7 ms·

The photography in these kinds of reviews is amazing, and the camera looks pretty stellar compared to the XS, but I find myself reading them wondering if it wil

The photography in these kinds of reviews is amazing, and the camera looks pretty stellar compared to the XS, but I find myself reading them wondering if it will make my pictures any better. I'm a mediocre photographer at best, and I'm certainly not going to be able to capture many images like the ones in this review.

philliphaydon 7y ago
I think if you learn the rule of 2 thirds then it helps a lot. The few people I’ve taught that rule to are much happier with their photos.
- jonlucc 7y ago
  Agreed. I took a photography class in college, and I've turned the guidelines on for previews. I still don't have the command of light and expertise with framing demonstrated here, and I'm not carrying a tripod with me anywhere.
  - scott_s 7y ago
    I've been taking pictures with my iPhone for years and I never knew about the guidelines as an option. (Or I did, and I turned them off many phones ago without realizing their benefit, forgot, and the settings have been dragged with me since.) Thank you.
  - penagwin 7y ago
    IMO the guidelines should be on by default. It's the first setting I change when I get a new phone or camera. Like you said even if you're not a "photographer" it can make a huge difference. EDIT: Also even if somebody has no clue what they're for, it can help keep the image level at the very least.
graeme 7y ago
John Gruber and Matthew Panzerino have good reviews in this respect. Very regular shots. Panzerino does year on year comparisons at Disneyland with his family. https://daringfireball.net/2019/09/the_iphone_11_and_iphones_11_pro https://daringfireball.net/2019/09/the_iphone_11_and_iphones... https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/17/iphone-11-pro-disney-after-dark/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/17/iphone-11-pro-disney-after...
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  The techcrunch review in particular is pretty well done. Almost makes me want to go trade in my 7+ on a new 11 Pro.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    I have an 8 plus and I almost want to pull the trigger on an iPhone 11 Pro. I might wait until next year though.
- dpeck 7y ago
  that's a nice grift to have a recurring tax deductible Disney trip for the family each year.
  - Synaesthesia 7y ago
    Then again, wanting to return there so often, is not something which I share.
  - pastor_elm 7y ago
    Also, an easy way to 'hire' your kids, pay them, and give them a near tax free income.
coldtea 7y ago
>wondering if it will make my pictures any better It will make your pictures better in angle of view possibilities, better low light, and more correct exposure. That is, in the technical aspects that they've improved on. It wont make your framing better, or the subject matter more interesting.
matwood 7y ago
You're right that equipment does not make the photographer. But, if having better equipment gets you out taking more pictures, it will improve your photography. It just takes practice. We all have amazing cameras in our pockets, and it's possible to take thousands of shots (ie, practice) for effectively no additional cost. When I was a kid, film and developing was expensive to the point that taking a picture was a somewhat special thing.
- dpark 7y ago
  Practice is deliberate, though. Merely taking a ton of photos won’t make you better if you aren’t actively trying to improve. Lots of people have phones full of photos of their kids that look no different than the photos they would have taken with a 35mm point and shoot. Most people don’t even try to frame properly, because they don’t know it’s a thing, and also because they don’t really care.
lm28469 7y ago
> The photography in these kinds of reviews is amazing That's because making a nice photo is less about the tool used and more about framing, contrast, subject, &c. I can't find it right now but there was a website showing amazing pictures taken with early digital cameras which were horrendous compared to today's entry smartphones.
overcast 7y ago
The key elements to these photos basically come down to dramatic lighting(dawn/dusk), leading lines(look at the bridge and waterway shots, your eyes are guided to the mountains and the horizon), and the rule of thirds(dividing your image up into quadrants, and keeping important subjects at their intersections). Basic stuff, but as always requires LOTS of practice and experimentation.
- lumost 7y ago
  One thing modern cameras do a great job at is making it easy to photograph dramatic lighting. Historically it required a lot of practice and hand tuning with pricier equipment to take such photos.
- jtmarmon 7y ago
  And when following the rule of thirds, how many quadrants should one divide their photo into?
  - wongarsu 7y ago
    nine nonants
  - overcast 7y ago
    3x3 grid
- tjr 7y ago
  I recently got back home from a trip to Alaska. While I hauled a couple of SLR cameras, bag of lenses, and tripod, around with me, I also took a bunch of pictures with my iPhone XS. The iPhone pictures were pretty impressive, but for exactly the reason you suggest... being at some impressive-looking places at a good time. The iPhone is certainly a decent point-and-shoot camera.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    My trip pictures tend to be a mix of iPhone and “good camera”. Some shots are obviously the bigger sensor and camera/lens offering more control. But a lot of them I’d be hard put to say even on a big TV. Top-Notch print would often be a different matter but I make very few of those.
Analemma_ 7y ago
The low light performance seems like a genuine leap forward compared to previous iPhones, so your low-light shots will probably look considerably better with no effort required on your part. But to get the rest of the benefits and take pictures like the other, you’ll need genuine photographic training/experience.
chapium 7y ago
I remember a friend photobug taking a few photos with her flip phone camera and it was phenomenal for what it was. There is definitely a skill there that goes beyond lense quality.
mc32 7y ago
Ten rules of photography and when to break them is a decent guide to start with: http://photonlab.com/photography-classes-florida/creativity-workshop/10-rules-of-photography-to-know-break/ http://photonlab.com/photography-classes-florida/creativity-...
localhost 7y ago
Being able to pre-visualize the photo in your mind is the key skill aspect of photography. That skill can absolutely be learned so you can look and anticipate an interesting photo before you shoot it. Often that requires you to move around a bit and see what the camera can “see”. The latter is why phone cameras are so amazing compared to, say a DSLR which shows you what your eye can see (which is quite different). The former requires training your mind to see objects differently. You can do this through deliberate practice, e.g., shoot round things for the next month and look back to see how you are improving. Good luck!
