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iPhone SE (2016) Pictures taken with the iPhone SE 2020

oVerboost

oVerboost

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 17, 2013
1,565
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United Kingdom
I’m sure others will want to see examples of others photography from the SE.

I’ll start with one of mine, second version is edited in Focos to give portrait mode to things that aren’t people...

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I upgraded from my 6 to an XR and have never liked it because of the size. I am really torn between buying this new SE or waiting for the smallest size 12. Tough decision.....
 
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Did some quickie comparative photos a moment ago. One each with my 2020 SE and my 2016 SE. None of them edited except to add the text.

The first pair was taken of my bird feeders in bright sunlight. Could be identical. If you look REALLY closely, you can perhaps tell a difference (zoom in on that small bit on the bird bath).

The second set was taken indoors, still good light but not direct light. Here there is a definite difference in sharpness and definition. I can see it even without zooming in; but zooming in makes it obvious.
 

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mattopotamus said:
I’ll do a full review next week, but just a few quick snaps and the camera completely destroys the X it replaced. Night and day difference.
Click to expand...

This I don't understand. My X takes fantastic pictures and my son has an XR and with the exception of low light, they are almost identical. The key to the X is you have to take off Auto HDR and just force it manually. Once I started doing that the picture differences between the X and XS/XR are minimal.

So I don't see how the SE (which either has the 8 or XR lens) "destroys the X".
 
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achappy said:
This I don't understand. My X takes fantastic pictures and my son has an XR and with the exception of low light, they are almost identical. The key to the X is you have to take off Auto HDR and just force it manually. Once I started doing that the picture differences between the X and XS/XR are minimal.

So I don't see how the SE (which either has the 8 or XR lens) "destroys the X".
Click to expand...

I plan on doing a more in-depth review based on my experience between the X and SE. I’ve been using them both side by side for the last 3 days, and the only feature I miss from the X is tap to wake and swype up to go home. Makes me think the iPhone 12 5.4” (if true) will be incredible if proved accordingly.
 
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achappy said:
This I don't understand. My X takes fantastic pictures and my son has an XR and with the exception of low light, they are almost identical. The key to the X is you have to take off Auto HDR and just force it manually. Once I started doing that the picture differences between the X and XS/XR are minimal.

So I don't see how the SE (which either has the 8 or XR lens) "destroys the X".
Click to expand...

2nd Generation HDR computational photography is what makes the new SE and 11/11 Pro better.
 
oVerboost said:
2nd Generation HDR computational photography is what makes the new SE and 11/11 Pro better.
Click to expand...

But the comparisons to the XR don’t show much improvement over the SE. So if ”A is similar to B, and B is similar to C, C has to be similar to A”. Not “destroys”. I understand some slight improvement just due to what’s possible with the A13.

Like I mentioned, I think part of the reason why the X stock pictures look worse is the AutoHDR is very weak on the X. It rarely kicks in except in extraordinary instances. The XR/XS/11 seem to use it on every picture. Once I turned it off on my X and then forced it on the diffefences were minimal in my comparisons. It will be interesting to see more because I like the size of the SE and if it’s really that much better I may consider.
 
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My wife is an Anatomy and Physiology instructor and we have a full size skeleton in the living room so she can make videos of the bones for distance learning. Here is a head shot (he is currently stored behind a palm):

iPhone_SE_pic.jpg
 
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achappy said:
But the comparisons to the XR don’t show much improvement over the SE. So if ”A is similar to B, and B is similar to C, C has to be similar to A”. Not “destroys”. I understand some slight improvement just due to what’s possible with the A13.

Like I mentioned, I think part of the reason why the X stock pictures look worse is the AutoHDR is very weak on the X. It rarely kicks in except in extraordinary instances. The XR/XS/11 seem to use it on every picture. Once I turned it off on my X and then forced it on the diffefences were minimal in my comparisons. It will be interesting to see more because I like the size of the SE and if it’s really that better I may consider.
Click to expand...

I didn’t say destroy, I said better.

Over the XR it won’t, but the XR was better than the X. You may not be able to see the differences but they’re certainly there. Zoom into areas in the corner of a photo and you’ll notice it has better detail, better facial detail. Also it won’t blow out colours and just deliver a more rounded quality photo.

If you compare HDR off on all the devices then yes the difference won’t be much, but your meant to have it turned on that’s the point.
 
lkalliance said:
Did some quickie comparative photos a moment ago. One each with my 2020 SE and my 2016 SE. None of them edited except to add the text.
...
The second set was taken indoors, still good light but not direct light. Here there is a definite difference in sharpness and definition. I can see it even without zooming in; but zooming in makes it obvious.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting these!

The second set looks very close actually. It looks like the focus point is different between them, not necessarily the sharpness.

In particular, the 2016 SE photo appears to be focused on your jeans at right about your knee, so the dog is out of focus.
But the 2020 SE photo is focused more toward your dog's face, so conversely your knee is out of focus.
 
i486dx2-66 said:
Thanks for posting these!

The second set looks very close actually. It looks like the focus point is different between them, not necessarily the sharpness.

In particular, the 2016 SE photo appears to be focused on your jeans at right about your knee, so the dog is out of focus.
But the 2020 SE photo is focused more toward your dog's face, so conversely your knee is out of focus.
Click to expand...
You’re right, that would explain it too. Hadn’t examined it for that. Hmm.

At any rate my previous SE is now in the hands of its new owner, so no more comparison shots for me, lol.

(I was going to post a video from the new SE, but the forum appears not to allow that.)
 
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