iPhone Air The iPhone Air has a better camera than 17 Pro. Hear me out.

[awshucks]

EDIT: What I mean is the photos taken 7-8" away from the phone. And this is all because it lacks "Macro".
Please stop putting "haha" reactions. It's quite annoying because this message is not funny.

Before macro was enabled by the ultra wide camera, it was integrated into the main camera since the 3GS. So, when taking photos of objects 7-8” away from the lens, like daylily blooms, it does well. I have won photo contests with these kinds of photos. But, with the ultra wide camera getting macro, that capability was taken away from the main lens. So, when taking photos at 1x, it actually crops what the 0.5x lens sees, giving an artificially scaled up 3MP-4MP photo on my 15 Pro. My daylily photos look noticeably worse in 1x on the 15 Pro compared a family member’s 13 (not pro) which lacks extreme closeup "macro". On the 16 Pro and 17 series phones that have the 48MP Ultra Wide, it makes a scaled up 12MP photo instead of a full-quality 48MP photo. Plus, the UW sensor is smaller, so not as much detail.

I have tried every setting possible and have even downloaded third party camera apps, but Apple has either software limited the camera or there are different optics.

However, the digital 12MP 2x lens helps to alleviate those problems somewhat, although it still is not as good as what was taken on the iPhone 13 or even the iPhone X.

So, when taking pictures of objects at about 7" distance in 1x, AND having full 48MP resolution at that, I think the iPhone Air will be an awesome camera to take flower bloom photos with.



iPhone Air users, please enjoy your phones. If you chose a different model, I hope you enjoy your phone as well. We should not be swayed by the keyboard warriors and should think with logic instead of negative hype.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

And this is all because it lacks "Macro".

Before macro was enabled by the ultra wide camera, it was integrated into the main camera since the 3GS. So, when taking photos of objects 7-8” away from the lens, like daylily blooms, it does well. I have won photo contests with these kinds of photos. But, with the ultra wide camera getting macro, that capability was taken away from the main lens. So, when taking photos at 1x, it actually crops what the 0.5x lens sees, giving an artificially scaled up 3MP-4MP photo on my 15 Pro. Plus, the UW sensor is smaller, so not as much detail. My daylily photos look noticeably worse in 1x on the 15 Pro compared a family member’s 13 (not pro) which lacks extreme closeup "macro".

I have tried every setting possible and have even downloaded third party camera apps, but Apple has either software limited the camera or there are different optics.

However, the digital 12MP 2x lens helps to alleviate those problems somewhat, although it still is not as good as what was taken on the iPhone 13 or even the iPhone X.

So, when taking pictures of objects at about 7" distance in 1x, AND having full 48MP resolution at that, I think the iPhone Air will be an awesome camera to take flower bloom photos with.



I'm so sick of the negativity on this platform that you may call this one of my last posts here. After this thread I probably will not come back to MacRumors.

iPhone Air users, please enjoy your phones. If you chose a different model, I hope you enjoy your phone as well. We should not be swayed by the keyboard warriors and should think with logic instead of negative hype.

You do realize the ultra-wide on the 16 and 17 series is 48mp right? Your examples are referencing a 12mp ultra-wide on the 15 series.

 

[awshucks]

You do realize the ultra-wide on the 16 and 17 series is 48mp right? Your examples are referencing a 12mp ultra-wide on the 15 series.

My mistake, I'll correct that.

 

[JPack]

I don't get it. You're saying the 1x on the 17 Pro is worse than the Air? You can turn off the macro lens. Let's not compare with older generation iPhones as that confuses things.

Do you have any comparison photos between 17 Pro and Air?

 

[Ean Holdings]

It sounds like your issue is the minimum focusing distance of the main wide camera on the 17 pro. Does the air allow for a closer minimum focus distance?

 

[awshucks]

It sounds like your issue is the minimum focusing distance of the main wide camera on the 17 pro. Does the air allow for a closer minimum focus distance?

Yes, the air does allow for a closer focus distance.

 

[Moreplease]

Preach!

I noticed this too and agree with your claim in the title.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...distance.2466767/?post=34162265#post-34162265

By the way, the regular iPhone 17 has the same main camera as the Air.

 

[jntdroid]

The 16e's lens was similar - allowed for closer focus distance.