Alex3917 7y ago
> I'm certainly not going to be able to capture many images like the ones in this review. The cormorant fisherman literally pose in costume in front of dramatic landscape features. All you need to do is show up at the right time of day and give them a few yuan to take their picture, and you will get comparable results.
chadash 7y ago
I moved to a Pixel 3 last year, another phone known for having a good camera. I find that the automated settings take much better pictures than I was able to do before. Am I taking professional level pics? Not even close. But I get excellent everyday photos that are leagues above my previous phone. It sounds like this latest iPhone does even better (although I'm sure the upcoming Pixel 4 will have a few tricks up its sleeve as well).
- ldrndll 7y ago
  Yeah, exactly this. I mostly take photos of my kids using Portrait mode on the iPhone. People often comment on how good the photos look, and I’ve done nothing special beyond switch to Portrait mode.
  - matwood 7y ago
    And photo purists complain about portrait mode on the iPhone all the time. For the everyday picture taker, the phones we have in our pockets are amazing.
    - toasterlovin 7y ago
      It's insane. I don't have a professional photographer to take pictures of my kids. I have me and my phone. Anything that makes those pictures look better is something I will appreciate for the rest of my life as I look at and revisit those photos.
dddrh 7y ago
Then this review might be more up your alley :D https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johnpaczkowski/iphone-11-pro-review-for-dog-owners https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johnpaczkowski/iphone-1...
jartelt 7y ago
Many peoples' photos can be improved by 1) trying to be more still while the HDR photos are being captured, 2) resist the urge to zoom, 3) tap on the area of the photo you want to be in focus before shooting, and 4) generally stick with landscape mode. This is especially true when taking a picture of someone in front of a mountain (or something similar). Don't zoom! Take a picture of the mountains with the people in view, not a close up picture of the people with a sliver of mountain in the background.
- dsego 7y ago
  Experiment with perspective, take a photo from up above your head tilted downward, or lower from the waist. Sometimes it helps to get closer to the subject to fill the frame and get some natural depth of field. Also,a cheap tripod selfie stick works wonders, esp. at night with manual exposure time. And a personal gripe, don't ever ever cut off the feet, people end up looking like cardboard cutouts.
safog 7y ago
So I want to throw out something quickly - just because someone claims a photo has been shot on an iPhone doesn't mean that they shot it in the same way as you or I would. Lots of people have special lenses that they attach in front of the iPhone camera lens to get a macro / wide angle view. They almost always shoot RAW with an app that supports this. They also use a mini tripod to stabilize the photo and use techniques like long exposure. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEH38ZxUYAQDPBT?format=jpg&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEH38ZxUYAQDPBT?format=jpg&name=... There's also a lot of editing skill that goes into this - a photographer won't simply take whatever processing the phone comes up with use it out of the box. I personally use the lightroom mobile camera to capture RAW photos and play around a bit with curves, exposure, hsl etc. to get the look I want. I assume if they're a pro photographer, they move the RAW photo to the PC / iPad and add some photoshop magic as well. The output (depends on the photographer ofcourse but for the ones I like) looks very natural and doesn't have the same look as simply applying an instagram filter on top of an iPhone camera shot image. Obviously the composition etc., that folks are talking about matter a lot as well but IMO, these days camera hardware is so good that you can get all sorts of detail out of what you assumed was a blown out camera RAW. Crops work fairly well too because of how high-res the photos are, so if you're not too pleased with your initial composition, crop + photoshop fixes will get you a long way. As a whole, photography these days is about 70% editing and 30% photo taking technique (lighting, composition, aperture, shutter speed, iso etc.)
- nicoburns 7y ago
  > people have special lenses that they attach in front of the iPhone camera lens to get a macro / wide angle view To be fair, one of the things highlighted in this review is that the new iPhone has this functionality built in. Everyone (with this phone) has a wide angle view now.
  - wlesieutre 7y ago
    To nitpick a bit, the standard iPhone lenses have always been wide angle. The new ones are ultrawide.
_ph_ 7y ago
Of course, these photographs first show how good a photographer the author is :). But to get these results, the camera needs to be good enough, and they are stunning for smartphone pictures, especially in low light. Also, the comparisons with the XS show, how much progress has been made.
rolltiide 7y ago
The Lighting at the time is more important than the lens being used The Lens being used is more important than the camera sensor being used The camera sensor is more important than the camera body being used Stick to this fundamental reality in that order and the novelty of “a pHoNE dID ThIs” wears off quick. Now, I can say that the depth cameras and non-destructive software depth processing is getting some amazing effects and enhancements outside of this framework.
- ubercow13 7y ago
  These seem like half-truths which don't really apply any more. Especially in smartphones, the body makes more difference than the sensor if you consider that most advancements are in software not sensor tech.
roywiggins 7y ago
I got one of the recent Android phones with a superwide angle lens, and being able to zoom out is a real boon for group photos, indoor photos, and occasional landscape/cityscape shots. It doesn't make my shots better but it means I can take pictures I just couldn't otherwise.
la_barba 7y ago
A newer camera will only help if you were actually limited by the previous camera. If you consider photography to be art, then to an extent the camera is just a tool to express your creativity. Different cameras/tools have different limitations, and certain things are impossible without the right tool - you can't get the oil painting look using watercolor, etc.

