iPhone 15 Pro imaging experience: a year of patchwork and water-Quick Technology–Technology changes the future

Last Friday, the new iPhone 15 series was officially launched, and I immediately bought the iPhone 15 Pro.After 2 days of simple experience, today I would like to share with you the imaging performance of iPhone 15 Pro.

As one of the major upgrades of the iPhone 15 Pro, we will share with you the three lenses of the iPhone 15 Pro through actual experience.

The first is the ultra-wide-angle lens. Its hardware parameters are basically the same as those on the iPhone 14 Pro, 12 million pixels, an aperture of f/2.2 and a 120° viewing angle. The biggest upgrade is that it has a more advanced algorithm. How does it perform?

iPhone 15 Pro ultra wide angle sample

Judging from the actual shooting results, this ultra-wide-angle lens still has a strong apple flavor. While the colors are quite realistic, the plants are also quite deliberately sharpened. However, with the support of the new HDR algorithm, the performance of the sky and white clouds is still good.

Coming to the night scene environment, with the support of the high-sharpening algorithm, this ultra-wide-angle lens performs well in shooting buildings even in the night scene environment. However, due to the size of the sensor, the photos become a bit horrible when enlarged.

iPhone 15 Pro ultra wide angle sample

Next is the main wide-angle lens. The main camera sensor on the iPhone 15 Pro is also the same as the previous generation, but with the injection of A17 PRO and new algorithms, it also brings more possibilities.

First of all, in terms of shooting format, the main camera of iPhone 15 Pro has more choices.By default, photos will be output in 24-megapixel HEIF format, and you can also switch back to 12-megapixel mode in the settings.

In addition, for relatively professional users, the professional mode of iPhone 15 Pro also has many ways to play.Photos taken in professional mode have richer details and lower sharpness, but they require post-process parameter adjustments in professional software to unleash the best performance, so for non-professional users, automatic mode is enough.

iPhone 15 Pro main camera auto mode samples

Judging from the actual shooting results, the picture is clean, the colors are accurate, and the overall look and feel is very good.In addition, in terms of the much-criticized “sharpening”, this main camera is relatively “restrained”. It seems that the new imaging algorithm has improved in this aspect.

We also experienced the performance of this main camera in a night scene environment:

iPhone 15 Pro ProRAW sample

In the first picture, we used the ProRAW format to shoot, and we can see that even in harsh lighting conditions, there is still good imaging performance. And thanks to the advantages of the ProRAW format in terms of details, the photos still have a good look and feel even if they are enlarged 100%.

In addition to the rich photo formats, the biggest upgrade of the main camera of the iPhone 15 Pro this time is the custom focal length.

Due to the increase in sensor area, the available focal lengths of the iPhone 15 Pro are getting wider and wider. In addition to the regular 24mm, 28mm and 35mm have also become the regular focal lengths for the main camera. You can even directly adjust any focal length to your default in the settings. focal length. The implementation principle is the same as last year’s principle of cropping the main camera to bring 2X focal length on the iPhone 14 Pro.

It is worth mentioning that in August this year, a blogger broke the news that OPPO’s next major version of the system, ColorOS 14, already supports the selection of the default wide-angle focal length. Isn’t this a “far ahead”~

Finally, there is the telephoto lens.

Due to the limitations of the fuselage space, the 15 Pro was not able to plug in a quadruple reflective prism like the 15 Pro Max to achieve 5x optical zoom. Instead, it was equipped with a 3x optical zoom telephoto like the previous generation. From the parameters and actual Judging from the shooting performance, there is indeed no upgrade. Maybe Apple is focusing all its research and development on Pro Max.

iPhone 15 Pro telephoto sample

iPhone 15 Pro telephoto night scene sample

So why did I not choose to buy the Pro Max model that supports 5x optical zoom, but chose the 15 Pro with a small upgrade?

First of all, I think that although the iPhone 15 Pro Max supports 5x optical zoom, there is no suitable lens to relay between 2X and 5X that are more commonly used in daily life. This results in a very poor image experience between this focal length. Poor, can only rely on main camera cropping.

iPhone 15 Pro 5X sample

In addition, according to the parameter information on Apple’s official website, the 5X telephoto lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is not very top-notch in terms of hardware. This means that when there is sufficient light during the day, the 15 Pro uses the main camera to crop There won’t be a big gap between the high-magnification focal length sample and the 5X telephoto of iPhone 15 Pro Max. In poor light conditions, the telephoto of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will not be triggered, and the main camera will also be used for cropping.

Therefore, I think the 5X telephoto on the iPhone 15 Pro Max this time is more of a gimmick than practical, and the 3X telephoto on the 15 Pro is more suitable for daily experience.

Finally, let’s talk about the “ghosting” problem that the iPhone has always been criticized for.

At the press conference, Apple emphasized that the three cameras of the iPhone 15 Pro series use a new nano-coating, which can effectively reduce the “glare” problem in dark light environments.

Judging from our actual experience, the glare problem has indeed been improved, but the “ghosting” problem still exists, and it can be said without mercy that there is basically no change.

iPhone 15 Pro “ghosting” remains

In general, the iPhone 15 Pro’s imaging has basically not been upgraded in terms of hardware this time. The main upgrades are in imaging algorithms, but I think these imaging algorithms can be reproduced on the 14 Pro series through an OTA. Therefore, the iPhone 15 Pro has basically been in trouble for another year in terms of imaging.