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iPhone 15 Pro Why no love and excitement for 24 and 48 megapixels?

fatTribble

fatTribble

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Sep 21, 2018
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From what I have read and confirmed on my 15 PM, the default photo is now 24 megapixels in HEIF.
This includes Live Photos.
There is a HEIF MAX option in the Camera app that will take a 48 megapixel photo.

Because the 24 and 48 megapixel photos are stored in HEIF rather than RAW they require far less storage.
For me that makes them much more practical and usable.

I’m surprised there isn’t much discussion of these new options on the 15 Pros.
Apple didn’t seem to talk about it much in the Event.

It was odd to me to have the 48 megapixel sensor in the 14 PM but only as a RAW photo at 75 MB.
Now that we have 24 and 48 megapixels in useable file sizes I’m pretty excited. 🥳

Is it just me? Is anyone else excited about this?

I‘m sure there are photographers who can explain to me all of the shortcomings of these features, but I’m a point and shoot guy who just wants to capture memories in good quality.
 
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I too am very curious about the 24mp files and really surprised it is so difficult to find any samples or comparisons. In past years people would be posting pics all over the place...

I can barely find a photo from the iPhone 15 that's not been resized and compressed to terrible quality from some "content creator". Where are the proraw samples? Or even just untouched 24mp files?
 
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Can't speak for others but I've been saying since the iPhone 13 Pro introduced the larger 1/1.7" sensor the 12MP resolution had become a key limitation for photo quality. There's only so much detail you can resolve when you're limited by available resolution, and once the bigger sensor was there it made sense to go with higher resolution images to take advantage of it. With the even bigger 1/1.28" sensor in the 14 Pro and now 15 Pro I'm glad to see they've enabled an intermediate step between the limiting 12MP and the huge file size of 48MP.
 
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I took a picture of my wife in a restaurant last night in low light and got a really great shot. The extra detail at 24mp is really evident, plus it used HDR to my surprise, and it captured a portrait automatically so I switched it to portrait as well. Basically the end result is much better than my 14 Pro would have done.

Granted, most of this could have been back ported in software to the 14 Pro, but, it is what it is at this point.
 
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krebphone said:
I too am very curious about the 24mp files and really surprised it is so difficult to find any samples or comparisons. In past years people would be posting pics all over the place...

I can barely find a photo from the iPhone 15 that's not been resized and compressed to terrible quality from some "content creator". Where are the proraw samples? Or even just untouched 24mp files?
Click to expand...
I can try to put together some photo samples from my 15 PM. Do they get compressed when you post them here I wonder? 🤔

But I agree that normally you’d expect to see multiple posts like that by now.
 
Apparently this is on the 14 Pro as well. Were the options here during the beta period? I don’t remember ever seeing them.

IMG_9461.png
 

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https://petapixel.com/2023/09/19/the-iphone-15-pro-and-pro-max-review-for-photographers/

Found this excellent article and video. It has a ton of good information both in terms of their opinions and the actual facts about the cameras. They really seem to be impressed by the new default 24 megapixel main camera. I assumed the new 24mm and 28mm FOV options were more crop gimmicks, but they seem to be impressed by them because they still result in a 24 megapixel image. They also indicated that the 48 megapixel shots lack the HDR present in the 24 megapixel images. Those are my takeaways. Feel free to correct anything I misstated. I’m not a professional photographer.
 
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I was also a bit surprised that these were minimally mentioned in the early reviews. 24MP Live Photos are the main reason that I upgraded from an iPhone 14 Pro Max. I usually upgrade every other year.

My phone should be here tomorrow, and I'm excited to try it out.
 
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jtkiley said:
I was also a bit surprised that these were minimally mentioned in the early reviews. 24MP Live Photos are the main reason that I upgraded from an iPhone 14 Pro Max. I usually upgrade every other year.

My phone should be here tomorrow, and I'm excited to try it out.
Click to expand...
The detail is really amazing. Especially if you’re opening it on a TV or high resolution monitor. The higher resolution will age better the more time progresses, too…
 
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zach-coleman said:
The detail is really amazing. Especially if you’re opening it on a TV or high resolution monitor. The higher resolution will age better the more time progresses, too…
Click to expand...
Yep! I try to use the best quality photo and video quality that is practical. Storage gets bigger and cheaper over time.
 
Totally agree!! As soon as the embargoes lifted I was searching for camera comparisons/reviews and was left short handed (especially for the regular 15). I love this camera.
 
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primarycolors said:
Totally agree!! As soon as the embargoes lifted I was searching for camera comparisons/reviews and was left short handed (especially for the regular 15). I love this camera.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you saw my post a few above yours, but it’s a pretty helpful review in my opinion.
I feel that now I at least know what the different options are doing in terms of megapixels and picture quality. I think the good news is that the default is often the best choice.
 
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fatTribble said:
Not sure if you saw my post a few above yours, but it’s a pretty helpful review in my opinion.
I feel that now I at least know what the different options are doing in terms of megapixels and picture quality. I think the good news is that the default is often the best choice.
Click to expand...
Yes! That article is great but only covers the Pro/Pro Max. It seems there's not a lot of content that covers the standard 15.
 
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fatTribble said:
From what I have read and confirmed on my 15 PM, the default photo is now 24 megapixels in HEIF.
This includes Live Photos.
There is a HEIF MAX option in the Camera app that will take a 48 megapixel photo.

Because the 24 and 48 megapixel photos are stored in HEIF rather than RAW they require far less storage.
For me that makes them much more practical and usable.

I’m surprised there isn’t much discussion of these new options on the 15 Pros.
Apple didn’t seem to talk about it much in the Event.

It was odd to me to have the 48 megapixel sensor in the 14 PM but only as a RAW photo at 75 MB.
Now that we have 24 and 48 megapixels in useable file sizes I’m pretty excited. 🥳

Is it just me? Is anyone else excited about this?

I‘m sure there are photographers who can explain to me all of the shortcomings of these features, but I’m a point and shoot guy who just wants to capture memories in good quality.
Click to expand...
You spot on correct. For point and shooting, this 24mp(only on pro models) bring big upgrades to the table - wifes 15pm is levels better than my 14pm 12mp shots.
But they are more or less equal when shooting raw.
So we are in a perfect spot: wife is going to get much better pics as she is a point and shooter, while i am hanging on to her 14pm cause i only shoot raw - there is no difference for me.
 
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www.dpreview.com

Apple's iPhone 15 and 15 Pro: Imaging tech examined

This year’s iPhone 15 camera story seems to be about megapixels - 48MP across the board - but it’s also as much about how Apple combines hardware with software to make photos that appeal to photographers and non-photographers alike.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com

A really good article from DP Review definitely helped clarify things for me.
 
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