iPhone 13 Pro Serious Photography Question for Pro vs Regular iPhones

[swandy]

I have a iPhone 12 (not the PRO version) and decided this year to listen to all the messages I am getting from Apple that I am entitled to an upgrade. I can either get the 13 now, wait for the 14 release to get the 13 presumably a bit cheaper or just dive in for the 14.
But my question is (for people who really enjoy still photography - my interest in video is relatively small): Is the improvements of the PRO versions vs the regular models (I have never had or used a PRO version) really impressive/important if you really love photography? I have several "real" cameras and even on our last few trips I left my DSLRs at home and just took my iPhone and a small Sony digital camera and really didn't miss the larger camera and lenses.
While I prefer the size of the non-Max phones - the increase in the cost is not a deal breaker for me. (I also read people "complaining" about the weight of the PRO version being noticeable, but I will assume they are referring to the larger versions of the PRO camera.)
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RRC]

As good as the iPhone cameras are, and they are really impressive to 90% of people there still isn’t a replacement for a larger sensor on a phone, even the one inch sensor Sony devices aren’t actually as impressive as you might think as the glass is still small and lesser quality than that of a larger dedicated zoom or especially a prime lens.

I shoot DSLR’s but for travel always take my RX100 with me because I still prefer a physical camera and the images are still very high quality. The sensor is still massive compared to that on an iPhone remember.

The 14 Pro is rumoured to be receiving a larger sensor again with a large increase in megapixels. It remains to be seen how that translates into a real life noticeable difference as the pixels will be binned to around 12.5mp so although an increase in pixels, it may not be an increase in quality as much as people think.

Personally in your situation, wait to see what the 14 Pro has, see what the camera reviews say and go from there.

 

[Lee_Bo]

As a photographer, I use my iPhone 90% of the time (landscape & nature shots). For wildlife / sports I still use my Canon’s with incredibly obnoxious zoom lenses.

I’m personally waiting on the 14 Pro Max.

 

[swandy]

As good as the iPhone cameras are, and they are really impressive to 90% of people there still isn’t a replacement for a larger sensor on a phone, even the one inch sensor Sony devices aren’t actually as impressive as you might think as the glass is still small and lesser quality than that of a larger dedicated zoom or especially a prime lens.

I shoot DSLR’s but for travel always take my RX100 with me because I still prefer a physical camera and the images are still very high quality. The sensor is still massive compared to that on an iPhone remember.

The 14 Pro is rumoured to be receiving a larger sensor again with a large increase in megapixels. It remains to be seen how that translates into a real life noticeable difference as the pixels will be binned to around 12.5mp so although an increase in pixels, it may not be an increase in quality as much as people think.

Personally in your situation, wait to see what the 14 Pro has, see what the camera reviews say and go from there.

I also have the Sony RX100 (version 5) and love it and for a small camera I find it very impressive. (My regular camera is an Olympus EM5-mk3.) I always took my "larger" camera when traveling to places that I didn't plan to revisit. Places like San Francisco and Florida that we visit a lot I would take my RX100 or the last time just the iPhone 12. We recently went to Spain and before that on a riverboat through French Wine Country and only took the RX100 and our iPhones. (I did take a small CanonSX730HS for the incredible long zoom lens for shot from the boat though.) And was very impressed with the results from both.
Thanks.

 

[swandy]

As a photographer, I use my iPhone 90% of the time (landscape & nature shots). For wildlife / sports I still use my Canon’s with incredibly obnoxious zoom lenses.

I’m personally waiting on the 14 Pro Max.

Don't do much wildlife but understand where you are coming from. Thanks for the input.

 

[jav6454]

IMO, both offer good camera's, but I have found the Pro's camera system offers more flexibility.

 

[climber2020]

The main benefit of the Pro is the telephoto lens. I found ProRAW to be overrated, but opinions differ.

I currently have a 12 Mini. I bought the 13 Pro on launch day and sent it back to Apple within a week. The main lens (26 mm) produced worse photos than my 12 Mini. Areas of the photos with the 13 Pro were consistently blurred, and best case scenario under most lighting conditions, I could not tell any difference between the 2 devices; if anything, the 12 Mini consistently made sharper photos. Shot with both the native camera app and RAW with Lightroom Mobile; same results regardless of HEIC or RAW. You'd think with a significantly larger sensor, there'd be an obvious improvement, but I just didn't see it.

I thought maybe I got a dud so put up a post on DPreview, and other people there noticed the same thing. My theory is that it's an issue with the lens design on the 13 Pro's main camera. It's a shame, because I loved the telephoto and upgraded ultrawide, but I use the main camera 90% of the time, so it wasn't worth the compromise.

I'm planning on upgrading to the 14 Pro, so I hope they sorted out whatever issue they had with the 13 Pro.

 

[golfnut1982]

So close to the next one, you should wait and compare for you.

 

[tranceking26]

I also wonder this. My next iPhone, whatever number it may be, will be a Pro. For now I'd say let's wait and see what the 14 Pro can achieve with the new cameras.

 

[jav6454]

I also wonder this. My next iPhone, whatever number it may be, will be a Pro. For now I'd say let's wait and see what the 14 Pro can achieve with the new cameras.

Do you have a need for 3 cameras?

 

[swandy]

Do you have a need for 3 cameras?

For me it’s not necessarily the three cameras but the fact that it looks like there will be improvements - both in the cameras, the sensor and the screen that won’t be in the non-pro models.

 

[MrAperture]

I have a iPhone 12 (not the PRO version) and decided this year to listen to all the messages I am getting from Apple that I am entitled to an upgrade. I can either get the 13 now, wait for the 14 release to get the 13 presumably a bit cheaper or just dive in for the 14.

iPhone 14 is coming out next month. Just wait, especially since the 14 is supposed to have improved cameras.

 

[jav6454]

For me it’s not necessarily the three cameras but the fact that it looks like there will be improvements - both in the cameras, the sensor and the screen that won’t be in the non-pro models.

The non-Pro iPhones do get improvements, in the end your question should be if the camera improvements between the Pro and reg are worth it.

 

[Eksoccer99]

13PM

 

[lkalliance]

I took the middle route. I was close to the decision to get the 13 Pro purely for the telephoto lens, to put more of my photo-taking onto my phone instead of my DSLR. But in the end I decided not to, due to the opinions expressed here about the shortfalls of the pro's camera. But I did order an external 2x telephoto from Sandmarc, and I do use that from time to time, to reasonable effect.

I will continue to watch as the future generations improve on the 13 Pro's new camera array.