Is The iPhone 12 Mini's Camera Any Good?? SHOOTOUT By Moment

Two, tiny and incredibly nostalgic iPhones came out this year, the SE and more recently, the 12 mini. These phones appeal to those of us who would like their phones to be the size of well phones instead of mini tablets, but just how good are their cameras and is one better than the other. Well, you know I had to find out. So I put these two to the test. I actually vlogged the entire day that I put these cameras to the test and compared them, but I came home only to find out that my microphone completely broke at some point without my knowledge and I got absolutely zero audio from the day yeah. So since I can't give you a real-time walk-through of the experience, I am here now giving you my honest and retrospective opinion now that I've had some time to inspect all the photos I took I've been zooming in and like really looking at the detail and the minor differences between these two cameras, so that I can, you know, tell you here today.

So let's get into it, the iPhone SE has one lens on the back of the phone. This is a 12 megapixel lens, with an aperture of 1.8 and on the front, there's also just a singular lens of 4 megapixels. The iPhone 12 mini differs quite a bit having two lenses on the back. The first is a 12 megapixel standard, wide lens with an aperture of 1.6, and the second is the ultra-wide lens, also 12 megapixels, a huge difference in the front cameras from the SE to the 12 mini the 12 mini's front. Camera actually is 12 megapixels.

It's also important to note, too, that the iPhone 12 mini got some features that the SE didn't, for example, deep fusion technology and night mode. So, like many of you, I am quarantined again, which meant I had to use home sweet home as sort of the backdrop for these comparison images, so I decided to do a little at home portrait studio session. That is because one of the biggest things I wanted to test out is if the portrait mode improved at all from the SE to the 12 mini. So I grabbed Tyler, and I had him help out. Oh, oh with only a few minutes of shooting.

Under my belt, I could already see that 12 mini was effortlessly capturing portrait mode photos even without a face and frame. The SE, on the other hand, was really struggling so in detail. Shots like these that you're, seeing where Tyler's face isn't in the frame, but I still want that nice background blur that both, the s e, the portrait mode, wasn't firing so to speak on the images where Tyler's face wasn't in frame, whereas the 12 mini was detecting things quite easily, and it was just already doing a much better job. So it was already sort of clear this quickly that the 12 minis portrait mode was already improved from the SE, because the detection technology just had improved so much now neither phone has perfect edge detection when it comes to portrait mode. There are some shots that look great look almost like a DSLR, and there are others where you can tell that.

It's a phone's portrait mode, because edges can be blurry, and sometimes it'll even grab the wrong thing and blur it out, for example, Tyler's hat in this shot, so the edge detection is not perfect by any means. In either of these phones, but if I had to choose one, I would say the 12 mini just overall, definitely one in this category as well. I also wanted to test out portrait mode on the front cameras of these phones, especially since the 12 mini, got such a huge jump in megapixels from the sea gain. Neither has perfect edge detection, so you can see how some of my really crazy hair is blurred out. That probably should be in focus, but they did a pretty dang good job.

I asked Tyler to jump in with me for a couple just to see how it handled two faces in frame. I don't really have an overwhelming opinion here, on which one is better I'll. Let you be the judge, but they both did a pretty dang good job. Oh, and here's a clip of Tyler playing the McDonald's jingle on guitar, and then me saying: I'm loving it yeah, that's a sad one to lose now to test out just the standard camera on both of these phones. I took them for a walk on the beach at sunset right off the bat.

I was really impressed with the 12 mini's colors. There seem to be just a smudge, more saturation and just a little more oomph behind the 12 minis photos compared to the SE. The mini is also just a bit sharper, and you can really see this when you zoom in that little extra sharpness and little extra oomph really makes these 12 mini photos stand out just a bit more than the SE. Now you can see just looking at two of these photos side by side, there's really not a huge difference. It's really when you zoom in and inspect every little detail when you see that the 12 mini definitely has some improvements, but again they are not huge by any means.

Now, where these two cameras really really really start to differ is in low light. Of course the 12 mini has night mode, so it naturally is going to take better low light photos. As you can see here, the SE photos are not bad by any means, but when compared to the 12 mini, they definitely don't hold up night mode from the 12 mini just makes the night shots generally brighter sharper, and it just gives you nice detail in those dark shadows and the difference in front camera. Photos at night are pretty dang astounding too. So my final thoughts.

Well, let me start with this. I have to give it up to the SE for really holding its own for being a tiny phone with only one rear camera. The SE really does put up a fight. Was it the winner, though I can't say it was, but honestly it didn't get beat too bad overall after zooming in and inspecting all of these images, it's clear that the 12 mini definitely just has a better camera system. I mean it is logical that the newer phone would have a better camera right.

This 12 mini was a brilliant choice on apple's part small but mighty. It honestly kind of reminds me of my sixth grade slogan. When I was running for student government, I may be small, but I can do it all now. A burning question, of course, is: is it worth the upgrade? Well, I only tested the cameras here. So if you're a photographer, it may be worth the upgrade.

Maybe not. It really depends on how much you're shooting on your phone and if this kind of small but somewhat significant improvements, are worth it to you. Yes, the 12 mini is a few hundred more dollars. So if you're willing to invest that yeah you're going to get definitely better night mode photos, definitely better portrait photos and that front camera is hugely hugely hugely different from the SE in the improvements, so you are definitely going to get a better camera system with the 12 mini, but in regard to an upgrade, I can't really say confidently like yes or no. I think it's totally up to you and how you shoot and what you use your phone for, whether you're here, because you're on the fence about the 12 mini or because you just needed some good old-fashioned, quarantine, entertainment.

I hope this was helpful to you. We will see you in the next one, and please please please, please, please keep washing your hands. Oh, and really quick. Can we talk about this mustard case on this 12 mini I'm in love, okay, bye,.

Source : Moment