iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 15 pro max photos are not great

[contacos]

I am really not picky with photos or by no means a photo expert but I am completely disappointed with the selfies on my 15 Plus. I actually thought there was a bug and I even restarted the phone, thinking something was wrong with the camera app but it persistently looks great like BEFORE you take a photo but once you look at the actual photo, everything looks washed out, smudged and just very … dated? I am talking about selfies here btw.

I think selfies look much better on my old 12 PM!

It was almost embarrassing. I wanted to highlight the great camera to my family over Christmas and then it was like uh … this is awkward … wait a second. Hmmm weird can you try one on your 11? 😅

Like wth is this:

 

[Richardlench]

A few shots with my iPhone 15 pro max using my 10” telescope, shooting through the eyepiece. I have a phone holder made by Moove-Shoot-Move for telescopes and binoculars etc that I used to attach to the eyepiece. The Orion Nebula is a 5” exposure. Short because I don’t have tracking on my telescope. The moon shots are through The eyepiece as well


Holder
3-Axis High-Precision Universal Digiscoping Adapter - Metal Holder Mount Connecting Smartphone to Telescope Spotting Scope Binocular Monocular Microscope|Fits 2.4" Eyepiece Max/Any Cell Phone Camera https://www.amazon.com/3-Axis-High-Precision-Universal-Digiscoping-Adapter/dp/B0CCJNSXLG


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View attachment 2329807

The moon shots look great. Almost as good as a Galaxy S23 in handheld mode

 

[doesitmatter]

15 Pro Max is the worst camera phone I've ever used. Just look at the photo here, left is 15 Plus, right is 15 Pro Max.
You could see the post-processing failed to map the letters correctly, resulting in a ghosting image.

You could try it yourself too. Take a photo of a wordy document or a subject with letters over it, and you will realise that on the pro version, only the middle is sharp; the rest is blurry.

Quite often, 15 Pro failed to use its LiDAR to detect the subject, which creates a partial blurry effect on the subject, even if it is a flat surface (equal distance to the camera). Coming from 13 Pro Max, 15 Pro is truly a disappointment.

Sometimes, 15 Pro also failed to detect a person's face, resulting in a partial blurry effect too, i.e. nose is sharp, eyes are blurry. I understand due to the higher aperture, we had to stay further away from the subject. However, 15 pro always failed to detect the subject in its entirety. It should be able to detect it is a face, and blur only the background, just like previous iPhones I have used.

I realised "portrait in photo mode" is always applied, even if it's off in the settings. If you are taking a photo of a person, or scenery, you will not see a problem with the Pro Max camera.

 

[ToddH]

15 Pro Max is the worst camera phone I've ever used. Just look at the photo here, left is 15 Plus, right is 15 Pro Max.
You could see the post-processing failed to map the letters correctly, resulting in a ghosting image.

You could try it yourself too. Take a photo of a wordy document or a subject with letters over it, and you will realise that on the pro version, only the middle is sharp; the rest is blurry.

Quite often, 15 Pro failed to use its LiDAR to detect the subject, which creates a partial blurry effect on the subject, even if it is a flat surface (equal distance to the camera). Coming from 13 Pro Max, 15 Pro is truly a disappointment.

Sometimes, 15 Pro also failed to detect a person's face, resulting in a partial blurry effect too, i.e. nose is sharp, eyes are blurry. I understand due to the higher aperture, we had to stay further away from the subject. However, 15 pro always failed to detect the subject in its entirety. It should be able to detect it is a face, and blur only the background, just like previous iPhones I have used.

I realised "portrait in photo mode" is always applied, even if it's off in the settings. If you are taking a photo of a person, or scenery, you will not see a problem with the Pro Max camera.

It’s not bad software processing in the 15 Pro Max camera. What it is is that it has a very large image sensor compared to the 15 plus & the camera optics are shot wide open and because of that, there is lens coma. Common on “All optics” weather it a phone camera or DSLR lens. Do you have a fast DSLR lense like a 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.4 or 1.2? Shoot that wide open on a newspaper and you’ll see the same corner distortion. You’ll only see this with up close subjects. If the iPhone 15 pro max had an aperture diaphragm to where you could stop the lens down to f/5 or smaller, then everything would be in focus. I’m guessing you were at the 1x camera minimum focus distance to the page (which is 8 inches) with the 15 PM, am I right? I’m also thinking that the sensor shift image stabilization may cause some of this because of the movement of the sensor moving in an X -Y motion. Although these are micro adjustments, the sensor still moves to get rid of your hand shaking.

