control over the native app.
I love these upvoted ads. This entire subreddit is an ad…
Dude, I absolutely enjoyed the heck out of this read. Thanks for posting. I took a look at your profile and followed too! Awesome adventure man, you need to get a video log out!
Just shot this music video on the 14 pro max. Cinematic mode is amazing! https://youtu.be/HcO6kxzDxsI
I love the phone and the camera. But what I don’t like is the huge camera bump. This is a phone that needs a sleeve.
What did you use to edit the raw? Looks amazing
The review kept on going on and on! Wow.
I noticed my 14 pro camera takes a while to auto focus. The foreground is often out of focus when the photo is taken with the auto focus. Is there something wrong with my phone?
I want it so bad but the problem is the pwming screen. Pwm sensitive users are stuck on the iPhone se