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iPhone 11 Pro Is the telephoto on the 11 pro worth it?

L

LMC91

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 17, 2014
86
8
Hi everyone, looking into possibly buying either the iPhone 11 or 11 Pro, I'm coming from an iPhone 6, so would be a 5 year upgrade for me.

I've never had a problem with the resolution of the 6, though I admit I haven't had a proper chance to study the new phones so for now the screen isn't swaying me towards the Pro, but I often find myself trying to zoom into things with the camera if something is at a bit of distance away.

Just wondering if any of you think it's worth upgrading just for the telephoto camera alone? It is a big jump in price compared to the normal 11. Just your general opinions would be great, is digital zoom good enough, if 2x optical is a good enough zoom in, etc. or anything else you would all like to add.

Not a photographer, I own a compact Sony hx20 camera, but rarely take it anywhere, so the iPhone will probably be my main camera and I always have it on me. Just general photos, family events and pictures etc.

Also, I don't believe I can take advantage of any 14 day return periods, and I don't have a local Apple store.

Appreciate any advice, thank you.
 
Of course it is! And with Pro u get some extra benefits such as stainless steel frame, brilliant battery life, super Oled, fast charger, matte glass finish..
 
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LMC91 said:
Hi everyone, looking into possibly buying either the iPhone 11 or 11 Pro, I'm coming from an iPhone 6, so would be a 5 year upgrade for me.

I've never had a problem with the resolution of the 6, though I admit I haven't had a proper chance to study the new phones so for now the screen isn't swaying me towards the Pro, but I often find myself trying to zoom into things with the camera if something is at a bit of distance away.

Just wondering if any of you think it's worth upgrading just for the telephoto camera alone? It is a big jump in price compared to the normal 11. Just your general opinions would be great, is digital zoom good enough, if 2x optical is a good enough zoom in, etc. or anything else you would all like to add.

Not a photographer, I own a compact Sony hx20 camera, but rarely take it anywhere, so the iPhone will probably be my main camera and I always have it on me. Just general photos, family events and pictures etc.

Also, I don't believe I can take advantage of any 14 day return periods, and I don't have a local Apple store.

Appreciate any advice, thank you.
Click to expand...

Based on this, you'll be fine without the telephoto. Think of it this way, did you ever wish you had it with your 6?
Ultimately it's up to you if you want to pay for the "pro" features, it's your money.
 
DevinNj said:
The reason I have a Max. My son's active in sports and I like the added zoom.
[automerge]1571680417[/automerge]
Plus there's this, maybe it can help your decision: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...d-iphone-11-pro.2199706/page-21#post-27866075
Click to expand...

Those macro type shots are really cool.

Gitica23 said:
Of course it is! And with Pro u get some extra benefits such as stainless steel frame, brilliant battery life, super Oled, fast charger, matte glass finish..
Click to expand...

The great battery life is definitely appealing, though from what I read the 11 is very good also. The matte glass finish looks awesome, but I'm definitely using a case. All things to consider either way.

tripleburst said:
Based on this, you'll be fine without the telephoto. Think of it this way, did you ever wish you had it with your 6?
Ultimately it's up to you if you want to pay for the "pro" features, it's your money.
Click to expand...

Is that because I have the camera? I guess I would use the camera if I knew there would be times I'd definitely need the zoom, so I do have a zoom capable device. There's times when I do like to zoom with my 6, but I'm thinking to myself that no matter what, it's just a phone so the zoom range would be limited anyway, and Digital zoom might be enough. With such a high price difference it may not be totally worth it. My other thinking is that this phone will be with me for 4 or 5 years, so just trying to make the best decision.

Appreciate the opinions from everyone. Thank you. Still on the fence but each comment helps.

If anyone had any opinions on the digital zoom, that would be great too. I know there's a loss of quality, but even if it's good enough to see some things better from a distance, that you would otherwise not get, not even talking about drastic zoom, even a little bit.
 
Really only you can decide if it’s worth the extra price and only you can decide if the digital zoom is good enough for you. What I or someone may or may not like regarding the “quality” of digital zoom has nothing to do if the quality of it is good enough for you.
 
fred98tj said:
Really only you can decide if it’s worth the extra price and only you can decide if the digital zoom is good enough for you. What I or someone may or may not like regarding the “quality” of digital zoom has nothing to do if the quality of it is good enough for you.
Click to expand...

Definitely, it's completely subjective. I guess I'm trying to see if anyone else had similar thoughts and made a decision. And also by typing my thoughts, might help me come to my own decision lol.
 
As an avid amateur photographer I find the 2x optical telephoto on my XSM to be just barely adequate. A 5x or10x optical zoom (probably not possible in such a compact package) would be far more useful. The current “wide”
(1x) is usually too wide for my liking and the extra wide (0.5x) on my sons 11 is completely useless in my option. Such a poor combination on the 11 — 1x and 0.5x. It would have made far more sense to have the 0.5x and 2.0x. Or at least 1x and 2x like my XSM. Granted I don’t do very much landscape photography.
 
Everybody is talking about the ultra wide. For photo I particularly don't like. Is too distorted and less image quality. I have the 11 Pro and almost never use the 0.5x. I use the 2x often and like the way the background comes closer.

But in video mode I kinda like the 0.5x sometimes.
 
I would say 100% yes for me. Love the telephoto.

However, if you have an iPhone 6 and plan on keeping this phone just as long I would think it makes more sense to wait till 5g next year and upgrade then.
 
Love it. You need a good lighting for the ultrawide lens so that the picture won’t be so grainy.
 
You don’t know until you’ve got one. If you can afford it then just buy it and get the experience of having a zoom lens.

It’s impossible to say if something is worth x amount of money. It will drive you nuts. I struggled with the same question myself last year.

I think the best way is to ask yourself how much you like taking pictures. I take hundreds of pictures a day when I’m traveling so looking back I’m fine that I paid more.
 
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I’m glad to have it for kid shots but mostly bought the pro for it being a little smaller. If it wasn’t for that I’d have saved the money and bought the 11 128gb.
 
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