The 15 plus has a physically smaller sensor and because of that, the covering power of the lens spreads the projected image out beyond the edges of the sensor and we don’t see the coma from the optics. It’s there, just not seen. Apple probably should have used larger optics for the 1x, similar to the 5x which is huge to better accommodate the one inch sensor. Take a photo of a brick wall from 6 feet away then check. Make sure your iPhone is level and parallel to the wall. Any change of angle will show distortion which brings me to my next point…

Camera image quality will be greatly improved with better shooting technique. Most of the time it’s not the camera, just poor technique. If your iPhone isn’t perfectly level and parallel to the document, if it’s angled some instead of flat, then more distortion will show up in the corner closest to the page. I’ve tested this same method with taking a photo of my Bible and the small text showed some coma at 8 inches above the book, but not as bad as yours.

If you want clear pictures of documents, use a tripod and phone holder. Open the 5x camera and place the document on the floor because the 5x camera has a “Minimum focus distance” of 53.15 inches. Any closer and the 1x camera will take over and digitally zoom to 5x to simulate the 5x field of view. Or just use the 15 plus.

I haven’t seen the camera on the 15 pro max not being able to focus on a persons face. The f/1.78 aperture has a shallow depth of field so yes, it is possible that the nose of a person’s face will be in focus because without touching the screen forcing the camera to focus where you want it to focus, like a persons eye, it will automatically focus on the object closest to the camera. The camera is always using AF-C which is continuous auto focus. That stops temporarily when you touch where you want the camera to focus. I never let the camera decide for me where it wants to focus, I touch the screen where I want the camera to focus to create the look I want.

Yes portrait will show when using HEIF in 24mp format. It will not show when using HEIF MAX (48mp) or ProRAW, which is what I use for every shot.

 

[doesitmatter]

It’s not bad software processing in the 15 Pro Max camera. What it is is that it has a very large image sensor compared to the 15 plus & the camera optics are shot wide open and because of that, there is lens coma. Common on “All optics” weather it a phone camera or DSLR lens. Do you have a fast DSLR lense like a 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.4 or 1.2? Shoot that wide open on a newspaper and you’ll see the same corner distortion. You’ll only see this with up close subjects. If the iPhone 15 pro max had an aperture diaphragm to where you could stop the lens down to f/5 or smaller, then everything would be in focus. I’m guessing you were at the 1x camera minimum focus distance to the page (which is 8 inches) with the 15 PM, am I right? I’m also thinking that the sensor shift image stabilization may cause some of this because of the movement of the sensor moving in an X -Y motion. Although these are micro adjustments, the sensor still moves to get rid of your hand shaking.

The 15 plus has a physically smaller sensor and because of that, the covering power of the lens spreads the projected image out beyond the edges of the sensor and we don’t see the coma from the optics. It’s there, just not seen. Apple probably should have used larger optics for the 1x, similar to the 5x which is huge to better accommodate the one inch sensor. Take a photo of a brick wall from 6 feet away then check. Make sure your iPhone is level and parallel to the wall. Any change of angle will show distortion which brings me to my next point…

Camera image quality will be greatly improved with better shooting technique. Most of the time it’s not the camera, just poor technique. If your iPhone isn’t perfectly level and parallel to the document, if it’s angled some instead of flat, then more distortion will show up in the corner closest to the page. I’ve tested this same method with taking a photo of my Bible and the small text showed some coma at 8 inches above the book, but not as bad as yours.

If you want clear pictures of documents, use a tripod and phone holder. Open the 5x camera and place the document on the floor because the 5x camera has a “Minimum focus distance” of 53.15 inches. Any closer and the 1x camera will take over and digitally zoom to 5x to simulate the 5x field of view. Or just use the 15 plus.

Actually, I am testing with 14 Pro Max, 15 Plus, and Pixel 8 Pro, and none have this issue. I do have a Sony DSLR camera, but neither does it have this issue. Can you post the photo of the bible that you took? I can guide you on how to show the bug.

The bug only applies to the wide camera on the 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max, in all 3 configurations, 1x, 1.2x, 1.5x.

On an interesting note, words look a tad better in burst mode, as there is less processing being applied.

