Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

A friend of mine just asked me a question about iPhone photography.
“Back to photography, I’m curious what your group is saying about the iPhone camera.”
She’s a very astute amateur photographer and I think she’s using an iPhone 13.
Personally, I have trouble using my iPhone XS Max, especially when there is insufficient light. Obviously, my first choice is my Nikon D5300.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

User ID

Always find a phone hard to handle, but I do use it as a sketch book. This results in a rare, occasional unintended keeper, but that is waaaaaay too far beyond personal realistic expectation for me to depend on it. Sketchbook is my real intention.

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Finger print smears on the tiny lens is my nearly always engaged "special effect".

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UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I find my iPhone 11 Pro is a wonderful tool for closeup flowers and similar shots. The pano function is quick, but light flare and other issues can be encountered because of the lack of a lens hood. Greater distances are a toss up between my "real" cameras and the iPhone.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

I have an iphone 12 pro max with 3 12mp cameras (13mm, 26mm, 52mm) with stabilization and is excellent in low light with LiDAR. The digital zoom is just so-so. It's especially good for portraiture and landscapes. I recently did a 17x22 print of Niagra falls with an iphone jpg image and I was surprised by the amount of detail and color depth the camera captured. You can capture even more detail by taking overlapping shots and stitching them together. I get even better results shooting raw after post processing. My 12 pro max is not so good at macro photography, but the iphone 13 is supposedly much better. In camera post processing is impressive. It actually does a pretty good job with video. You would not use it where a telephoto lens is required and it's not at the quality level, have the flexibility, nor does it have the capabilities of a higher mp FF camera. I can be much more creative with my FF cameras. I have stopped putting a point and shoot camera in my pocket when not taking a FF camera with me and instead use the iphone cameras.

An interesting question is, would you rather have a fairly new amateur with great camera gear shoot an important event, or a professional with a newer smartphone camera. The answer is the professional of course. I have often posted that 75% of taking good photos is knowledge of the art and science of photography, planning and a little luck; 15% post processing skills; 10% equipment as long as it meets a minimum quality standard, and modern smartphones cameras exceed that. Another quip is, what is the best camera? The one you have with you. I always have my smartphone with me.

DRam11 Loc: Polson, MT

I had an iPhone 10?? Maybe an 11. I got some decent pictures with it. The post processing functions were miles ahead of my present Samsung S21, easy to use an just about anything you would want to modify. The newer versions are probably even better.

My decision to go with Samsung was based on ease of loading music, a more important feature to me than the camera. For photography my Nikon D7500 meets my needs far better than a cell phone.

uhaas2009

On the iPhone you can adjust the light and there are lot of other tricks you can do. You can do even take long exposure. Sure it’s not a dslr but sometimes it does the job

uhaas2009

iphone 13 can take raw pics. I don’t know how that is

JD750 Loc: SoCal

It's like any other camera, understand its limitations and it can deliver fine results. See this link for some examples of award winning photos:
https://www.ippawards.com/?v=7516fd43adaa
and
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/04/apple-unveils-the-best-photos-from-the-shot-on-iphone-macro-challenge/

There are courses offered for using the iphone:
https://iphonephotographyschool.com

Red6

Purchased my wife an iPhone 13 Pro Max several weeks ago and we have had it on vacation at the beach now for several weeks. The photos and videos are stunning. Shooting side by side with her with my Sony RX100 v3, her photos are often better than those I take. The in-body processing is very good. I have not looked at any of them enlarged on the computer yet but I think they will stand up pretty well there also. I am starting to wonder why I carry all my gear around with the iPhone available.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Yes. I will not give up my CSLR. But I am beginning to feel silly carrying a $3000.00 camera with a $2000.00 lens attached to it. The images on iPhones are incredible.

alphonso49uk

I have the iphone 13 max. I previously had the P30 pro which I found sharpened photos to much for my liking. If your the type who takes most of your photos in the 24-70 range it really does produce fantastic quality. It also has the benefit of an excellent wide angle as well. If you dont blow up your photos for large prints youl notice no difference between the iphone and a top quality DSLR and lens set up. Its really superb in low light and has the best panorama funtion Ive ever used. The downside is the size of the photos you end up with...mine avarage out at about 6 mbs...which is still fine for normal prints. The camera itself is pretty much point and shoot. If you want to take control of shutter speed youd have to buy the pro camera app or something similar which isnt very expensive. Its more or less replaced my rx100m3 entirely....If I want more options to zoom I usethe rx10m4. For me its a great set up.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I have had images taken with an iPhone 7 enlarged to 16” by 20” with amazing resolution. I have one framed on a wall next to an image taken with an 800E—no apparent difference in resolution.

BrHawkeye

I have the iPhone 13 Pro Max and have taken hundreds of photos with it, some of which have been posted on Ugly Hedgehog. I really like having it as a camera in my pocket when I unexpectedly come upon something I want to photograph. And I'm happy with the quality of the photos, from macro to 3x telephoto. It will be my backup camera when I travel abroad later this fall.

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

For us true photo enthusiasts, probably the iPhone camera, even the model 14 coming up with the 47 mp camera, will never really be the "be all" for us. But, one cannot deny the fact that, in our normal daily iphone carry, we now always have a camera with us. Maybe 27/7? And we cannot deny that the iPhone camera system continues to get better.

I suggest that anyone, maybe everyone, should take a course in using their Phone camera. (Apple or Android) There are numerous helpful videos on YouTube. The Great Courses website has a wonderful course on Understanding and Using your Phone camera. And I am sure a Google Search will find many more. That way, when we use it, for whatever reason, we will be using it at our best.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

iPhones made instant photographers out of very lazy people.