I feel like everyone is just trying to justify their purchase. Be happy with what you ordered. I ordered the max because I want the best of everything
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iPhone 12 Pro How much of a difference do you expect to see with the Pro Max camera?
- Thread starter Girder_Shade
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Well, guess I'll find out how good the camera is soon, just ordered a 512gb iPhone 12 Pro Max from AT&T. I'm pretty sure of one thing... the camera will be better than my iPhone 6s Plus. 
This is a review from a photographer...
This is a comparison with the 12 mini / 12 / 12 Pro...
Basically, there's no night and day noticeable difference between the 12 mini / 12 / 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max.
Enjoy the phone that best suits your needs, enjoy the camera - they all take great shots for what they are.
But if anyone is going bigger just for the camera, it's not worth it is basically my take from most videos I've watched. I would trust the view of a photographer rather than a "tech reviewer" who will often only have good things to say about Apple so that they keep getting their future review units etc.
This is a comparison with the 12 mini / 12 / 12 Pro...
Basically, there's no night and day noticeable difference between the 12 mini / 12 / 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max.
Enjoy the phone that best suits your needs, enjoy the camera - they all take great shots for what they are.
But if anyone is going bigger just for the camera, it's not worth it is basically my take from most videos I've watched. I would trust the view of a photographer rather than a "tech reviewer" who will often only have good things to say about Apple so that they keep getting their future review units etc.
Interesting! I just looked at the shots all the reviewers took, and I wasn’t impressed vs the 12 pro. The 12 pro max over the 11 series is great and over most androids, still awesome. There is just not much of a gap between the 12 pro and 12 pro max. To me these reviewers are trying to justify a second review of the 12 pro max in a lot them. Sure there is an improvement, but honest reviews the gap isn’t there that they thought. All the tech sites thought the new big sensor was going to be a huge advantage for the pro max, but I think they were disappointed. Just in that the gap wasn’t what they thought.
Guys, I can guarantee one thing: if you can’t take a good looking photo with 12 Pro, you won’t get great results with 12 Pro Max either I know it’s a cliché, but it’s all about the person who stands behind the camera
I know it’s a cliché, but it’s all about the person who stands behind the camera The camera improvements for the Pro Max are mainly in low light video (and there it is pretty impressive).
Watch the video from 6:52 (if the timestamp doesn't work). When he shows the night-time video shots between the 12 Pro and the Pro Max the quality improvement is noticeable:
(It's a german reviewer)
But yeah, I wouldn't base the upgrading decision solely on the Pro Max slightly better camera.
Watch the video from 6:52 (if the timestamp doesn't work). When he shows the night-time video shots between the 12 Pro and the Pro Max the quality improvement is noticeable:
But yeah, I wouldn't base the upgrading decision solely on the Pro Max slightly better camera.
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The camera is better but to me having that huge phone is not worth it. If I were coming from a Max or + phone for sure I would be getting the Max. Best iPhone ever. However, jumping from an X to a Pro Max I feel is too much at this time. I prefer to jump from the X to the Pro (that is already bigger and feel bigger) and then in the future maybe jump to the Max. I am a heavy camera user but mostly are pictures of landscapes and on my trips, so I don't feel the improvements at this time are worth it for me. I am very happy with the Pro camera.
In addition, If I were not using a wallet case maybe I would try the Max this year but I love this type of case, and adding that to the phone it enlarges the size considerably. So Pro Max + Wallet cases = monster phone.
In addition, If I were not using a wallet case maybe I would try the Max this year but I love this type of case, and adding that to the phone it enlarges the size considerably. So Pro Max + Wallet cases = monster phone.
Just to add, I trust Peter McKinnon when it comes to photography. Just says it clearly, he really can’t tell there is that much difference in the 12 pro and pro max. Again I am taking the words from a photographer over tech sites. He knows what he is talking about.
I like him as well.i think the max main/wide sensor might have the largest size pixels since the iPhone 6 (to be clear: not largest total sensor size since the iPhone 6).
iPhone 5: 1.25 microns + 8MP
iPhone 5s: 1.5 microns + 8MP
iPhone 6: 1.5 microns + 8MP
iPhone 6S: 1.25 microns + 12MP
* few in-between around 1.25/ 1.28 *
iPhone 12 / 12 Pro: 1.4 microns (same as google pixel again)
iPhone 12 Pro Max: 1.7 microns + 12MP (pretty cool)
The iPhone 6 was able to do this because it was only 8MP so the overall sensor size wasn't huge. Looking back, I still really like some of the photos taken on the iPhone 6 - in perfect conditions, where computational photography does not add much and the amount of pixels is not critical, it can still take great photos to todays standards.
So I was half expecting the 1.7 micron pixels on the 12 Pro Max to absolutely blow me away, like higher details on tree leaves on a grey day / poor lightning etc... so far does not seem to be delivering much except for in the more extreme examples like nighttime, hmmmm
Probably just shows how far image processing has come
iPhone 5: 1.25 microns + 8MP
iPhone 5s: 1.5 microns + 8MP
iPhone 6: 1.5 microns + 8MP
iPhone 6S: 1.25 microns + 12MP
* few in-between around 1.25/ 1.28 *
iPhone 12 / 12 Pro: 1.4 microns (same as google pixel again)
iPhone 12 Pro Max: 1.7 microns + 12MP (pretty cool)
The iPhone 6 was able to do this because it was only 8MP so the overall sensor size wasn't huge. Looking back, I still really like some of the photos taken on the iPhone 6 - in perfect conditions, where computational photography does not add much and the amount of pixels is not critical, it can still take great photos to todays standards.