 

[ToddH]

Actually, I am testing with 14 Pro Max, 15 Plus, and Pixel 8 Pro, and none have this issue. I do have a Sony DSLR camera, but neither does it have this issue. Can you post the photo of the bible that you took? I can guide you on how to show the bug.

On an interesting note, words look a tad better in burst mode, as there is less processing being applied.

Hmm interesting. I have never used burst mode due to image quality loss and lower megapixel count.

This is a photo of the words in the Bible at the minimum 8-inch focus distance. HEIF MAX 48mp resized to 12mp. I added more to my reply to your post regarding people and camera focus.

 

[doesitmatter]

Hmm interesting. I have never used burst mode due to image quality loss and lower megapixel count.

This is a photo of the words in the Bible at the minimum 8-inch focus distance. HEIF MAX 48mp resized to 12mp. I added more to my reply to your post regarding people and camera focus.

View attachment 2330234

I took the attached image from reddit. It describes the issue better.

 

[ToddH]

I took the attached image from reddit. It describes the issue better.
View attachment 2330240

Yeah I see that. I think it boils down to the camera optics being too small or not corrected properly to accommodate the larger sensor when shooting very close to the subject. The 14 pro max has a 47% larger sensor than the 13 pro max & the 15 pro max has a 25% larger sensor than the 14 PM with the same optics I believe.

Touching the screen to focus the camera is always the best option to get clearer images from the camera because the camera isn’t “hunting” for a subject to focus on. It’s a good habit to get into. This shot of the rug is sharp edge to edge from 3.5 feet up. The coma is definitely worse up close due to the fast aperture. That’s the nature of wide open optics that barely project the full image beyond the sensor edge.

Overall I’m happy with the 15 pro max 48mp camera. I shoot ProRAW exclusively and if we learn the limitations of the iPhone cameras, we will all take better photos.
When I can get results like this, I’m a happy camper! All of the stars are pinpoint to the edge.

 

[contacos]

15 Pro Max is the worst camera phone I've ever used. Just look at the photo here, left is 15 Plus, right is 15 Pro Max.
You could see the post-processing failed to map the letters correctly, resulting in a ghosting image.

You could try it yourself too. Take a photo of a wordy document or a subject with letters over it, and you will realise that on the pro version, only the middle is sharp; the rest is blurry.

Quite often, 15 Pro failed to use its LiDAR to detect the subject, which creates a partial blurry effect on the subject, even if it is a flat surface (equal distance to the camera). Coming from 13 Pro Max, 15 Pro is truly a disappointment.

Sometimes, 15 Pro also failed to detect a person's face, resulting in a partial blurry effect too, i.e. nose is sharp, eyes are blurry. I understand due to the higher aperture, we had to stay further away from the subject. However, 15 pro always failed to detect the subject in its entirety. It should be able to detect it is a face, and blur only the background, just like previous iPhones I have used.

I realised "portrait in photo mode" is always applied, even if it's off in the settings. If you are taking a photo of a person, or scenery, you will not see a problem with the Pro Max camera.

I remember one time I had to verify my identity with my ID with one of those apps but the app did not allow zooming and thus it was literally impossible to take a photo of my ID on the flag ship iPhone. I had to take out my old iPhone 7 Plus to get it verified!

 

[doesitmatter]

Yeah I see that. I think it boils down to the camera optics being too small or not corrected properly to accommodate the larger sensor when shooting very close to the subject. The 14 pro max has a 47% larger sensor than the 13 pro max & the 15 pro max has a 25% larger sensor than the 14 PM with the same optics I believe.

Touching the screen to focus the camera is always the best option to get clearer images from the camera because the camera isn’t “hunting” for a subject to focus on. It’s a good habit to get into. This shot of the rug is sharp edge to edge from 3.5 feet up. The coma is definitely worse up close due to the fast aperture. That’s the nature of wide open optics that barely project the full image beyond the sensor edge.

Overall I’m happy with the 15 pro max 48mp camera. I shoot ProRAW exclusively and if we learn the limitations of the iPhone cameras, we will all take better photos.
When I can get results like this, I’m a happy camper! All of the stars are pinpoint to the edge.

View attachment 2330247



View attachment 2330243

I don’t want to sound off as rude here, but I am new to forums due to this issue, and from various platforms I have been to, I did realise a common trait. There is always a professional photographer who claims it’s about the techniques and that you have to use equipment to get that perfect shot.