philliphaydon 7y ago

I think if you learn the rule of 2 thirds then it helps a lot. The few people I’ve taught that rule to are much happier with their photos.

jonlucc 7y ago
Agreed. I took a photography class in college, and I've turned the guidelines on for previews. I still don't have the command of light and expertise with framing demonstrated here, and I'm not carrying a tripod with me anywhere.
- scott_s 7y ago
  I've been taking pictures with my iPhone for years and I never knew about the guidelines as an option. (Or I did, and I turned them off many phones ago without realizing their benefit, forgot, and the settings have been dragged with me since.) Thank you.
- penagwin 7y ago
  IMO the guidelines should be on by default. It's the first setting I change when I get a new phone or camera. Like you said even if you're not a "photographer" it can make a huge difference. EDIT: Also even if somebody has no clue what they're for, it can help keep the image level at the very least.

graeme 7y ago

John Gruber and Matthew Panzerino have good reviews in this respect. Very regular shots. Panzerino does year on year comparisons at Disneyland with his family. https://daringfireball.net/2019/09/the_iphone_11_and_iphones_11_pro https://daringfireball.net/2019/09/the_iphone_11_and_iphones... https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/17/iphone-11-pro-disney-after-dark/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/17/iphone-11-pro-disney-after...

rootusrootus 7y ago
The techcrunch review in particular is pretty well done. Almost makes me want to go trade in my 7+ on a new 11 Pro.
- scarface74 7y ago
  I have an 8 plus and I almost want to pull the trigger on an iPhone 11 Pro. I might wait until next year though.
dpeck 7y ago
that's a nice grift to have a recurring tax deductible Disney trip for the family each year.
- Synaesthesia 7y ago
  Then again, wanting to return there so often, is not something which I share.
- pastor_elm 7y ago
  Also, an easy way to 'hire' your kids, pay them, and give them a near tax free income.

coldtea 7y ago

>wondering if it will make my pictures any better It will make your pictures better in angle of view possibilities, better low light, and more correct exposure. That is, in the technical aspects that they've improved on. It wont make your framing better, or the subject matter more interesting.

