Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Recently watched BBC’s Click ( UK tech programme ) , they compared the 12 Max Pro to the ahem Huawei P40 . The 12 Ma Pro won out on the video side of things but the P40 produced better detailed photos.
 
No photo expert here, but doesn't the Note 20 looks the most real as in reflects what your eye see?

The iPhone is the worse it has like all algorithm enhancements. I never understood people who like this stuff, I thought pictures meant to capture what we see as identical as possible at least thats what the ol' SLR cameras where what you see is what you get.
 
Those iPhone shots are so blue. It’s nothing a little editing can’t fix but it definitely not ideal for a phone that costs that much.
 
No photo expert here, but doesn't the Note 20 looks the most real as in reflects what your eye see?

The iPhone is the worse it has like all algorithm enhancements. I never understood people who like this stuff, I thought pictures meant to capture what we see as identical as possible at least thats what the ol' SLR cameras where what you see is what you get.

cameras need a lot of correction to resemble what the eye can see. your eye continuously processes imagery and autocorrects it with context. for example, a camera can adjust exposure or amount of light it receives but it's done in a dumb linear way - in order to capture detail in bright areas you can lower the exposure, but then shadows are completely dark. your brain will actually process areas in shadow and make out detail, while also keeping bright areas from just looking white and that's what HDR tries to achieve for example. your brain does a lot of white balance corrections because it knows what is supposed to be white.

anyway, without any post processing, the images will look nothing like what your eye sees.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xpaulso
All these ‘smart phone’ cameras take amazing photos. It really is trivial with the details between them, where most consumers can’t differentiate the most minute details. Camera technology is pretty impressive all these competitors.
 
All these ‘smart phone’ cameras take amazing photos. It really is trivial with the details between them, where most consumers can’t differentiate the most minute details. Camera technology is pretty impressive all these competitors.
Actually the iPhone pics aren’t comparing so well here. Enough that some of us wonder what’s wrong that’s causing the blue tint. I just got my Max yesterday so I’ll have to see what my results are whenever I get to check it out myself. I’ve only got the S20 and Pixel 3 XL to compare so it’s not going to be the same.

The new 12 cameras definitely have some quirks I am learning my way around so I can get the best results for myself. Just little things like remembering to hold still for myself even after I think the photo has snapped in low light shots.
 
  • Like
Reactions: harmoniumfarfisa
Strange that we're focusing on the apparent blue cast on the iPhone photo when, to my eyes, I'm seeing a definite yellow cast to the Android phones which would make the iPhone look more blue by comparison. If I were working with those photos, I would definitely tone down the yellow in the color balance on the Android photos. I'm not sure I'd change the blue on the iPhone photo.
 
I prefer the iPhone pics.

The night time gazebo shot is illuminated by electric lighting. It does not have to be white. The human brain does its own ‘processing’ and overrides physics and you believe you see a white gazebo.
 
Damn. I really hate to admit this... but the Pixel 5 does look a lot better. There is something funky going on with the iPhone colors... the white balance really is all over the place. I hope Apple fixes this. These colors are not neither natural, nor do they look good... look at the boat, for example, the entire image is shifted towards blue...

And the other boat images are shifted toward the yellow, especially the Pixel.
 
Lol okay I guess this all really is subjective!

Right, it is subjective. Do you think consumers legitimately compare and contrast four different smart phone camera photos? Like I said, they’re so close in comparison, I don’t think anybody really takes notice of a slightly different blue tint over another competitor. Not to mention, how many different filters people are applying to their photos or editing is a whole another topic of discussion.
 
Right, it is subjective. Do you think consumers legitimately compare and contrast four different smart phone camera photos? Like I said, they’re so close in comparison, I don’t think anybody really takes notice of a slightly different blue tint over another competitor. Not to mention, how many different filters people are applying to their photos or editing is a whole another topic of discussion.
I think some people compare and contrast them when they’re considering reviews. But no I don’t think very many people walk around comparing different brands of smart phone photos unless they’ve got a YouTube channel for that sort of thing or they’re an eccentric twit like me.

I was surprised to see these results because my own experience with iPhone photos has them looking more warm than blue and less saturated than Samsung photos up until the last generation.
 
I have no idea how the reviewer got those photos. This doesn't seem to be the case for me. I have a Pixel 4, which is said to produce better photos than Pixel 5 by some reviewers. Previously I always preferred to use it over my iPhone 11PM. But after replacing 11PM with 12Pro, I really feel 12Pro produces better photos, especially for those quick-taken photos.
 