While the professional photographer showcases his perfect shot of a city skyline or the Milky Way, the rest posted memories and documents.

I believe there is a reason why DSLR cameras are still in demand. I, too, own a Sony DSLR camera for those perfect choreographed shots.

I also believe that there is a reason why Apple chose to place two camera shortcuts on the locked screen, one being the button on the right, and the other is swiping left from the right edge. Our phones are meant to capture instantaneous moments, or even, to capture important notes in class or at work. Imagine how weird it is to bring a tripod to school just to take notes.

An older iPhone without any equipment can produce the same result that a 15 Pro could only achieve with proper equipment, speaks volumes about the quality these days.

Furthermore, I do believe that the cheaper non-Pro phones with proper equipment, could get you the same beautiful photos showcased.

 

[ToddH]

I don’t want to sound off as rude here, but I am new to forums due to this issue, and from various platforms I have been to, I did realise a common trait. There is always a professional photographer who claims it’s about the techniques and that you have to use equipment to get that perfect shot.

While the professional photographer showcases his perfect shot of a city skyline or the Milky Way, the rest posted memories and documents.

I believe there is a reason why DSLR cameras are still in demand. I, too, own a Sony DSLR camera for those perfect choreographed shots.

I also believe that there is a reason why Apple chose to place two camera shortcuts on the locked screen, one being the button on the right, and the other is swiping left from the right edge. Our phones are meant to capture instantaneous moments, or even, to capture important notes in class or at work. Imagine how weird it is to bring a tripod to school just to take notes.

An older iPhone without any equipment can produce the same result that a 15 Pro could only achieve with proper equipment, speaks volumes about the quality these days.

Furthermore, I do believe that the cheaper non-Pro phones with proper equipment, could get you the same beautiful photos showcased.

I understand… I don’t get any rude vibes. I don’t know everyone here on this forum personally nor the experience they have with the iPhone or photography. I’m just saying what I know and hopefully you guys can understand that. It would be a whole different experience if we could speak to one another on the phone, that way posts will not be taken as rude or presumed that way. It’s really hard to tell sometimes and then retaliation occurs.

I surely hope I don’t come across and rude, definitely not trying to be. I’m 53 years old and started photography in 1989 using film. Up to this point, I’m still a photographer and photography along with astronomy are my two biggest hobbies. Photography comes naturally to me, having the gift and ability to evaluate the scene I’m about to photograph ahead of time is natural for me. I try to make friends here, not sure how well I’m received, but hopefully all is ok. If you or anyone feels like I’m being rude, just ask.

I wish Apple engineers would make the perfect camera and software to run them besides using small updates to string us along so they can make money on new iPhones each year. But at the same time, I guess they don’t want to threaten the sales of the DSLR. I don’t think the iPhone will ever deliver the image quality that the DSLR provides. Maybe on landscapes and portraits the iPhone can match the DSLR image quality with external lenses attached. Thanks for the reply..

Todd

 

[Ricoh GR]

Yeah I see that. I think it boils down to the camera optics being too small or not corrected properly to accommodate the larger sensor when shooting very close to the subject. The 14 pro max has a 47% larger sensor than the 13 pro max & the 15 pro max has a 25% larger sensor than the 14 PM with the same optics I believe.

Touching the screen to focus the camera is always the best option to get clearer images from the camera because the camera isn’t “hunting” for a subject to focus on. It’s a good habit to get into. This shot of the rug is sharp edge to edge from 3.5 feet up. The coma is definitely worse up close due to the fast aperture. That’s the nature of wide open optics that barely project the full image beyond the sensor edge.

Overall I’m happy with the 15 pro max 48mp camera. I shoot ProRAW exclusively and if we learn the limitations of the iPhone cameras, we will all take better photos.
When I can get results like this, I’m a happy camper! All of the stars are pinpoint to the edge.

View attachment 2330247



View attachment 2330243

Really cool night shot. A DSLR would have served you better, especially once you learn the settings.

Anyways, the issue most people in this thread have (including myself as of two weeks ago) is that the iPhone 15 Pro doesn't capture /process regular day to day images in an accurate manner. The attached image is a great example of someone just taking a photo of the screen on their MacBook Air and the camera is unable to capture the image in a clean manner. Text is blurred throughout, most apparently in the bottom snippet.