 

[bakron1]

Being a professional photographer for many years, I feel the Air and Pro model cameras work fine for what they were intended for. Don’t try and convince me to compare any smartphone sensor to that of a full frame or any digital SLR, they are not even close.

For the majority of why folks use their phone cameras for ie:social media post and candid snapshots, they are fine. Don’t expect to blow them up to 30x40 and make posters out of them.

 

[vinegarshots]

The problem is that you don't really understand how to use the camera properly.

You need to make sure in Settings > Camera, that Macro Control is turned ON.

Then, with your 1x camera selected, as you get closer to an object, the camera will autoswitch to the 0.5 lens and put it in macro-crop mode (which is what you don't want). But with macro-control turned on, as it auto-switches to the wide lens, you'll see a yellow flower-icon in the lower left of the camera app. Tap that so that it is grayed out, and then it will no longer autoswitch from the 1X camera to the 0.5, and you'll get a photo from the 1X camera.

This is the button that you want to turn OFF (you want it gray, not yellow):

So no, the Air doesn't have a better camera. The 17 Pro can give the exact same results as the Air, but you need to turn off the auto macro-switch

 

[awshucks]

The problem is that you don't really understand how to use the camera properly.

You need to make sure in Settings > Camera, that Macro Control is turned ON.

Then, with your 1x camera selected, as you get closer to an object, the camera will autoswitch to the 0.5 lens and put it in macro-crop mode (which is what you don't want). But with macro-control turned on, as it auto-switches to the wide lens, you'll see a yellow flower-icon in the lower left of the camera app. Tap that so that it is grayed out, and then it will no longer autoswitch from the 1X camera to the 0.5, and you'll get a photo from the 1X camera.

This is the button that you want to turn OFF (you want it gray, not yellow):

So no, the Air doesn't have a better camera. The 17 Pro can give the exact same results as the Air, but you need to turn off the auto macro-switch

I have tried using this and it just shows an out-of-focus image instead of a clear one like I would get on a model that lacks the extreme closeup macro feature. I've tried this on 5 different iPhone models that have Macro control and I get the same result. I have even tried paid third-party camera apps and it still will not get rid of the focus issues.

 

[vinegarshots]

I have tried using this and it just shows an out-of-focus image instead of a clear one like I would get on a model that lacks the extreme closeup macro feature. I've tried this on 5 different iPhone models that have Macro control and I get the same result. I have even tried paid third-party camera apps and it still will not get rid of the focus issues.

I have tried it on all my Pro phones and it works fine. Perfectly sharp 1x main camera photos, from about 7.8 inches away.

I’m really not convinced that you’re following the correct procedure for this, if you truly can’t get it to work on 5 phones…

I could take a sample pic to show you if you don’t believe me ….

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

I am not sure if uploading will compress the image or not, but here is a shot I took with my 15 Pro Max from about 2 inches away from the subject. I personally think the shot looks good and this is the result of macro kicking in. Is this different from the issue you are referring to OP?

 

[jntdroid]

I have tried it on all my Pro phones and it works fine. Perfectly sharp 1x main camera photos, from about 7.8 inches away.

I’m really not convinced that you’re following the correct procedure for this, if you truly can’t get it to work on 5 phones…

I could take a sample pic to show you if you don’t believe me ….

The 16e and 16 can get about 3-4” away. Can’t speak to the Air myself, but it sounds similar.

 

[Gregintosh]

Without getting into Macro stuff, the Air and Pro seem to have the same main camera. I heard the Pro has a slightly bigger sensor but I have not seen a difference in quality or day to day usage and I have had both. So for me, if the main camera is all you use day to day, they are the same.

My 15 Pro only had 3x zoom anyway, so the Air's 1x an 2x is also good enough. The 3x didn't really make a life changing difference compared to 2x. I get that now a days you can get 4x or even 8x but I lived just fine all this time without it, so I don't think I need it now especially if my camera habits remain the same.

I also had the 16e for a while, and that one is noticeably worse in quality for the main camera. Much less clear photos when lighting isn't ideal, and very visibly worse when you do the night mode. I think it comes down to to the fact the Air has sensor shift stabilization like every other modern iPhone. The 16e has only "optical image stabilization" which isn't as good.

 

[bill-p]

So no, the Air doesn't have a better camera. The 17 Pro can give the exact same results as the Air, but you need to turn off the auto macro-switch

Actually, the 17 Pro does NOT give the exact same results. I just measured this with my Air and my wife's 17 Pro Max. You ready?

