SHOULD PHOTOGRAPHERS BUY THE iPHONE 15 PRO MAX?
Apple announced it’s newest line of iPhones today, including the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Cell phone photography is an undeniably growing market, so as a photographer I'm always interested in what changes each year. Spoiler alert: I am buying the iPhone 15 Pro Max. But the reality is that was something I was considering before today’s event.
I found several of the Pro Max camera announcements interesting*.
A brand new 120mm lens and its 6 brothers. One of the biggest drawbacks of cell phone photography has always been focal length. 120mm isn’t the most impressive of telephoto lengths, but considering its an optical zoom in a cell phone, it is damn impressive… in concept anyway. They had to come up with new technology to make 120mm work in a phone. We’ll see how well this is in practice. Regardless, I am impressed that they would even try to make this work. The telephone is 12 megapixel camera. So in addition to telephoto, Apple claims their Pro Max have 6 other lenses. Of course, these aren’t all optical. Some are digital. But as it stands, the main camera is a 24mm lens that operates at 48 megapixels. 24mm is one of my favorite focal lengths. I do laugh at how cell phone companies love to talk about megapixel size. The reality is that you’re not going to do a ton of cropping with iPhone photos. And my 13 Pro Max can do large prints without quality loss. So it is kind of a flex. The third optical lens is a 13mm ultra wide, also at 12 megapixels. Digital zooms don’t interest me nearly as much. I have some further thoughts on this that I will put in a future post.
Tethered shooting. The cell phone makers have been promising to come after proper camera manufactures for years. This year Apple is really trying to poke the bear. The Pro Max will offer USB-C connected, tethered shooting with Apple laptops and computers. Tethering is when you connect your camera to your computer so that you can see your shots in real time in a studio environment. Of all their announcements, this was the weirdest. Its a fascinating feature, but it isn’t particularly practical. I don’t care how impressive (and desirable) Apple’s newest smart phone camera is, it still isn’t going to supplant my Mirrorless cameras. Anyone who claims to be a professional and shows up to your shoot with his cell phone should be kicked in the ass and booted out of the studio. Furthermore, the point in having a studio is to control your lighting situation. Who is going to buy a light setup but not buy a camera? Still, this is a big step if Apple plans to compete in the pro camera market.
Low light. Arguably the biggest problem with cell phone photography is low light performance. And no, those night modes aren’t acceptable. The low light photos in Apple’s presentation sure did look clean. If those are accurate representations of what their newest sensors can achieve, it will be a game changer. I remain skeptical until I get my hands on a 15 Pro Max in the near future.
These are some impressive specs. I’ll be ordering my Pro Max this week, if possible. And of course I’ll share the results once I’ve tested it out.
*I’m focusing on the Pro Max, which is the highest end camera. The iPhone Pro has many of the same specs, but a few differences.