As others have pointed out, I don't think anyone wants to "play with settings" to capture a simple image. And I'm sure there are enthusiasts out there - that group would be much better served using /learning a camera with a larger image sensor such as an ASP-C or full frame.

 

[kp98077]

15 Pro Max is the worst camera phone I've ever used. Just look at the photo here, left is 15 Plus, right is 15 Pro Max.
You could see the post-processing failed to map the letters correctly, resulting in a ghosting image.

You could try it yourself too. Take a photo of a wordy document or a subject with letters over it, and you will realise that on the pro version, only the middle is sharp; the rest is blurry.

Quite often, 15 Pro failed to use its LiDAR to detect the subject, which creates a partial blurry effect on the subject, even if it is a flat surface (equal distance to the camera). Coming from 13 Pro Max, 15 Pro is truly a disappointment.

Sometimes, 15 Pro also failed to detect a person's face, resulting in a partial blurry effect too, i.e. nose is sharp, eyes are blurry. I understand due to the higher aperture, we had to stay further away from the subject. However, 15 pro always failed to detect the subject in its entirety. It should be able to detect it is a face, and blur only the background, just like previous iPhones I have used.

I realised "portrait in photo mode" is always applied, even if it's off in the settings. If you are taking a photo of a person, or scenery, you will not see a problem with the Pro Max camera.

right! so plus is sharper correct? I had same findings.. and did blinded test on family every time they choose the plus photos! LMAO

 

[ToddH]

Really cool night shot. A DSLR would have served you better, especially once you learn the settings.

Anyways, the issue most people in this thread have (including myself as of two weeks ago) is that the iPhone 15 Pro doesn't capture /process regular day to day images in an accurate manner. The attached image is a great example of someone just taking a photo of the screen on their MacBook Air and the camera is unable to capture the image in a clean manner. Text is blurred throughout, most apparently in the bottom snippet.

As others have pointed out, I don't think anyone wants to "play with settings" to capture a simple image. And I'm sure there are enthusiasts out there - that group would be much better served using /learning a camera with a larger image sensor such as an ASP-C or full frame.

Yes my Sony A7RV would’ve really been the star of the show for this Milky Way photo for sure. But I just got the iPhone. I wanted to see what it would do with Milky Way photography since it’s supposed to be 2 1/2 times better than the 14 Pro Max. I think the 15 pro max is awesome for Milky Way photos, but only from a dark location.

The camera issue you speak of (this thread) doesn’t seem to perform well close up when shooting documents. This is because of the fast optics in the camera. A little distorted in the corners due to coma. there are some DSLR lenses that will do the same if they’re not well-made or non professional lenses but will perform perfectly when stopped down to f/8 or so. We can’t stop the iPhone camera down to improve image quality and depth of field. In order for me to photograph a document properly and get distortion free edges, I will just use the 5X camera. But remember it has a minimum focused distance of 4.8 feet I believe, if you’re closer than that, then the 1X camera will crop to 5X and simulate the view of the 5X.

Going back to the star images with the iPhone, I like to push it to see what he can do. The photos I attached below are with a Nikon D810 using various lenses. These images were taken from the Texas star party in Fort Davis, Texas, where the skies are very dark.

Me with my 20-inch back in 2008.

 

[kp98077]

Which phone the. Would all recommend for remainder of the year.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

Which phone the. Would all recommend for remainder of the year.

Honestly at this point I would wait for the 16 unless you’re not interested. Aside from that I’ll let the others respond because I moved from the regular 11 to the 15 PM. I’m so disappointed with the cameras and that includes the front.

 

[ToddH]

Honestly at this point I would wait for the 16 unless you’re not interested. Aside from that I’ll let the others respond because I moved from the regular 11 to the 15 PM. I’m so disappointed with the cameras and that includes the front.

What issues do you have regarding the iPhone 15 pro max camera? I think it’s fantastic. Lots of clarity and detail. I use ProRaw as my default setting and the photos are great. Rarely do I shoot jpeg or heif. I also use several third party camera apps. The 48mp sensor is great.

 

[kp98077]

Honestly at this point I would wait for the 16 unless you’re not interested. Aside from that I’ll let the others respond because I moved from the regular 11 to the 15 PM. I’m so disappointed with the cameras and that includes the front.

