iPhone 12 Pro Max vs. iPhone 12: Camera Review | WSJ By Wall Street Journal

Welcome to the ultimate iPhone 12 Pro max camera review. What in the world is going on here? We're testing iPhone cameras, including this beast of a phone, the 1099 iPhone 12 Pro max. But what makes this pro max crazy, isn't just its gigantic 6.7-inch screen, but it's three cameras which are the best yet from apple. Just look at this camera bump, there's a new telephoto camera that gives you more zoom and a whole new wide camera that lets in more light, but just how much better are those new cameras versus the cameras on the other, iPhone 12 models and even some older iPhones, and what about in comparison to some new android phones? So we recruited Trina Mary, a body painter and photographer, and asked her to create the ultimate 2020 portrait to help me test these cameras, oh yeah, that's Nicholas universe he's perfect. At standing still, I've set up three different photo test scenarios. If you want to see the differences feel free to pause, the video and, if you're wondering about everything else in these iPhones, I've already reviewed that it's these photos that you have to see you ready to do this 2020 iPhone portrait man do I have a choice not really test one portrait shots.

All the iPhone 12 models have new wide cameras. The 12 pro max has an even better sensor than the others, but we'll get to that soon. All the wide cameras, let you shoot portrait mode shots where the software artfully blurs the background. So your subject stands out. I used the wide camera for this shot with all four iPhone.12 models can't spot the difference. There really isn't any in daylight.

These wide cameras are nearly indistinguishable. Although it's a big improvement from the iPhone 10. Oof look at those colors, and actually I preferred the Google Pixel 5's color representation of this scene, the best what makes the iPhone 12 Pro and pro max better portrait cams are their telephoto cameras. The pro max's telephoto takes it even further. It has a longer 65 millimeter focal length lenses.

That's capable of 2.5 x, optical zoom, translation, a more intimate and flatter image. Where the background is closer, it feels like something a portrait lens on a DSLR would turn out one other place. This telephoto is really nice, video all the iPhone 12 models, record Dolby, HDR video. You look like van goal right now. We're going to need something to cut his ear off when you watch it back on a HDR display, it looks stunning the iPhone 12 Pro max is nice to have.

You can still take some great portrait shots with 12 pro there's two ultra-wide shots. All of these have the same ultrawide cameras. The shots are a bit crisper and a little less distorted than last year's iPhone 11 models, but you have to be looking really carefully. Oh, and one of the coolest things on the iPhone pro max going from capturing this all the way out to capturing this takeaway. Here it doesn't matter what phone you buy for ultra-wide shots, s3 selfies uh.

No, actually its night shots. Let's return now to those wide cameras on the iPhone 12 mini 12 and 12 pro. These have been improved with a wider aperture of f 1.6 that lets in 27 more light than the wide camera on the iPhone 11. The performance is impressive, especially compared to an older, iPhone, 10, 10r or iPhone SE. Here's another shot where you can see the difference big time.

The primary's wide camera, however, has a wider aperture and a larger sensor, so it lets an 87 percent. More light, where you can tell the difference, is in basically dark conditions. Is it an insane difference? No, but you can see it, especially when you compare to these android phones and because it lets in more light. The pro max doesn't turn on night mode as frequently that's the setting that uses a combination of hardware and software to brighten the shots when it does kick in night mode. It requires you to stay still for less time, making the shots less blurry the wide camera on both the 12 pro and the pro max also uses the new LIDAR sensor to help take nice night shot portraits.

So what's the final picture? Well, the iPhone pro max has a fabulous set of cameras and gives you a lot more flexibility than the iPhone 12, the iPhone mini and even the iPhone 12 Pro, but don't buy this phone just for all of that, this phone is insanely large, which sucks for those of us who, like smaller phones, because we don't get as good of a camera. Of course, what we really saw here today is that the other 12 models take perfect photos too, especially the smaller pro with its telephoto camera, or you could wait it out. Apple, has a long track record of introducing its best camera features on the high-end models and then expanding them across the line either way, you know what they say. The best camera is the one that you have with you when you happen upon a living breathing portrait. I think I saw this phone on Steve Jobs conference back in 2008.

Source : Wall Street Journal