Closest minimum focusing distance of the main lens (1x) is:

Air: about 4 inches
17 Pro Max: about 6 inches

So no, if you turn off macro mode, 17 Pro Max in fact does NOT give the same result as Air.

I thought I was going crazy so I did a bit of search and this turned up:

iPhone 17 Pro Camera Review: Rule of Three

iPhone 17 Pro is here, a big upgrade and makeover of the iPhone and its cameras. Is it really as big of a deal as they say?

www.lux.camera

What's beginning to get very old is its lack of close focusing. Its new sibling camera in iPhone Air focuses a whole 5 cm (that's basically 2 inches) closer, and it's very noticeable.

I did test Macro mode on 17 Pro Max too, of course. It can get as close as 0.35" or thereabout. So Macro mode is still noticeably better than what Air can do, which is what we in photography consider "close up". But no, the main lens of 17 Pro Max does not focus that close. Sadly.

 

[perezr10]

I’ve been using my Air for some magnify functions. I think in this very specific case, the OP could be correct with his thesis.

Although, this is really more of an iOS issue and not a camera issue. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple made some camera tweaks on the Pro in future updates.

 

[Gregintosh]

The 2x zoom on the Air can act as a poor man's macro lens. Not as good as proper macro lens but still gets close enough to help read some small text. It's helps lower the pain point of not having macro capabilities by 50%.

 

[vinegarshots]

Actually, the 17 Pro does NOT give the exact same results. I just measured this with my Air and my wife's 17 Pro Max. You ready?

Closest minimum focusing distance of the main lens (1x) is:

Air: about 4 inches
17 Pro Max: about 6 inches

So no, if you turn off macro mode, 17 Pro Max in fact does NOT give the same result as Air.

Thats strange! Interesting. I would have assumed that Apple used the same lens/sensor on both. Maybe it has to do with trying to keep the Air as thin as possible...might have needed some minor tweaks that affected the focus distance?

 

[bill-p]

Thats strange! Interesting. I would have assumed that Apple used the same lens/sensor on both. Maybe it has to do with trying to keep the Air as thin as possible...might have needed some minor tweaks that affected the focus distance?

DPReview did a breakdown of the new iPhone 17 lineup and it's like this basically:

So if anything, I guess base iPhone 17 is the sleeper agent here. Except for telephoto lens, it has the main lens from Air but the ultra wide from 17 Pro. Basically both can focus very close and provide some excellent photos.

Honestly, I don't think this matters much. Pro 17 still has great macro and the main sensor is bigger so it does better in low light.

Air is just "not that bad".

 

[Moreplease]

The 16e's lens was similar - allowed for closer focus distance.

The 16e has a much smaller sensor, though: 1/2.55″-type. Compare with with the 1/1.56″-type sensor in the 17 and Air, and the 1/1.28″-type in the Pros (but the Pro has a slower – that is, dimmer – lens that offsets this advantage; more on this later).

Tap that so that it is grayed out, and then it will no longer autoswitch from the 1X camera to the 0.5, and you'll get a photo from the 1X camera.

If you manually override the automatic switching to Macro (a cropped ultrawide shot), the main camera only focuses a tiny bit closer, seemingly around an inch in my casual testing.

Apple switches to the ultrawide lens a little earlier than strictly necessary to ensure that camera motion (from hand-shake and tweaking the composition) around the moment of exposure does not result in an out-of-focus picture, and because the main lens has terrible image quality near the corners even at its poor minimum focus distance: text, for example, becomes badly blurred.

So no, the Air doesn't have a better camera. The 17 Pro can give the exact same results as the Air, but you need to turn off the auto macro-switch

Not so. Turning off auto-Macro gains very little, adds new problems, and still doesn’t allow focusing anywhere near as close as the Air or 17, much less a 16e that focuses even closer.

View attachment 2565167
I am not sure if uploading will compress the image or not, but here is a shot I took with my 15 Pro Max from about 2 inches away from the subject. I personally think the shot looks good and this is the result of macro kicking in. Is this different from the issue you are referring to OP?

The OP is talking about using the main camera. You used the ultrawide. That camera does focus much closer than the Air’s single camera can, but with several compromises you may not want.