Agree camera is garbage. Lens flair, too much bokeh at time. I’m over carrying around a big a^% phone for a camera. lol

 

[ToddH]

Agree camera is garbage. Lens flair, too much bokeh at time. I’m over carrying around a big a^% phone for a camera. lol

The camera is not garbage!!! The camera is a tool. Put a $5k camera (or the iPhone) in the hands of an amateur and the same camera in the hands of a professional photographer or seasoned photographer, and you’ll see a dramatic difference in image quality between the two. You have to master the camera, know its limitations, and learn to “think” like the camera. Each of the three cameras on the 15 PM have a minimum focus distance. Many people have never checked that. If someone doesn’t know much about photography or lighting, they will not take great photos. I hear it all the time: “wow, your camera takes amazing photos.” Well it’s not the camera, it’s the photographer using the camera that takes great photos. Photography must be your passion if you want great photos. Just using any camera as a point and shoot is always going to produce mediocre results. You can’t rely solely upon the camera to do everything for you.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

What issues do you have regarding the iPhone 15 pro max camera? I think it’s fantastic. Lots of clarity and detail. I use ProRaw as my default setting and the photos are great. Rarely do I shoot jpeg or heif. I also use several third party camera apps. The 48mp sensor is great.

I’ll do my best to convey the issues over text which can be challenging. Note that I’m nowhere near a professional photographer but I fancy myself as ‘capable with a point and shoot’ if that makes sense. I don’t shoot raw, don’t do much post processing, shoot almost entirely heif, but don’t just press a button expecting a miracle. I’ve long admired your photography btw and very much welcome your thoughts and critique.

1. Indoor photos with light sourced from windows and overhead bulbs result in images grainier than anticipated. I say this having done comparison pics with my 11. The results were shockingly similar and affirmed by the family. I expected the 15PM with it’s larger sensor to be a clear winner.

2. Unless I’m shooting outdoors in what I consider to be ideal lighting, I find details to be soft. Details in the face or hair appear smooth like filters many of my female friends use lol. The crisp detail declines rapidly as the light conditions move away from perfect.

3. Focus. I can’t tell you how many of my pics lack focus in areas I wouldn’t expect. This is with portrait mode disabled. I took comparison shots of a piece of toast on a plate. The 11 pic was sharp throughout. The 15pm seemed to be trying to focus on one part of the toast and bokeh the rest.

4. I like the idea of shooting 24mp but once night mode is invoked, it defaults to 12mp. If I disable night mode I find the 24mp produces a poorer result than 12mp with just 1 second night mode.

These are not situations where I’m going for very controlled shots. I’m pulling out my phone, wiping the cameras, tapping to focus, remaining as still as possible, at most adjusting exposure, using the default camera app, and taking the pic. But keep in mind I’m not comparing my pics to yours, I’m comparing them to my 11. That should eliminate the skill set variability.

 

[ToddH]

I’ll do my best to convey the issues over text which can be challenging. Note that I’m nowhere near a professional photographer but I fancy myself as ‘capable with a point and shoot’ if that makes sense. I don’t shoot raw, don’t do much post processing, shoot almost entirely heif, but don’t just press a button expecting a miracle. I’ve long admired your photography btw and very much welcome your thoughts and critique.

1. Indoor photos with light sourced from windows and overhead bulbs result in images grainier than anticipated. I say this having done comparison pics with my 11. The results were shockingly similar and affirmed by the family. I expected the 15PM with it’s larger sensor to be a clear winner.

2. Unless I’m shooting outdoors in what I consider to be ideal lighting, I find details to be soft. Details in the face or hair appear smooth like filters many of my female friends use lol. The crisp detail declines rapidly as the light conditions move away from perfect.

3. Focus. I can’t tell you how many of my pics lack focus in areas I wouldn’t expect. This is with portrait mode disabled. I took comparison shots of a piece of toast on a plate. The 11 pic was sharp throughout. The 15pm seemed to be trying to focus on one part of the toast and bokeh the rest.

4. I like the idea of shooting 24mp but once night mode is invoked, it defaults to 12mp. If I disable night mode I find the 24mp produces a poorer result than 12mp with just 1 second night mode.

These are not situations where I’m going for very controlled shots. I’m pulling out my phone, wiping the cameras, tapping to focus, remaining as still as possible, at most adjusting exposure, using the default camera app, and taking the pic. But keep in mind I’m not comparing my pics to yours, I’m comparing them to my 11. That should eliminate the skill set variability.

