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iPhone 12 Pro Max Ok...got it out of my system

J

jsmith1

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
683
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Well, it’s a good phone, great battery, etc...I bought this for 2 reasons..battery the best and camera the best, first max phone but didn’t take long to get used to the size and it’s good for certain things for sure.

going back to the 6.1 pro next one out...why? cause the macro up close camera sucks on this phone and I don’t need a battery to last couple days so there’s no point in having the max.

my question why?? I manufacture small parts and try all the time to get clear up close but they suck and I don’t know why. Is there an issues with really up close pics? Anyway I give up and am going back to smaller phone next release. Rant over...truly disappointed with the camera.
 
98DD1321-05AD-4C88-8001-7FD2F6BCB3E9.jpeg
 
Here are a couple of samples couldn’t focus close for nothing under led lighting
 
The images look pretty grainy. Could be too dark for the camera.

For macros: Nothing beats a DSLR or mirrorless with a macro lens. Modern phone cameras are quite good at wide angle and something they call "tele" (actually: about 50mm FF equivalent, which is not tele at all).

If you need really good quality: Better invest into a real camera. Phone cameras are not that great for anything outside of wide-angle and "regular" focal length.

Also: For phone cameras, you want good lighting to get rid of the grain and the smoothing effects.

Edit: How small are these rings?
 
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IceStormNG said:
The images look pretty grainy. Could be too dark for the camera.

For macros: Nothing beats a DSLR or mirrorless with a macro lens. Modern phone cameras are quite good at wide angle and something they call "tele" (actually: about 50mm FF equivalent, which is not tele at all).

If you need really good quality: Better invest into a real camera. Phone cameras are not that great for anything outside of wide-angle and "regular" focal length.

Also: For phone cameras, you want good lighting to get rid of the grain and the smoothing effects.

Edit: How small are these rings?
Click to expand...
.154 round and .069 high
 
well for what it's worth one of the camera improvements for the 12s pros are supposed to be better focus for close up objects but will see on that one. macro on The S21 Ultra is truly great so I hope the next iPhones can get that close of Quality close up
 
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jsmith1 said:
.154 round and .069 high
Click to expand...
I assue these are inches. So about 4mm round and 1.75mm high.

I only had a small M4 nut for testing (7mm wide, 3mm high).

As it was pretty dark here, I used an old iPhone SE for lighting.
This is the setup:
IMG_0918.jpeg














I took one pictures with the iPhone Xs' (don't have a newer iPhone here) Telephoto camera, and one with my DSLR (EOS 7DII) and a 100mm macro lens.
Both pictures are uncropped and unedited right out of the camera. Both are as close as possible.

iPhone XS:

IMG_0916.jpeg


DSLR:
1L0A9198.jpg


Yeah I know that's Apples and orange and the perspective is slightly different, but if you only buy a new iPhone for the camera, and you really need a good camera, you can also keep your old phone and buy a dedicated camera for that money.
Or buy a macro lens for the phone. Not sure how good they are though as you're actually mounting a lens in front of another lens.

Just my 2c.
 
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IceStormNG said:
I assue these are inches. So about 4mm round and 1.75mm high.

I only had a small M4 nut for testing (7mm wide, 3mm high).

As it was pretty dark here, I used an old iPhone SE for lighting.
This is the setup:
View attachment 1743780













I took one pictures with the iPhone Xs' (don't have a newer iPhone here) Telephoto camera, and one with my DSLR (EOS 7DII) and a 100mm macro lens.
Both pictures are uncropped and unedited right out of the camera. Both are as close as possible.

iPhone XS:

View attachment 1743781

DSLR:
View attachment 1743782

Yeah I know that's Apples and orange and the perspective is slightly different, but if you only buy a new iPhone for the camera, and you really need a good camera, you can also keep your old phone and buy a dedicated camera for that money.
Or buy a macro lens for the phone. Not sure how good they are though as you're actually mounting a lens in front of another lens.

Just my 2c.
Click to expand...
I may try a macro lens for the phone but it has to shot some pretty small stuff...even that nut is clear I on area..I would want it focused in the thread area)
 
Dude we need a 5th camera that’s a dedicated macro lens for upcloses! Like a flys eyeball kind of camera just for that. It’s feasible and would truly complete the camera island on the back. I’d use that all the time just for fun
 
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jsmith1 said:
even that nut is clear I on area..I would want it focused in the thread area)
Click to expand...

Not sure what that exactly means, but when you are dealing with macro, you have the problem of a very narrow depth of field. I already had the aperture set to f/9 and for more there was no light. With a tripod or better lighting you can get perfectly clean shots at ISO 100.

Your iPhone with a macro lens will face the same issue. Just that you cannot change the aperture on the iPhone (not sure whether the macro lenses have a dedicated aperture control). Also with that configuration, you will need a lot of light or a way to mount the phone and use long exposure times to get clean shots with low ISO.
 
whenever i have to take photos of small stuff,i use a LED photobox and use the 2.5x zoom on the 12 Pro Max then i crop the picture. Works well so far.
 
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now i see it said:
Get a proper camera. Smartphones suck at taking close ups of small parts. Latest Samsung can shoot really close but smartphones are not a good form factor
Click to expand...
true.phones have a different use.no matter how good it is it wouldnt be as good as a mirrorless + macro lens. and cheaper too if compared to the 12 Pro Max.
 
For non-critical purposes, I can get pretty decent macro shots from my XS, but I don't use the stock app (Camera+ 2, macro mode).

For reference, an LR44 cell; the button is 5.5mm in diameter. The bezel, 9mm.

macro2.jpg


macro.jpg
 
Last edited:
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jsmith1 said:
Here are a couple of samples couldn’t focus close for nothing under led lighting
Click to expand...

For the 11ProMax and now the 12 ProMax, I tend to use the app Halide for most of my shots. If there isn’t a size or storage issue you might try the ProRaw setting.
For the most part, especially with LED lighting, the 12PM does not do a good job.
 
I use Camera+2 app for macro shots. Far better than Apple's camera app. Another app I use is ProCamera. Both apps worth every cent I spent on them.
 
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I think the issue here has been covered to some extend. The focus plane is razor thin for cameras with large sensors. It doesn’t apply to iPhone 12 PM only as it was present in the S20 too if I recalled correctly.

if you had the 11 PM instead you wouldn’t have ran into issues pertaining to macro shots.
 
Maybe you should buy a galaxy s21U for its awesome zoom and macro shots, thank your lucky stars iPhones don't have these problems. 😜 Same old Samsung 👇

Screen Shot 2021-03-17 at 8.45.06 am.png
 
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From a pro photographer of almost 45 years, I'd say that what the op is lacking here is proper lighting. If you insist on using a cell phone for this type of shooting, don't just set up in a dimly lit room and expect good results. Add as much light as you can to light up your subject matter, even if you have to photograph outside. Also, a white sheet stapled to a frame big enough to cast a shadow on the entire subject will do a good job at diffusing the light, taking harsh shadows away.
 
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