Without getting into Macro stuff, the Air and Pro seem to have the same main camera. I heard the Pro has a slightly bigger sensor but I have not seen a difference in quality or day to day usage and I have had both. So for me, if the main camera is all you use day to day, they are the same.

They are similar but the Pro has a different main camera. The sensor is a little larger, but the lens is also a little less bright: in the end, these factors cancel out and there is not much difference in low-light performance. However, the Air focuses closer, a big advantage. And the Pro has a faster readout speed, a big advantage for slow-motion video. So there are some subtle differences. But for typical photo use, they are largely the same.

I also had the 16e for a while, and that one is noticeably worse in quality for the main camera. Much less clear photos when lighting isn't ideal, and very visibly worse when you do the night mode. I think it comes down to to the fact the Air has sensor shift stabilization like every other modern iPhone. The 16e has only "optical image stabilization" which isn't as good.

There is also the more important difference that the 16e’s sensor is much smaller. I gave the exact sizes at the start of this post.

Although, this is really more of an iOS issue and not a camera issue. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple made some camera tweaks on the Pro in future updates.

Not possible. Minimum focus distance is a hardware limit.

A lens focuses closer than infinity by moving one or more elements outward from the sensor. There isn’t much space to do that in a phone. The larger the sensor, the larger must be the lens; and the larger the lens, the greater the distance that the focusing group must move to focus to a given close distance. The Pro runs out of room before the Air, and the Air runs out of room before the 16e, simply because of the different sensor and therefore lens sizes.

Pro 17 still has great macro and the main sensor is bigger so it does better in low light.

It does have a slightly bigger sensor, but unfortunately the packaging constraints mean that the Pro lens is slower: f/1.78 compared to f/1.6 in the 17 and Air. In low light, that dimmer lens of the Pro almost entirely cancels out its advantage from the larger sensor. In bright sunlight – where you can saturate the larger sensor with photons even with the Pro’s dimmer lens – the Pro does have a small advantage in image quality, although few people care because they’re all good in good light.

In brief, there are compromises to making a camera tiny enough to fit into a phone, and while the Pro main camera strikes a slightly different balance from the Air’s camera, it’s not outright better. It’s just different compromises.

 

[AeroSatan]

Being a professional photographer for many years, I feel the Air and Pro model cameras work fine for what they were intended for. Don’t try and convince me to compare any smartphone sensor to that of a full frame or any digital SLR, they are not even close.

For the majority of why folks use their phone cameras for ie:social media post and candid snapshots, they are fine. Don’t expect to blow them up to 30x40 and make posters out of them.

I guarantee you that if you take a shot from a full frame dslr and RAW picture from an iPhone 17 PM and had them professionally color graded, 9 outta 10 people wouldn't notice unless its a situation where you need a ND Filter or super fast or slow shutter speeds in complex situations and low lighting

 

[gadget123]

iPhone fold will have two cameras for 2 grand phone so let’s wait for the my pro is better as it has three cameras next September lol

 

[iPhone-Guy]

Actually, the 17 Pro does NOT give the exact same results. I just measured this with my Air and my wife's 17 Pro Max. You ready?

Closest minimum focusing distance of the main lens (1x) is:

Air: about 4 inches
17 Pro Max: about 6 inches

So no, if you turn off macro mode, 17 Pro Max in fact does NOT give the same result as Air.

I thought I was going crazy so I did a bit of search and this turned up:

iPhone 17 Pro Camera Review: Rule of Three

iPhone 17 Pro is here, a big upgrade and makeover of the iPhone and its cameras. Is it really as big of a deal as they say?

www.lux.camera

I did test Macro mode on 17 Pro Max too, of course. It can get as close as 0.35" or thereabout. So Macro mode is still noticeably better than what Air can do, which is what we in photography consider "close up". But no, the main lens of 17 Pro Max does not focus that close. Sadly.

Yes. The Air doesn’t have macro photography with the .5 camera but can use the main camera for closer focus than the 17 Pro’s main camera can. Even on the Pro cameras if you are holding something 5-7 inches away from the camera the lens shifts back and forth between grainy macro mode because it’s to far away and out of focus main camera because it can’t focus that close. So yes, in some case the Air actually will take better photos than the Pros.

EDIT: don’t ask me how or why this works. Read the link from @bill-p’s post

 

[Moreplease]

Video should start at 6:25 in: