Every year, travel photographer Austin Mann surprises people by putting the new iPhone cameras to the test. This time, with the iPhone 14 Pro’s revamped camera system, it’s no different. Mann traveled around Scotland to capture 48MP ProRAW photos while sharing his experience with the smartphone and his impressions of the new cameras. Scroll down as we highlight some of the photos and quotes from his review.
Early on, the photographer says how excited he was about the new 48MP resolution as “I crop 100% of my images. Whether it’s by a few pixels or cropping most of the frame, I use cropping as a tool to balance/direct the viewer’s eye where I want it and cut the fluff.”
This is a powerful way to see and shoot, and I encourage photographers with all cameras to be more creative with their cropping, as it can often elevate an average image to a great image with just a few clicks.
Photo: Austin Mann on the iPhone 14 Pro
Mann gives some details about the iPhone 14 Pro’s 48 MP main camera. When shooting in ProRAW, he found that most images are around 80MB, with the smallest files as small as 45MB and the largest at 117MB.
For low-light conditions, he decided to switch from 48MP to 12MP because, as he was dealing with fast-moving subjects, he found that at these settings, “the camera is super responsive and will render the best possible image files in these limitations . lighting conditions”.
Are you shooting at 12 or 48 MP resolution on the iPhone 14 Pro? Mann explains which to choose
Photo: Austin Mann on the iPhone 14 Pro
After trying both options, the traveler photographer shared some thoughts on why he decided to shoot most of his photos in ProRAW at 12MP:
- 12 megapixels is still where the camera really shines: it’s lightning fast, has the same resolution on all lenses, and is great in low light.
- 48MP capture is a bit slow. It’s not crazy slow, but it’s slower than I’m used to.
- The available storage options (both on iPhone and iCloud) haven’t expanded even though the file sizes are much larger and I don’t want to run out of space.
- Battery life seems to die down faster when shooting all day at 48MP.
It’s interesting how it points out storage options (iPhone 14 Pro can go up to 1TB of storage) and battery drain.
Photo: Austin Mann on the iPhone 14 Pro
Other camera functions
Austin Mann also highlights some other iPhone 14 Pro camera features, such as the new Action Mode, which he says needs daylight scenarios to work properly.
At times, we were a bit caught off guard by the amount of light it required. For example, inside an airport during the day, it didn’t work because it needed more light.
On Cinema 4K mode, Mann believes it’s “a couple of steps closer to being a tool that filmmakers can use in their workflow,” though he believes that aside from 4K at 24 fps, a ProRes version of this feature is much needed.
Wrap
Austin Mann ends by talking about SOS Satellite Emergency, which isn’t available yet, and how an eSIM-only iPhone could be a problem for US users.
I’m a bit concerned about the practicality of an eSIM-only approach for travelers with US iPhones who frequently visit the developing world. My wife and I usually land for a project, exchange money and pick up a local SIM card, so it’s easy and cheap to communicate with people in the country. I keep these SIM cards in my day bag (see image above) and for the areas I travel to frequently, I can just swap out the SIM card when I land and I’m ready to go.
You can check out some of his shots in this review and of course his review post here.
What do you think of his impression of the iPhone 14 Pro? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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