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icrude

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 29, 2006
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Has anybody compared the new iPhone with night mode vs any old iPhone and a third party app like NeuralCam to take a dark photo? Not sure why everyone is reviewing the new iPhone 11 and showing a photo it took with night mode next to a dark photo taken by an XS without any third party app or any night mode app. I’d love to see the difference. Nobody apparently understands that if you simply slow the shutter down a bit on any of these phones you will get way better night shots (if you hold still).
 
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I had neuralcam app on my old xs max and I will post here comparison shot when I get home later.
Quickly answered both neuralcam app and pro max nightmode can make scene brighter but the difference comes in details and sharpness.
 
Nobody apparently understands that if you simply slow the shutter down a bit on any of these phones you will get way better night shots (if you hold still).
YOU apparently don’t understand how night mode works so why don’t you look up the difference between just using a slow shutter and night mode.
 
I understand it isn’t just slowing down the shutter BUT apps like NeuralCam do very similar things to what night mode is doing so why not see how close they look? Why just show basically a complete black photo from the XS when that camera is capable of so much more?
 
I understand it isn’t just slowing down the shutter BUT apps like NeuralCam do very similar things to what night mode is doing so why not see how close they look? Why just show basically a complete black photo from the XS when that camera is capable of so much more?
Why don't you look at the front page?
 
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Front page compares to the pixel and phones I don't care about. Why doesn't anyone compare to older iPhones so people know if it is worth it to upgrade?
 
Nobody apparently understands that if you simply slow the shutter down a bit on any of these phones you will get way better night shots (if you hold still).

It's not just the shutter. Longer shutter means higher ISO. A higher ISO means noise.

If you want relatively sharp, noise free dark images, you need a better sensor. iPhone 11 has a better sensor.
 
I'm interested in comparisons but pretty certain Night Mode will blow anything else out of the water.

That said, I'm also not upgrading this year so I suppose I'll stick to a DLSR and a tripod for my night photos. Not nearly as convenient, but I'm not upgrading a 1 year old top-of-the-line iPhone just for night photos, which I rarely shoot anyway. I am very impressed by the shots coming out of Night Mode, but I can't justify the upgrade just for that.
 
That was one the first tests I did with 11 pro.

First image is Night Mode
Second is from NeuralCam app

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IMG_0006.jpeg
 
Front page compares to the pixel and phones I don't care about. Why doesn't anyone compare to older iPhones so people know if it is worth it to upgrade?

@Miska82 posted a photo here with XS Max using NeuralCam. You can tell how soft and muddy the NeuralCam image is.

 
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It's not just the shutter. Longer shutter means higher ISO. A higher ISO means noise.
A higher ISO does mean more noise but it's not related to shutter speed.

A higher ISO can be used *instead* of a longer shutter speed as it requires less light (which it makes up for by being noisy) whereas using a long shutter speed allows you to lower the ISO and hence less noise. The balance being that the longer the shutter speed the more likely there'll be motion blur unless the phone is on a tripod or some other stable thing.

Edit: Typo
 
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Well that’s not what I was looking for considering it was the same phone taking both pictures, but apparently nobody cares to see what the new iPhone can do compared to an old iPhone, not sure why.
 
Well that’s not what I was looking for considering it was the same phone taking both pictures, but apparently nobody cares to see what the new iPhone can do compared to an old iPhone, not sure why.

I have the iPhone 6s and I am thinking to buy the xs max not the 11 pro.

I take lots of pictures but 1) Does not worth the update only for the camera 2) Next year will be the big thing (hopefully)
 
I don’t really think you need to try NeuralCam with the 11 as it already has it’s own night mode. The XS photo obviously looks soft but the shot looks different like it was shot a completely different day. Was the lighting exactly the same?
 
Yes the time was about the same. Unfortunately don't have that old phone anymore so can't really test it anymore.
 
Hey I appreciate it greatly. It blows my mind that MR or anyone doesn’t think to do this test. Maybe too afraid to piss off big bad apple...
 
I'm not sure I understand the kind of comparison you're looking for.

If you compare Night Mode with NeuralCam even on the same phone Night Mode looks to produce best results, so comparing NeuralCam on a older phone doesn't sound like a meaningful comparison.

Maybe you want to compare the raw noise levels of the new sensors compared to the previous gens?
 
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I’ve got an iPhone Pro, but still got my iPhone 8, so can test it on that before I cash it out.

I‘m not really one for taking night photos though, so my results may not be representative.

...scrub that. Thought there was a free trial or a basic version I could use for free. I’m not paying £4.99 to take a couple of demo night photos (says the man who’s just splashed over £1000 on a new phone ;)).
 
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First image is Night Mode
Second is from NeuralCam app
Your cat is adorable! But the first image definitely has more detail.
First picture with iPhone 11 pro and 2nd one with neuralcam
I love how the second one added a rug! I still think the first pic has better colours though.

For both pics, I would've expected the first pic to the the neural cam one. It seems kind of underwhelming, but I still look forward to playing around with it.
 
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I'm not sure I understand the kind of comparison you're looking for.

If you compare Night Mode with NeuralCam even on the same phone Night Mode looks to produce best results, so comparing NeuralCam on a older phone doesn't sound like a meaningful comparison.

Maybe you want to compare the raw noise levels of the new sensors compared to the previous gens?
The op had it in his/her mind that the neural cam app is as good or close to the night mode shots on the 11 and that Apple is just selling snake oil to their loyal “sheep” and thinks that a old iPhone neural cam shot next to a night mode shot will prove it.

Night mode does what the neural cam app cannot and also shouldn’t be the single tipping point on whether or not someone should upgrade to the 11.
 
Hey I appreciate it greatly. It blows my mind that MR or anyone doesn’t think to do this test. Maybe too afraid to piss off big bad apple...

Not sure what more you could possibly be looking for.

The post above by Alfogator of the cat should pretty much answer the question about Neuralcam versus 11 Pro Night mode. Given both were shot on an 11 Pro, the output from Neuralcam is arguably the best “non-Night Mode” shot you will get on any iPhone model, past or present. So this is the best true test of Night Mode.

Given the 11 Pro Night Mode picture is superior to the Neuralcam picture of the cat, that should answer your question.

Now I do appreciate that you could do some further testing...wide and telephoto, different scenes and compositions, but I think it’s fairly safe to say the results will be consistent
 
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