Thanks for the explanation. I have the Halide app and in The settings, the app shows the minimum focus distance for each camera lens. So if you are closer to your subject than allowed by the minimum focus distance, the iPhone will switch to another camera or focus beyond as you mentioned and will mimic the camera you intended to use. For example, the 5x camera has a minimum focus distance of 53 inches, any closer and the 1x takes over and digitally zooms in to match the 5x view. The 1x camera minimum focus is 8 inches. Using third party apps allow for me to hard select the camera I want to use and manually focus that camera if needed. I think your focus may improve by learning the camera limits.

Subjects indoors (hair & skin) look soft… if the camera is using a high ISO then noise reduction will kick in to reduce it when using HEIF or jpeg. ProRAW is best for higher iso and image quality in general. But you’ll have learn to edit raw files (if you don’t already) to begin using it. More light is best for the iPhone cameras indoors. A steady subject helps as well.

Yeah 24mp is nice, 48mp HEIF is better. As for night mode, I agree that 12mp is somewhat lame. Apple could make an awesome camera if they wanted to, but it would not be profitable in the long run. I attached two shots of the Milky Way taken with my 15 pro max. I’ll be glad to help you with star photography if you are interested.

Indoor photos with windows and bulbs:

I’m not sure why the images are grainy. You can open the photo, touch the letter i in the circle at the bottom of the screen below the photo and that will show the ISO, the camera used, and shutter speed. I’ve taken shots in portrait mode at ISO 1250 with the 1x camera and they look great. The 2x camera crops the 48mp sensor to 12mp from the center. The quality is so so. The 5x in portrait mode is really nice as long as the subject is greater than 54 inches away from the minimum focus distance of 53.4 inches. Let me know if I can help more. I’d like to see some samples of yours so I can see what’s going on. PM me if need.

iPhone 15 pro max Milky Way (30” exposures) on a tripod. ProRAW with Lightroom edits

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

Thanks for the explanation. I have the Halide app and in The settings, the app shows the minimum focus distance for each camera lens. So if you are closer to your subject than allowed by the minimum focus distance, the iPhone will switch to another camera or focus beyond as you mentioned and will mimic the camera you intended to use. For example, the 5x camera has a minimum focus distance of 53 inches, any closer and the 1x takes over and digitally zooms in to match the 5x view. The 1x camera minimum focus is 8 inches. Using third party apps allow for me to hard select the camera I want to use and manually focus that camera if needed. I think your focus may improve by learning the camera limits.

Subjects indoors (hair & skin) look soft… if the camera is using a high ISO then noise reduction will kick in to reduce it when using HEIF or jpeg. ProRAW is best for higher iso and image quality in general. But you’ll have learn to edit raw files (if you don’t already) to begin using it. More light is best for the iPhone cameras indoors. A steady subject helps as well.

Yeah 24mp is nice, 48mp HEIF is better. As for night mode, I agree that 12mp is somewhat lame. Apple could make an awesome camera if they wanted to, but it would not be profitable in the long run. I attached two shots of the Milky Way taken with my 15 pro max. I’ll be glad to help you with star photography if you are interested.

Indoor photos with windows and bulbs:

I’m not sure why the images are grainy. You can open the photo, touch the letter i in the circle at the bottom of the screen below the photo and that will show the ISO, the camera used, and shutter speed. I’ve taken shots in portrait mode at ISO 1250 with the 1x camera and they look great. The 2x camera crops the 48mp sensor to 12mp from the center. The quality is so so. The 5x in portrait mode is really nice as long as the subject is greater than 54 inches away from the minimum focus distance of 53.4 inches. Let me know if I can help more. I’d like to see some samples of yours so I can see what’s going on. PM me if need.

iPhone 15 pro max Milky Way (30” exposures) on a tripod. ProRAW with Lightroom edits

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Incredible response, thank you so much! Do you think it’s fair to say that with the advances in camera capabilities from the 11 to 15 PM, there is more room for error by simply tapping to focus and taking the shot? Just from your response I realize I have a lot I could learn to get better results. But does that also mean the novice user may not get the best pics?

