Thread

Apple iPhone 18 Pro Camera test

208 points · 182 comments · luu

sharktheone · 1789863709 · focus · HN ↗
Interesting to see what they got out of basically the same camera sensor. It seems largely just like way better denoising capabilities. Maybe that is why they needed the extra NPU in the A20 chip.
But even with that they are still behind Android phones, while they dominated some years ago
1. iririririr · 1789865576 · focus · HN ↗
  until the "denoiser" starts to hallucinate
  1. LoganDark · 1789915577 · focus · HN ↗
    At least it doesn't detect moon shaped objects and impose a static image of the moon on top of it
    iririririr · 1790263235 · focus · HN ↗
    how can you know that?
2. matwood · 1789916252 · focus · HN ↗
  > But even with that they are still behind Android phones, while they dominated some years ago
  Flagship Android and iOS device cameras have been 1a/1b for awhile. It's video where Apple dominated. Did Android make some huge strides in video lately?
  1. torben-friis · 1789916984 · focus · HN ↗
    Anecdotically, my current OPPO find x9 mops the floor with my previous iphone 16 pro in photography in practice. The 1-1 with apple only seems to be there for Google and Samsung, but the Chinese flagships are a step up.
    For video I think the iphone hasn't been dethroned yet.
    eightysixfour · 1789920591 · focus · HN ↗
    Wouldn’t that comparison be quite a bit closer vs the 17 Pro? I thought that was a decent camera upgrade year but I can’t keep track.
    torben-friis · 1789920973 · focus · HN ↗
    Generationally yes, the oppo is more recent, but (AFAIR, I'm speaking from memory) the 17 improved just on the selfie and accesory lenses, the main camera remained mostly untouched.
    Melatonic · 1789961743 · focus · HN ↗
    ProRes is great but my many years old LG V60 will shoot real 8K video
    SirMaster · 1790002544 · focus · HN ↗
    And how will consumers watch back 8K video?
3. microtonal · 1789916943 · focus · HN ↗
  It seems that in their ranking currently only the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is ahead?
  <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/#sort-camera" rel="nofollow">https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/#sort-camera
  1. makeitdouble · 1789923926 · focus · HN ↗
    The criteria can be pretty weird.
    For instance th Xiaomi Ultra 17's main camera is faulted for having shallow depth of field or "autofocus decision errors", which I assume just means the auto selected subject wasn't the person straight in front of the camera ? [0]
    These tests seem to be about versatility and predictability more than sheer performance.
    [0] <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-17-ultra-camera-test/" rel="nofollow">https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-17-ultra-camera-test/
  2. kemayo · 1789939844 · focus · HN ↗
    Wow, with a lens that big on a smartphone I'd certainly hope it was fantastic: <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/Huawei/Pura-80-Ultra" rel="nofollow">https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/Huawei/Pura-80-Ultra
    killingtime74 · 1789950518 · focus · HN ↗
    The lens is big but the phone is still the same size.
    no-name-here · 1789955946 · focus · HN ↗
    Even more extreme looking:
    * <a href="https://www.urbanmag-online.com/marques-brownlee-the-worlds-largest-smartphone-camera/" rel="nofollow">https://www.urbanmag-online.com/marques-brownlee-the-worlds-...
    * <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2024/07/18/vivo-x100-pro-review-great-performance-and-photos-not-great-software/" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2024/07/18/vivo-x1...
    Defolter · 1789975645 · focus · HN ↗
    Indeed, Huawei has very aggressive "AI" post-processing
4. toephu2 · 1789948831 · focus · HN ↗
  Which sensor would that be? I think Sony's?

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