matwood 7y ago

You're right that equipment does not make the photographer. But, if having better equipment gets you out taking more pictures, it will improve your photography. It just takes practice. We all have amazing cameras in our pockets, and it's possible to take thousands of shots (ie, practice) for effectively no additional cost. When I was a kid, film and developing was expensive to the point that taking a picture was a somewhat special thing.

dpark 7y ago
Practice is deliberate, though. Merely taking a ton of photos won’t make you better if you aren’t actively trying to improve. Lots of people have phones full of photos of their kids that look no different than the photos they would have taken with a 35mm point and shoot. Most people don’t even try to frame properly, because they don’t know it’s a thing, and also because they don’t really care.

lm28469 7y ago

> The photography in these kinds of reviews is amazing That's because making a nice photo is less about the tool used and more about framing, contrast, subject, &c. I can't find it right now but there was a website showing amazing pictures taken with early digital cameras which were horrendous compared to today's entry smartphones.

overcast 7y ago

The key elements to these photos basically come down to dramatic lighting(dawn/dusk), leading lines(look at the bridge and waterway shots, your eyes are guided to the mountains and the horizon), and the rule of thirds(dividing your image up into quadrants, and keeping important subjects at their intersections). Basic stuff, but as always requires LOTS of practice and experimentation.

lumost 7y ago
One thing modern cameras do a great job at is making it easy to photograph dramatic lighting. Historically it required a lot of practice and hand tuning with pricier equipment to take such photos.
jtmarmon 7y ago
And when following the rule of thirds, how many quadrants should one divide their photo into?
- wongarsu 7y ago
  nine nonants
- overcast 7y ago
  3x3 grid
tjr 7y ago
I recently got back home from a trip to Alaska. While I hauled a couple of SLR cameras, bag of lenses, and tripod, around with me, I also took a bunch of pictures with my iPhone XS. The iPhone pictures were pretty impressive, but for exactly the reason you suggest... being at some impressive-looking places at a good time. The iPhone is certainly a decent point-and-shoot camera.
- ghaff 7y ago
  My trip pictures tend to be a mix of iPhone and “good camera”. Some shots are obviously the bigger sensor and camera/lens offering more control. But a lot of them I’d be hard put to say even on a big TV. Top-Notch print would often be a different matter but I make very few of those.

Analemma_ 7y ago

The low light performance seems like a genuine leap forward compared to previous iPhones, so your low-light shots will probably look considerably better with no effort required on your part. But to get the rest of the benefits and take pictures like the other, you’ll need genuine photographic training/experience.

chapium 7y ago

I remember a friend photobug taking a few photos with her flip phone camera and it was phenomenal for what it was. There is definitely a skill there that goes beyond lense quality.

mc32 7y ago

Ten rules of photography and when to break them is a decent guide to start with: http://photonlab.com/photography-classes-florida/creativity-workshop/10-rules-of-photography-to-know-break/ http://photonlab.com/photography-classes-florida/creativity-...

localhost 7y ago

Being able to pre-visualize the photo in your mind is the key skill aspect of photography. That skill can absolutely be learned so you can look and anticipate an interesting photo before you shoot it. Often that requires you to move around a bit and see what the camera can “see”. The latter is why phone cameras are so amazing compared to, say a DSLR which shows you what your eye can see (which is quite different). The former requires training your mind to see objects differently. You can do this through deliberate practice, e.g., shoot round things for the next month and look back to see how you are improving. Good luck!

Alex3917 7y ago

> I'm certainly not going to be able to capture many images like the ones in this review. The cormorant fisherman literally pose in costume in front of dramatic landscape features. All you need to do is show up at the right time of day and give them a few yuan to take their picture, and you will get comparable results.

chadash 7y ago

I moved to a Pixel 3 last year, another phone known for having a good camera. I find that the automated settings take much better pictures than I was able to do before. Am I taking professional level pics? Not even close. But I get excellent everyday photos that are leagues above my previous phone. It sounds like this latest iPhone does even better (although I'm sure the upcoming Pixel 4 will have a few tricks up its sleeve as well).

