Innovative iPhone 14 Pro Photo System
Is it as revolutionary as Apple claimed?
The newly introduced iPhone 14 Pro (Max) has attracted much attention. Apple fans most often admire the brand new Dynamic Island — Apple has removed the long-criticized top cutout, replaced it with a more or less ordinary cutout, and thanks to the great cooperation with software, managed to polish it into a first-class form, thus noticeably leapfrogging its competitors. And it took so little.
On the other hand, the entire photosystem deserves attention. The main sensor has been given a 48Mpx sensor, while several other changes have also been made. So in this article, we’ll take a closer look at the new iPhone 14 Pro’s camera and its capabilities.
Although the camera doesn’t bring us much change at first glance apart from a higher resolution, the opposite is true. So let’s take a look at the interesting changes and other tweaks of the new flagship from Apple.
iPhone 14 Pro as the camera
As mentioned above, the iPhone 14 Pro has a better main camera that now offers 48MP. To make matters worse, even the sensor itself is 65% larger than the previous generation, allowing the iPhone to offer twice as good images in lower light conditions.
The low-light quality is tripled with the ultra-wide angle and telephoto lenses. But the main 48MP sensor has several other advantages. First and foremost, it can take care of capturing 12Mpx photos, providing double the optical zoom thanks to cropping. On the other hand, the lens can also use the full potential of the ProRAW format — so nothing is stopping iPhone 14 Pro (Max) users from shooting ProRaw images at 48MP.
Something like this is the perfect option for shooting large landscapes with an eye for detail. Moreover, since such an image is huge, it’s possible to crop it properly and still end up with a relatively high-resolution photo. However, it should be mentioned that despite the presence of a 48MP sensor, the iPhone will still shoot 12MP images. This has a fairly simple explanation.
Although larger images can capture more detail and offer better quality, they are considerably more susceptible to light, hurting them. You will get a perfect photo if you shoot a perfectly lit scene. Unfortunately, if you don’t, you may encounter several problems, primarily noise. That’s why Apple relied on pixel binning technology, which combines 2×2 or 3×3 pixel arrays into a single virtual pixel.
As a result, we get a 12Mpx image that does not suffer from the aforementioned shortcomings. So if you want to use the camera's full potential, you will have to shoot in ProRAW format. This will require some extra work, but on the other hand, it will ensure the best possible result.
Lens specifications
Now let’s look at the individual lenses' technical specifications because it’s already clear from these that the new iPhone 14 Pro (Max) can take great photos. As we mentioned above, the basis of the rear photo module is the main wide-angle sensor with a resolution of 48 Mpx, an aperture of f/1.78 and second-generation optical stabilization with sensor shift. The sensor also handles the aforementioned pixel binning.
Apple has also bet on a 24mm focal length, and the lens is made up of seven elements in total. Then there’s the 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, which supports macro shooting, offers a 13mm focal length, and comprises six elements. A 12Mpx telephoto lens with triple optical zoom and f/1.78 aperture then rounds out the rear photo module. The focal length, in this case, is 48mm, and there’s no shortage of second-generation optical stabilisation with sensor shift.
This lens is made up of seven elements. A new component called the Photonic Engine also plays a crucial role. This specific coprocessor builds on the capabilities of Deep Fusion technology, which takes care of combining several images into one for best results and preservation of detail. Thanks to the presence of the Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion starts working a little earlier, bringing specific images to perfection.
iPhone 14 Pro as the video camera
Of course, the new iPhone 14 Pro also gets some cool improvements in the video department. The main focus is on the new Action Mode, available on all lenses and used for recording action scenes.
After all, its main strength lies in its significantly better stabilization, thanks to which you can run around with your phone while shooting and get a clear shot in the end.
While it’s not yet clear how Action Mode will work in practice, it’s expected that footage will eventually be slightly cropped just for better stabilisation. iPhone 14 Pro supports 4K shooting (at 30/24 frames) in Filmmaker Mode.
Be sure to order a model with at least 256GB if you want to unlock all the functionality associated with shooting video.
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