Apple needs to fix the processing on the iPhone cameras. That's the bottom line.

The review pointed out the poor edge detection on the Pixel, but it's horrifying on the iPhone. That's without talking about it making everything look like CGI.

Color science is everything in a camera. The ability to turn off auto enhancements is also important.

Each of these cameras flounders in some situations, that's clear, but there are fixable real issues with the iPhone. It's incredibly capable....and this is only going to get worse if Apple thinks people love it. Next time we'll get a super fast telephoto, but objects will look like photorealist paintings, run though an IG filter.
 
Well i just bought an iphone12 last week.i was very excited to check out the camera...so I went out in evening to take some night photos but I was really disappointed. The photos in night mode or even the regular mode were just so pixelated. I dont know what to do.pls help if it's happening with their phones as well.
is it me or does the Pixel seem better? Look at that gazebo shot? Look at the detail in the roof. How does it do this for $400 less, and supposedly less sophisticated hardware??

if it’s software, surely Apple have some scope to massively improve the 12PM??
I am so disappointed with my new iphone12 camera. The pixelated images are driving me nuts.the 'genius ' at genius bar says the exposure and environmental settings where u clicked the picture wasnt right.does anyone has same problem?
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20201210-202854_Messenger.jpg
    Screenshot_20201210-202854_Messenger.jpg
    187.6 KB · Views: 76
All these stock photos can be edited. Just because the first image that is snapped doesn't represent how the end result will look. You can change the color temperature, brightness, darkness in a snap. These picture comparisons are not very reliable.

If an entire image looks like it was shot through a tinted filter, you can't get those whites back easily if at all.

If background details are blown out, and blurred, you're limited what you can bring back.

What they're showing here has been blatantly evident in the majority of photos posted here.
 
I am so disappointed with my new iphone12 camera. The pixelated images are driving me nuts.the 'genius ' at genius bar says the exposure and environmental settings where u clicked the picture wasnt right.is it normal ? I m so frustrated. Can anyone help?
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20201210-202854_Messenger.jpg
    Screenshot_20201210-202854_Messenger.jpg
    187.6 KB · Views: 62
@harmoniumfarfisa This is a (flagship) phone model comparison, so it is sensible to use the default camera apps. However, what, I think, could also be helpful is to try and showcase some of the top third party apps, such as ProCamera and Camera+, even if they're used in the same, simple, point and shoot method as the Apple Camera app i.e. no professional adjustments.

Possible followup article?
 
There is obviously something going on with the Computational Image Manipulation. The good news is that can be fixed/adjusted with software updates. The low-light performance is very impressive for a phone camera.

dxomark found the same blue/green (push?) on the pro and pro max

 
@harmoniumfarfisa This is a (flagship) phone model comparison, so it is sensible to use the default camera apps. However, what, I think, could also be helpful is to try and showcase some of the top third party apps, such as ProCamera and Camera+, even if they're used in the same, simple, point and shoot method as the Apple Camera app i.e. no professional adjustments.

Possible followup article?

Yeah, that was my first question, and it's sounding like the issue is at the OS level. Maybe the Apple RAW update will help but we are seeing samples shot on third party apps with the same processing. Whatever is causing the crude masking, with no depth, pancaked images or the distortions on busy images are still there in third party apps. At least so far. I think the color correction is possible for the blue tine, but it won't be any different than if you used a slider in post processing.
 
Yes, most consumer people prefer the "pop" colour and view those as better. But reality is that colour were never that pop out. iPhone photo looks more like painting or best suited for Instagram.

Personally I prefer the natural, Pixel 5 photos. And yes as someone mentioned, Apple were used to be the one producing natural colour while Android were all trying to pop up colours. Not exactly happy with the direction they are going.
The reality is that Instagram and Snapchat are driving a huge portion of camera phone demand. You can't blame them for catering to that market by default. I realized I was no longer in the target demographic once Apple started making a big deal about new Emojis.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ksec
Yeah, that was my first question, and it's sounding like the issue is at the OS level. Maybe the Apple RAW update will help but we are seeing samples shot on third party apps with the same processing. Whatever is causing the crude masking, with no depth, pancaked images or the distortions on busy images are still there in third party apps. At least so far. I think the color correction is possible for the blue tine, but it won't be any different than if you used a slider in post processing.
Ah.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.