ldrndll 7y ago
Yeah, exactly this. I mostly take photos of my kids using Portrait mode on the iPhone. People often comment on how good the photos look, and I’ve done nothing special beyond switch to Portrait mode.
- matwood 7y ago
  And photo purists complain about portrait mode on the iPhone all the time. For the everyday picture taker, the phones we have in our pockets are amazing.
  - toasterlovin 7y ago
    It's insane. I don't have a professional photographer to take pictures of my kids. I have me and my phone. Anything that makes those pictures look better is something I will appreciate for the rest of my life as I look at and revisit those photos.

dddrh 7y ago

Then this review might be more up your alley :D https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johnpaczkowski/iphone-11-pro-review-for-dog-owners https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johnpaczkowski/iphone-1...

jartelt 7y ago

Many peoples' photos can be improved by 1) trying to be more still while the HDR photos are being captured, 2) resist the urge to zoom, 3) tap on the area of the photo you want to be in focus before shooting, and 4) generally stick with landscape mode. This is especially true when taking a picture of someone in front of a mountain (or something similar). Don't zoom! Take a picture of the mountains with the people in view, not a close up picture of the people with a sliver of mountain in the background.

dsego 7y ago
Experiment with perspective, take a photo from up above your head tilted downward, or lower from the waist. Sometimes it helps to get closer to the subject to fill the frame and get some natural depth of field. Also,a cheap tripod selfie stick works wonders, esp. at night with manual exposure time. And a personal gripe, don't ever ever cut off the feet, people end up looking like cardboard cutouts.

safog 7y ago

So I want to throw out something quickly - just because someone claims a photo has been shot on an iPhone doesn't mean that they shot it in the same way as you or I would. Lots of people have special lenses that they attach in front of the iPhone camera lens to get a macro / wide angle view. They almost always shoot RAW with an app that supports this. They also use a mini tripod to stabilize the photo and use techniques like long exposure. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEH38ZxUYAQDPBT?format=jpg&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEH38ZxUYAQDPBT?format=jpg&name=... There's also a lot of editing skill that goes into this - a photographer won't simply take whatever processing the phone comes up with use it out of the box. I personally use the lightroom mobile camera to capture RAW photos and play around a bit with curves, exposure, hsl etc. to get the look I want. I assume if they're a pro photographer, they move the RAW photo to the PC / iPad and add some photoshop magic as well. The output (depends on the photographer ofcourse but for the ones I like) looks very natural and doesn't have the same look as simply applying an instagram filter on top of an iPhone camera shot image. Obviously the composition etc., that folks are talking about matter a lot as well but IMO, these days camera hardware is so good that you can get all sorts of detail out of what you assumed was a blown out camera RAW. Crops work fairly well too because of how high-res the photos are, so if you're not too pleased with your initial composition, crop + photoshop fixes will get you a long way. As a whole, photography these days is about 70% editing and 30% photo taking technique (lighting, composition, aperture, shutter speed, iso etc.)

nicoburns 7y ago
> people have special lenses that they attach in front of the iPhone camera lens to get a macro / wide angle view To be fair, one of the things highlighted in this review is that the new iPhone has this functionality built in. Everyone (with this phone) has a wide angle view now.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  To nitpick a bit, the standard iPhone lenses have always been wide angle. The new ones are ultrawide.

_ph_ 7y ago

Of course, these photographs first show how good a photographer the author is :). But to get these results, the camera needs to be good enough, and they are stunning for smartphone pictures, especially in low light. Also, the comparisons with the XS show, how much progress has been made.

rolltiide 7y ago

The Lighting at the time is more important than the lens being used The Lens being used is more important than the camera sensor being used The camera sensor is more important than the camera body being used Stick to this fundamental reality in that order and the novelty of “a pHoNE dID ThIs” wears off quick. Now, I can say that the depth cameras and non-destructive software depth processing is getting some amazing effects and enhancements outside of this framework.

ubercow13 7y ago
These seem like half-truths which don't really apply any more. Especially in smartphones, the body makes more difference than the sensor if you consider that most advancements are in software not sensor tech.

roywiggins 7y ago

I got one of the recent Android phones with a superwide angle lens, and being able to zoom out is a real boon for group photos, indoor photos, and occasional landscape/cityscape shots. It doesn't make my shots better but it means I can take pictures I just couldn't otherwise.

la_barba 7y ago

A newer camera will only help if you were actually limited by the previous camera. If you consider photography to be art, then to an extent the camera is just a tool to express your creativity. Different cameras/tools have different limitations, and certain things are impossible without the right tool - you can't get the oil painting look using watercolor, etc.