Introduction
This year’s new iPhone announcements brought us not one, but four different models. Designed to appeal to a variety of consumers, in terms of specs, the best of the quartet is the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Which packs many impressive camera features.
In previous years, both the ‘Pro’ model and the ‘Pro Max’ model featured the same camera setup. But this year, Apple has deviated a bit from the usual path to bring a different setup for the larger model.
Compared to the iPhone 12 Pro, the Max brings with it a larger sensor for the main camera, a 2.5x zoom lens (as opposed to a 2x lens). And of course, it being the Max, a much larger screen and overall size. But for photographers looking for the best. They’re probably wondering if they should spend a little more to get it. The highest model.
So tell me a little more about those cameras; You get a standard (1x) lens that’s 26mm equal. With an f/1.6 aperture, a telephoto (2.5x) offering – 65mm equal, with an f/2.2 aperture, and an ultra-wide-angle lens (0.5x). ) – 13mm equal, with an f/2.4 aperture. It’s important to note that behind the 26mm lens, the iPhone 12 Pro has a larger sensor. While it also benefits from sensor-shift optical image stabilization. Which the standard version doesn’t offer.
Other key features of the iPhone 12 Pro include the introduction of Portrait Mode. And Panorama Mode, Night Mode Portrait and Apple ProRAW. This function isn’t available as standard at the time of writing. But you can access Raw Shooting by installing Apple’s public beta of iOS 14.3. Which suggests the full release is fairly imminent.
Along with these features, there are many other improvements. Compared to last year’s iPhone 11 Pro / Max. Improvements to the two cameras include Dolby Vision HDR video recording. At up to 60fps, plus a LiDAR scanner.
There are other improvements worth considering over last year’s 11 Pro Max. Which have little to do with the camera. The biggest of these is the addition of 5G compatibility. Which gives you super fast downloads and high-quality streaming. As well as a provider that includes it as part of your SIM/contract agreement.
In terms of size, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is larger than the iPhone 12 Pro, but compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. It is narrower and thinner, even though it is a few mm taller than its predecessor. It weighs the same as the older model. The screen now also has a ceramic shield front. Designed to withstand drops 4x better – good news for anyone with a clumsy disposition. It’s also slightly more water resistant than before.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max’s standard storage. You can also buy 256 and 512GB models – remember with Apple products. There’s no way to physically increase the storage capacity.
Those new to Apple products may consider. Apple says this is to reduce waste. Since many people already have these items when purchasing the product.
At the time of writing, the iPhone 12 Pro Max costs £100 more than the standard iPhone 12 Pro. Starting at £1099 for the 128GB version, rising to £1,399 for the 512GB version. There are four different colors to choose from; Graphite (Black), Silver, Gold and Pacific Blue.
Ease of Use
While each iteration of the iPhone may be slightly different in terms of aesthetics. Apple tends to keep its designs fairly similar year after year. The biggest news for the iPhone 12 series is the reintroduction of the squared off/angular design. Which means the edges are flat rather than rounded. This gives it a more utilitarian look, but a – perhaps unintended. Advantage for photographers is that you can balance the camera on its side on a solid surface.
As a Max model, you’d definitely expect the iPhone12 Pro Max to be bigger. Whether you consider it a good thing or a bad thing will probably depend on personal preference. It’s great for looking at your photos. A using apps, or watching videos, etc. But it’s less ergonomic when doing things like texting or calling. especially if you have small hands. It’s also pretty hard to fit the iPhone 12 Pro Max into a small jeans pocket. Which may or may not be a deal breaker depending on your perspective (or the size of your pocket).
When it comes to using the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, the two devices are essentially the same. The phone’s native camera app can be launched directly. The lock screen, by simply holding the camera icon.
If you’ve already unlocked the phone, you can tap the camera icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. Or, if you hold down the camera icon, you’ll have the option to choose from a variety of options. ; Take portrait selfies (shoot with the front camera, portrait mode is on). Take portraits (portrait mode, but with the rear camera). Record video and take selfies (front-facing camera in its standard mode). By default, the native app will launch in standard mode.
If you find that you often use a certain mode, or have certain settings enabled. You can go to the iPhone’s main menu and set the camera to remember the last used settings. For most people, they will probably find that most photos are taken with standard photo mode.
Apple is well known for the simplicity of its native camera app. And while there are a few more options than you would have found a few years ago. It’s still a relatively simple affair. This could be considered a good thing, as it means there aren’t as many different settings to grip with. But advanced photographers may find the lack of more control a bit frustrating.
If that’s your problem, you can fix it pretty easily with the various. Advanced camera apps available that give you this kind of control. But you can’t access any of these apps directly from the home screen for quick shooting. .
Despite its simplicity, there are several features to note and understand. You can switch between the different shooting modes by swiping left or right on the screen. Or, you can tap on the words that represent the different modes. You’ll find fixed modes on the right side of the image; Portrait. On the left are the video options, which are video, slo-mo (slow motion), and time-lapse.
In standard photo mode, you’ll see a variety of iPhone lenses displayed. The bottom of the screen that you can choose from. There are 0.5, 1 and 2. The lens you selected will add an x to the number, as well as the letter turning yellow. At the top of the screen, you’ll see a few icons. Including a flash icon that you can turn on or off, and the Live Photo icon, which looks like a bullseye.
If you turn this setting on, you’ll record a short video clip with each still image you take. The Night Mode icon will also appear if you’re shooting in low light. It’s not something you can manually select. It only appears if the phone believes there isn’t enough light in the scene.
A new feature for the iPhone 12 Pro mode is the addition of raw format shooting. You must first enable the format from the iPhone main menu.
It’s worth switching to the most compatible. If you think you’ll be exporting and sharing your files regularly. But the higher efficiency is good for those who want to take a lot of shots. You can always convert individual files to JPEG if needed. By enabling Apple ProRAW the phone will capture DNG files giving. You more opportunities to edit them in post-production.
Back in the Camera app, if you’ve enabled raw shooting, you’ll now also see a RAW icon at the top of the screen. By default, raw is turned off – indicated by a line through the word ‘RAW’.
If you want to create a raw file, you have to remember to turn it on. It’s probably a bit of a faff, but it saves you from taking up a lot of space on your phone. When taking simple snaps or record shots.
Once you enable raw shooting. Live Photos will automatically turn off – so you’ll have to decide which you prefer. It’s also worth noting that the phone only records one type of file at a time – not RAW and JPEG/HEIF simultaneously. The knock-on effect of this is that some apps won’t work with the photos you take – like Instagram.
It’s possible that this issue will be fixed when the full version of the iOS software is released and. Or Instagram updates its app to accept DNG files. If you want to upload a photo to Instagram, you need to convert it to JPEG first.
In the top middle of the screen, you will see a small arrow. You can tap it, or swipe up on the main screen to show some more settings you can adjust. There’s Flash again, which gives you more control to set between ‘Auto’, ‘On’ and ‘Off’. As well as the same options for Live Photos. You can also choose a different aspect ratio from the standard 4:3, with 16:9 and 1:1 options also available.
A relatively new addition is exposure compensation. It’s also available for older iPhones running the latest iOS There is a timer option. Which allows you to set a self-timer of 3 seconds or 10 seconds. While finally there is an option to add various filters to your images.
If you’re shooting in night mode, a night mode icon will also appear – from here. Adjust the length of time you shoot the phone. Perhaps choosing a longer time if there’s some way to hold the phone still. If you have RAW enabled, you will see the RAW option here as well.
When it comes to focusing, you can either let the iPhone decide for itself where it wants to focus. Or you can tap around the screen to select a different focus point. Tapping at different points will also affect metering. So this is useful if you’re presented with a high. Contrast scene and need to find the point where the light is most pleasingly balanced.
You can also lock metering by holding your finger down on the screen. Then choose a different focus point – if you’re shooting close-ups. That’s where a different focus point is most useful.
After tapping on the focus point, you will also see a sun icon. When this happens, sliding your finger up and down the screen will adjust the exposure. Making the scene darker or lighter. It’s basically a quicker/different way to access. The exposure compensation option from the pull-up menu.
One particularly useful feature that first appeared with. the iPhone 11 series is the ability to show what you’re shooting outside of the frame. The phone does this using whatever lens you’re not shooting at the time.
For example, if using a 1x lens, it will use a 0.5x lens to display what is happening on both sides of your composition. The same thing happens if you shoot at 2.5x, the 1x lens is used to show you both sides of the frame. When shooting with a 0.5x lens you can’t see anything, since obviously the camera can’t go any wider. This setup is especially useful if you’re trying to avoid people in your shot, for example.
You can set the phone to record this extra data. And have it ready to adjust your photos in the phone’s editing section. The data will only be kept for 30 days as standard unless you use it.