So I was half expecting the 1.7 micron pixels on the 12 Pro Max to absolutely blow me away, like higher details on tree leaves on a grey day / poor lightning etc... so far does not seem to be delivering much except for in the more extreme examples like nighttime, hmmmm
Probably just shows how far image processing has come
I'm excited to get mine.
I have giant hands and old eyes, so the size is a non-issue for me.
I'm coming from an XS Max. Last year's night mode stuff pushed me over the edge to upgrade. Then I broke my screen 3 weeks before I could trade it in (no AppleCare). Then I was too cheap to pay for the repair to just turn it in afterwards. I almost just had it fixed a few months back, but I've held in there. So I'm thrilled I'll have an intact screen again. The broken one will be used for development purposes. It got the job done for over a year. It will make a fine backup and beta device.
I find myself snapping a lot of photos indoors under less than ideal lighting conditions. Kids or pets running around and such. The photos look good till they get to my 27" screens. Then they look horrible. So I'm expecting I'm going to be seeing big improvements over what I have. This phone excels with the types of photos I tend to snap. I'm happy.
I don't really care how much better it is or isn't than some other device. It's the device I want and it will be leaps and bounds better than what's sitting on the desk next to me with its broken screen.
I have giant hands and old eyes, so the size is a non-issue for me.
I'm coming from an XS Max. Last year's night mode stuff pushed me over the edge to upgrade. Then I broke my screen 3 weeks before I could trade it in (no AppleCare). Then I was too cheap to pay for the repair to just turn it in afterwards. I almost just had it fixed a few months back, but I've held in there. So I'm thrilled I'll have an intact screen again. The broken one will be used for development purposes. It got the job done for over a year. It will make a fine backup and beta device.
I find myself snapping a lot of photos indoors under less than ideal lighting conditions. Kids or pets running around and such. The photos look good till they get to my 27" screens. Then they look horrible. So I'm expecting I'm going to be seeing big improvements over what I have. This phone excels with the types of photos I tend to snap. I'm happy.
I don't really care how much better it is or isn't than some other device. It's the device I want and it will be leaps and bounds better than what's sitting on the desk next to me with its broken screen.
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But thats one review. Others say its not much of an improvement over the pro
I don't know if it's just me, but I really don't like the color grading in that video. It's way too saturated and I couldn't focus on the actual performance of the iPhone camera. Shame. The stabilization seemed pretty good, but to be fair I'm sure they were using a gimbal for that.
Night mode looks soo much better in all them which was the focus of the new sensors.
You're picking results that help justify your decision. I've seen plenty of examples of images that show the meaningful difference that does exist, and furthermore the real improvement is seen when the Pro Max does not shift to Night Mode as "early" as the rest of the 12 line does, and when it does, takes 1 second exposures where the rest of 12 line takes 3.
Those changes alone are worth the better camera.
It's obvious that random guy spent like 30 seconds actually taking and comparing photos before throwing together a "review".
Here's a review from a pro photographer who could actually demonstrate he put the Pro Max through it's paces:
http://austinmann.com/trek/iphone-12-pro-camera-max-review-zion
Mann's thoughts are basically a combination of other reviewers's: photos same as 12 Pro in most lighting, potentially a lot better in low light, unsure if camera alone justifies dealing with the large size.
Lol. And possibly one of the only accurate reviews, since most of these "reviewers" have no idea how to test the difference. A dope like MKBHD whatever the hell his name is has no idea that the Pro Max switches to Night Mode under much darker conditions than the rest of the 12 line due to the larger sensor, and also captures Night Mode shots much faster, enabling a whole new range of motion during night mode shots that are just blurred streaks with every other iPhone.
But yeah, let's prop up those reviews some more.
If you don't care about the size of the phone I will go for the Pro Max 100%. If it's important for you (more portable, one-handed use, etc.) then I will go for the Pro.
Despite the camera improvements it is more important to feel comfortable with the phone. Is better? YES. It is worth it? Depending on your use.
I think the main thing is in low light, its going to take less seconds for night mode to kick in
in decent lighting, I would expect the difference to be very little to none - that seems to be the general consensus from a quick skim
I wouldn't get a size you don't want , just for the camera.
Battery life - maybe different story depending on use case but even then... not sure. You might find yourself more annoyed than relieved if thats what's swaying you
At first glance, this comparison looks like a good case to go with the 12PM. However, I see a few problems with this comparison. The first is that the PM shot is obviously closer to the cat, which will translate into more detail if you zoom in the same amount, which leads to my second gripe: Why are they zooming into the 12 Pro shot so much more than the 12PM?? Of course the Pro is going to look worse than the PM because of less resolution. My third and final complaint is that the focus looks to be slightly off on the Pro shot. The focus seems to be slightly in front of the cat's face, while the PM shot has its focus nailed spot on. There could also be differences between shutter speed, which exacerbates motion blur, but I'm not sure on that one. This comparison is really just comparing apples to oranges...
This right here is the only review anyone ever needs to see with regard to the actual, material difference between the Pro and Pro Max camera.
I'm coming from the Xr, so I am expecting a huge improvement! 😁
Coachingguy
Coachingguy