Apple doesn’t want to answer these questions about the new iPhones:
- Is it worth trading in my iPhone 8 for the iPhone 11 Pro Max?
- How much better is the new-fangled triple camera?
- Actually, is the iPhone even the best option on the market?
It’s your hard-earned cash – you deserve some answers.
The answers will affect your day-to-day life in addition to your phone photography and videography capabilities.
A new smartphone is a significant investment. So, do your research – all your research – before purchasing.
All You Need to Know About 2020’s iPhones
Apple has finally made the significant changes to their phones we’ve been expecting for years now.
You now have a phone that has not one, not two, but three cameras. Apple took a page out of Huawei’s playbook and gave its users a full photography tool belt on their phone.
You’ve also got an extended battery life that’s great for travel photography.
Here are some of Apple’s talking points:
“Combine cutting‑edge technology with the legendary simplicity of iPhone”
“Capture up to four times more scene”
“Beautiful images in drastically lower light”
“Shoot the highest‑quality video in a smartphone”
Based on early reports, Apple delivered on all four of these promises.
But, have you thought about whether the upgrade is worth it? When you can buy a two-year-old iPhone for half the price of a new one, it’s a question worth considering.
Would you automatically buy a new car when a used car could save you money and get the job done?
Probably not, right?
Compare all the iPhones – from the 12 to the 8 – before making your decision.
[amazon table=”1518″]
iPhone 12 –
iPhone 12 Release Year: 2020
iPhone 12 Camera:
- Specific Specs to Come
iPhone 12 Camera:
- Specific Specs to Come
iPhone 12 Camera:
- Specific Specs to Come
iPhone 12 Videography:
- Specific Specs to Come
iPhone SE –
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iPhone SE Release Year: 2020
iPhone SE Back Camera:
- Wide 12MP camera
- ƒ/1.8 aperture
- Digital zoom of up to 5x is great at this price point
- Apple’s Portrait Mode included
- Advanced red-eye correction
- AIS + OIS helps all content creators
- Burst Mode makes action photography easy
- Six different options for Portrait Lighting
iPhone SE Front Camera:
- Selfie 7MP camera
- ƒ/2.2 aperture
- Apple’s Portrait Mode included
- Six different options for Portrait Lighting
- 1080p HD video @ 30 fps
- QuickTake video is great for vloggers
- Auto HDR is effective
- Burst Mode included (less useful than in Rear Camera)
iPhone SE Videography:
- 4k @ 30 fps
- 1080p HD @ 30/60 fps
- 720p HD @ 30 fps
- 3x Digital Zoom
- Slo‑mo (1080p) @ 120/240 fps
- Time‑lapse video with stabilization
- Continual Auto-Focus is nice touch for usability
iPhone 11 Pro Max –
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iPhone 11 Pro Max Release Year: 2019
iPhone 11 Pro Max Ultrawide Camera:
- 12 MP sensor
- 13 mm focal length
- ƒ/2.4 aperture
- 5-element lens
- 120° field of view
iPhone 11 Pro Max Wide Camera:
- Optical image stabilization
- 100% Focus Pixels
- New 12MP sensor
- 26 mm focal length
- ƒ/1.8 aperture
- 6-element lens
iPhone 11 Pro Max Telephoto Camera:
- 12 MP sensor
- Larger ƒ/2.0 aperture
- 6-element lens
- Optical image stabilization
- 2x optical zoom
- 52 mm focal length
iPhone 11 Pro Max Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone 11 Pro –
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iPhone 11 Pro Release Year: 2019
iPhone 11 Pro Ultra Wide Camera:
- 12 MP sensor
- ƒ/2.4 aperture
- 120° field of view
- Optical image stabilization
- 2x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom
- 6 Portrait Lighting Effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High-Key Mono)
- Burst mode
iPhone 11 Pro Wide Camera:
- 12 MP sensor
- ƒ/1.8 aperture
- 120° field of view
- Optical image stabilization
- 2x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom
- 6 Portrait Lighting Effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High-Key Mono)
- Burst mode
iPhone 11 Pro TrueDepth Camera:
- 12MP camera
- Animoji and Memoji
- ƒ/2.2 aperture
- Portrait mode (new and improved bokeh and depth control)
iPhone 11 Pro Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone 11 –
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iPhone 11 Release Year: 2019
iPhone 11 Camera:
- 12 MP sensor
- 26mm
- f/1.8
- Night Mode
- Optical image stabilization
iPhone 11 Ultrawide Camera:
- 12 MP sensor
- 13mm
- f/2.4
- 120-degree field of view
- Preview between regular and ultrawide
iPhone 11 TrueDepth Camera:
- Selfie cam now features a wider view
- Slo-mo video
- 4K recording
iPhone 11 Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone XS Max –
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iPhone XS Max Release Year: 2018
iPhone XS Max Front Camera:
- 7 MP sensor
iPhone XS Max Rear Camera:
- Dual Camera Wide-Angle and Telephoto
- 12 MP sensor Wide-Angle lens with ƒ/1.8
- 12 MP sensor Telephoto lens with ƒ/2.4
iPhone XS Max Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone XS –
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iPhone XS Release Year: 2018
iPhone XS Camera:
- 26mm Wide-Angle lens
- 12 MP sensor
- ƒ/1.8
- 52 mm Telephoto lens
- 12 MP sensor
- f/2.4
- Quad-LED dual-tone flash
- High Dynamic Range
- Optimal Image Stabilization
- Dual-Front-Camera: 32mm Standard 7 MP, f/2.2 & SL 3D (depth/biometrics sensor)
iPhone XS Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone XR –
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iPhone XR Release Year: 2018
iPhone XR Camera:
- 12MP Wide camera
- Digital zoom up to 5x
- ƒ/1.8 aperture
- Optical image stabilization
- Six‑element lens
- Portrait mode (bokeh and depth control)
- Portrait Lighting with three effects (Natural, Studio, Contour)
iPhone XR TrueDepth Camera:
iPhone XR TrueDepth Camera:
- 7MP camera
- Smart HDR
- ƒ/2.2 aperture
- Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control
- Portrait Lighting with six effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High-Key Mono)
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- Animoji and Memoji
iPhone XR Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone X –
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iPhone X Release Year: 2017
iPhone X Camera:
- Dual 12MP Wide and Telephoto cameras
- Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture
- Telephoto: ƒ/2.4 aperture
- Portrait mode
- Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono)
- 2x optical zoom in; digital zoom up to 10x
- Front camera – 7 MP, ƒ/2.2
iPhone X Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone 8 Plus –
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iPhone 8 Plus Release Year: 2017
iPhone 8 Plus Camera:
- Dual 12MP Wide and Telephoto cameras
- Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture
- Telephoto: ƒ/2.8 aperture
- Portrait mode
- Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono)
- 2x optical zoom in; digital zoom up to 10x
iPhone 8 Plus Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
iPhone 8 –
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iPhone 8 Release Year: 2017
iPhone 8 Camera:
- Single 12MP Wide camera
- 5x digital zoom
- Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture
- Six‑element lens
- Optical image stabilization
- LED True Tone flash with Slow Sync
iPhone 8 Videography:
- 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilization for video
Conclusion: The Best iPhone for Phone Photography
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Ok, so the new cameras on the iPhone are awesome – both for phone photography and phone videography. They are in fact better than Apple’s previous releases.
But, how much better are they really? Can some smartphone photography hacks make up for the inadequacies?
We decided to find the oldest iPhone in our office and investigate.
iPhone 5c versus iPhone 11 Pro Max
So, the oldest phone we could find is an iPhone 5s (pretty embarrassing for a smartphone camera photography website, huh?). For comparison though, it boasts an eight-megapixel camera with 1.5µ size pixels. As far as videography goes, the camera records 1080p HD video at 30 fps.
As you can see, the iPhone 5 is admittedly worse than 2018’s iPhones and our employee is going to be fired if he doesn’t upgrade (just kidding.). In terms of both photography and videography, Apple has made serious strides since 2007 (or whenever this dinosaur of a phone is from).
So, if you’re looking for a new phone though, and you also currently have a phone from the same generation as the 5s is it worth upgrading all the way? Or, will the iPhone 7 or 8 suffice?
How about the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, or XS?
Suffice it to say, you’re getting a pretty good value as far as cameras go with the iPhone 7 or 8. Apple upgraded from that eight-megapixel camera to a 12-megapixel one. The 12-megapixel comes standard on both the iPhone 7 and 8.
All You Need to Know About 2018’s iPhones is that they come with the same camera capability. While Apple has made some upgrades – like, underwater capability, TrueDepth, and facial recognition – if you’re a photographer then none of that is worth the extra couple hundred bucks.
In short, Apple’s attention has been drawn away from the camera.
Think of it this way though, the money that you would spend on 2018’s new releases could instead be invested in a top-class clip-on lens to make your older camera better than Apple’s new ones.
We hate to be the bearers of bad news. So, if you’ve already purchased your new iPhone get yourself a useful app instead of buying a lens. You may be completely out of cash, but at least your photos will look top-class!