Portrait mode is something we’ve had on iPhones for generations now. With each version promising to be a little better than the last. Despite its name, you can use it for other things too – with different results. You can use the 1x or 2.5x lens for your portraits.
If you activate the swipe up menu, again you get a few more options to choose between flash. Exposure compensation, timer, filter and a different aperture (effect). The widest available here is f/1.4, and the narrowest is f/16. If you don’t choose one, the phone will automatically select one for you.
Different ‘lighting’ effects can also be activated. So you have natural light, studio light. Contour light, stage light, stage light mono and high key light mono. These are worth a try if you have a particular fondness for such effects.
A new addition to portrait mode, for the iPhone 12 series, is the ability to combine it with night mode. Again, this isn’t something you can choose to control manually. But rather something that will automatically activate once the phone believes. There isn’t enough light in the scene.
Once you’ve taken your portrait, you can edit it in playback. This gives you the option to choose a different aperture or lighting effect. This is very useful if it doesn’t turn out the way you want – but it’s not possible to choose a different focus point. which is probably a bit frustrating.
Other editing options are available – for portrait shots or otherwise. Including the ability to adjust exposure, contrast, highlights and more. If you’re shooting in raw format, these edits are available right on the phone. Or you can of course use something like Photoshop on your computer to do more editing.
If you’re shooting with Live Photos enabled, there are more editing options available. Which can be useful. You can choose a different frame, if perhaps the one you chose during editing is not what you expected. You can also create special effects.
When using video mode, fewer shooting options are available. You can turn the flash on or off (or set it to auto in the swipe up menu), and you can also add some exposure compensation.
If you tap (60), it will flip between the different frame rates available – 24, 30 and 60 for 4K, or just 30 and 60 for HD. If for some reason you want to shoot in 720p, you’ll need to turn it on from the phone’s main menu. Any of the three lenses can be used to record video, and you can switch between them while recording.
To enable Dolby HDR video recording, again, you need to go to the phone’s main menu. Dolby HDR can only be viewed on compatible devices. Such as other iPhones and Macs running Catalina OS or later. So it’s worth considering whether you want to turn it on – or perhaps turn it on for certain videos
If you’re shooting Slo-Mo, you can either shoot in HD or 720p at 240 or 120fps. Again, various options can be accessed by tapping on the top right corner of the screen.
Image Quality
Every year, Apple releases a new iPhone that betters the last iPhone in terms of picture quality. This year, Apple basically did it not once, but twice. The iPhone 12 Pro builds on the success of the iPhone 11 series. While the 12 Pro Max goes one step further to bring even more improvements. That said, unless you’re peering at pixels at great length. Being able to spot the difference between the two models is fairly tricky.
Considering it’s a standalone camera. The iPhone 12 Pro Max’s photos show great colors and plenty of detail. While they look especially good. When viewing them on a phone screen and sharing them on social media sites like Instagram. examining them a little closer on a computer screen. They’re probably not as impressive. But how often the average person will do this is certainly debatable.
Portrait mode performs well, as we’ve seen from previous iPhone models. It’s particularly good for subjects that have a well-defined outline. Such as people and pets and less well for more complex subjects. But otherwise the results are fairly normal.
When it comes to low-light shooting. The iPhone’s impressive Night Mode again shows its strength here. Producing excellent images when light is lacking. Autofocusing is slightly faster (than the iPhone 11 Pro Max) thanks to the LiDAR scanner. As for the larger sensor, the differences seem fairly hard to spot. It seems the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s smaller sensor doesn’t activate Night Mode for as many seconds as the iPhone 12 Pro. But, the results are comparable to each other. When looking at them side by side it is difficult to spot very large differences.
The 2.5x camera delivers good results and those who prefer a longer lens can opt to go thicker for this version as well. The ultra wide angle lens is the same on both models and works well in daylight. But produces much less usable results in low light.
Having access to raw format files means you can make post. Shot changes in software like Photoshop iPhone using DNG files. So they’re immediately compatible with a raw editor like ACR. The files seem to allow for a decent degree of manipulation. But the end result is often very like how the iPhone used to work.
Video quality, as has been the case with the last few generations of iPhones, is also excellent. The addition of Dolby HDR makes a difference if you have something to view the resulting footage on – such as the iPhone itself. This works particularly well when shooting video footage of vibrant scenes. Where with HDR on, the higher dynamic range really helps the video pop off the screen. Otherwise, standard video is still very good and usable in most common situations.
