Breakdown of Apple’s three new iPhone 12 camera systems

Apple has just announced the iPhone 12 lineup, and as part of today’s announcement, the company has introduced a dizzying amount of camera technology into its new iPhone. If you’re currently using a single or paired iPhone, you may find a serious upgrade here.

But first, let’s establish a baseline.

One camera: iPhone SE (2020) and iPhone XR

The· iPhone SE Earlier this year, it emerged at a price of $ 399, and the iPhone XR is now $ 499. Both have one 12-megapixel f / 1.8 “wide” camera, but they are not exactly the same. The XR’s sensor is big, and the iPhone SE seems to be as small as the 2017 iPhone 8. Neither is super wide. Or a telephoto lens, or flashy deep fusion technology. Portrait mode shots are also limited to what Apple’s machine learning algorithms can guess about depth, as there is no second camera to verify.

Still, each offers a 6-element lens with optical image stabilization, 4K60 video recording, and basic portrait modes.

Two cameras: iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini each come with two cameras, but perhaps even more importantly, that one main camera has changed. It offers 12 megapixels like previous phones, but the lens has 7 elements and a large f / 1.6 aperture, which gives the sensor 27% more light than its predecessor. That is, the image is bright, quiet, and can be blurry. In dark places, the depth of field is slightly shallower.

It also looks like this:

• The second 12-megapixel f / 2.4 ultra-wide camera has a 120-degree field of view, a 5-element lens, and a focal length equivalent to 13mm. This sounds like the same ultra-wide that you got on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.
• Apple Deep fusion computational photography system, It will be available on both cameras (not just the main), and Apple says it will run faster on the iPhone 12.
• Night mode, which the iPhone SE doesn’t have, works with both the ultra-wide camera here and the front TrueDepth camera. This means you can take night mode shots regardless of the iPhone 12 camera you are using. (IPhone 11 did not support night mode in ultra wide.)
• New night mode timelapse feature
• According to the company, Apple’s Smart HDR 3 system automatically adjusts photo balance, contrast, etc. to make it look more natural.
• Ability to shoot HDR video at 30fps using Dolby Vision

3 cameras + LIDAR: iPhone 12 Pro

Like the iPhone 11 Pro, the iPhone 12 Pro adds a third telephoto camera to the package. As far as we know, this is the same f / 2.0, 52mm telephoto as last year, but now it can also be used to shoot Deep Fusion. Photo. But perhaps most interestingly, the iPhone 12 Pro also has a lidar sensor, which can have significant benefits in the dark. According to Apple, the LIDAR sensor can perform up to 6x faster autofocus in dark places and take portrait photos in night mode. ..

It also looks like this:

• The same main camera and ultra-wide camera as on the iPhone 12, and the same new mode
• 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom thanks to a 52mm equivalent telephoto lens
• HDR video with Dolby Vision like the iPhone 12, but not limited to 30, up to 60fps.

iPhone 12 Pro Max

The iPhone 12 Pro Max’s primary camera seems to be a more remarkable upgrade than the main cameras of other iPhone 12 models — and that camera already The lineup of SE and iPhone 11 has been improved. The 12-ProMax 12-megapixel f / 1.6 aperture camera has a 47% larger sensor, which Apple says will improve photography in the dark by 87%. The main camera also has a sensor shift optical image stabilization mechanism. This means that the camera’s sensors move through the camera to offset the movement. It should, in theory, be a more stable photo or video.

Other things you can get are:

• Due to the longer focal length lens in 65mm format, the optical zoom is 2.5x longer than the iPhone 12 Pro, but the aperture of f / 2.2 is slower.
• Same ultra-wide camera as iPhone 12 and 12 Pro
• Same LIDAR sensor on iPhone 12 Pro
• 12x Digital Zoom — Higher than iPhone 12 Pro
• All the same software features as iPhone 12 Pro, including 60fps Dolby Vision HDR

Both iPhone 12 Pro models will acquire additional software features at some point later this year. Support for Apple’s Pro RAW format, which combines Apple’s calculated photos and RAW. However, until it’s available, it’s difficult to know exactly how you can improve your photo or how much control you’ll have while editing it.