 

[ToddH]

Incredible response, thank you so much! Do you think it’s fair to say that with the advances in camera capabilities from the 11 to 15 PM, there is more room for error by simply tapping to focus and taking the shot? Just from your response I realize I have a lot I could learn to get better results. But does that also mean the novice user may not get the best pics?

Thank you for the compliment. The cameras and technology between the two phones, which is separated by four years, is quite different. Tap to focus is normally what I always do. You can also tap to focus and long hold your finger where you focused to lock the focus and exposure. there are third-party apps out there like the ProCamera by Moment, ProCamera, that will allow you to manually focus your camera if you need to get perfect focus in a specific area. for example, the default camera will never focus on the tiny strands of a spiderweb, but using a third-party app where you can manually focus with focus peaking will allow you to get perfect focus of a tiny silk strand of a spider web.

Anybody including a novice user can get good pics from the iPhone if they understand how the camera works and learn all of its features. This would include framing your subjects properly, exposing for the highlights so they won’t be over exposed, making adjustments and exposure compensation. You basically want your camera to see the subject like your eye sees it. If you’re photographing something dark like a black wall or a black chest, dark brown, etc., the sensor in that camera is going to try and brighten that up and it’s not going to look the same because the meter in the camera is a reflective meter and if there’s not much light reflecting off of a subject, it’s going raise that ISO and turn a black item to gray. Subjects like this I normally tap to focus on the subject, and then drag my finger down next to the focus box where that little sunburst is, and you can lower the exposure so that the item you are photographing looks like it does to your eyes. making subtle adjustments like that make a big difference. One other thing to keep in mind, check your camera optics on the back of your iPhone make sure there aren’t any fingerprints or oil smudges, etc. because that will greatly reduce image quality and create a lot of weird looking streaks around lights, etc.. if the glass is dirty.

This guy explains the iPhone well. He and I are about the same level of experience. No differences he has already put together a YouTube video to explain it and I have not. It’s close to 40 minutes, but it provides a lot of helpful information on basic photo tips. I don’t think he’s using the same iPhone, but the same techniques apply.

And:

This guy talks about proraw with his settings, but if you’re not comfortable with that yet, just choose the Heif max at 48 megapixels instead. Take a look at these and let me know later what you think about the iPhone cameras after receiving some of these tips.

These are the specifications on each camera of the iPhone.

 

[sdante]

2. Unless I’m shooting outdoors in what I consider to be ideal lighting, I find details to be soft. Details in the face or hair appear smooth like filters many of my female friends use lol. The crisp detail declines rapidly as the light conditions move away from perfect.

3. Focus. I can’t tell you how many of my pics lack focus in areas I wouldn’t expect. This is with portrait mode disabled. I took comparison shots of a piece of toast on a plate. The 11 pic was sharp throughout. The 15pm seemed to be trying to focus on one part of the toast and bokeh the rest.

These two have been constant problem for me with 15PM. I never had issues like this with my previous 12 Pro or iPhones before that. I've tried these suggested things by tapping object I want it to focus but still when taking photos of my cats indoors face detail is more or less blurred. I think mostly issue is with lens not being very good, you can't really get whole image being completely focused like in say 12 Pro. Probably lens is way too small for sensor this big. I guess processing also might cause this issue by adding some kind of filter (similar look what you see some people adding to photos manually to smooth out skin detail). I guess using Raw modes avoid this but it is quite too much hassle for someone wanting to take point and shoot photos.
Also 2x (crop) is useless, it is nowhere near as detailed as real 2x lens in previous models. Anyway, what I described above is concerning using 1x lens. Another family member also have 15PM with the same issues, so it very unlikely they are both faulty.

In very good light especially outdoors or indoors on a sunny day, photos are much better.

I realize what ToddH said was valuable information with lot of tips helping to get somewhat better photos but I think many people like me just want to capture some moment very quickly and this is very 15PM is very bad, it hardly ever works as simple point and shoot camera indoors without plenty of natural light compared to 12 Pro.

 

[sdante]

Incredible response, thank you so much! Do you think it’s fair to say that with the advances in camera capabilities from the 11 to 15 PM, there is more room for error by simply tapping to focus and taking the shot? Just from your response I realize I have a lot I could learn to get better results. But does that also mean the novice user may not get the best pics?

Please let me know if you find a simple way to get better photos using those tips.
I've tried some simple adjustments suggested without seeing much difference.
Not sure I want to experiment using additional apps for simple point and shoot photo taking.