Last Friday, the new iPhone 15 series was officially launched, and I immediately bought the iPhone 15 Pro.After 2 days of simple experience, today I would like to share with you the imaging performance of iPhone15Pro.As one of the major upgrades of the iPhone 15 Pro, we will share with you the three lenses of the iPhone 15 Pro through actual experience.

access:

Apple Online Store (China)

The first is the ultra-wide-angle lens. Its hardware parameters are basically the same as those on the iPhone 14 Pro, 12 million pixels, an aperture of f/2.2 and a 120° viewing angle. The biggest upgrade is that it has a more advanced algorithm. How does it perform?

iPhone15Pro ultra wide angle sample

Judging from the actual shooting results, this ultra-wide-angle lens still has a strong apple flavor. While the colors are quite realistic, the plants are also quite deliberately sharpened. However, with the support of the new HDR algorithm, the performance of the sky and white clouds is still good.

Coming to the night scene environment, with the support of the high-sharpening algorithm, this ultra-wide-angle lens performs well in shooting buildings even in the night scene environment. However, due to the size of the sensor, the photos become a bit horrible when enlarged.

iPhone15Pro ultra wide angle sample

Next is the main wide-angle lens. The main camera sensor on the iPhone 15 Pro is also the same as the previous generation, but with the injection of A17 PRO and new algorithms, it also brings more possibilities.

First of all, in terms of shooting format, the main camera of iPhone15Pro has more choices.By default, photos will be output in 24-megapixel HEIF format, and you can also switch back to 12-megapixel mode in the settings.

In addition, for relatively professional users, the professional mode of iPhone15Pro also has many ways to play.Photos taken in professional mode have richer details and lower sharpness, but they require post-process parameter adjustments in professional software to unleash the best performance, so for non-professional users, automatic mode is enough.

iPhone15Pro main camera auto mode sample

Judging from the actual shooting results, the picture is clean, the colors are accurate, and the overall look and feel is very good.In addition, in terms of the much-criticized "sharpening", this main camera is relatively "restrained". It seems that the new imaging algorithm has improved in this aspect.

We also experienced the performance of this main camera in a night scene environment:

iPhone15ProProRAW sample

We used the ProRAW format to shoot the first picture, and we can see that even in harsh lighting conditions, the imaging performance is still good. And thanks to the advantages of ProRAW format in terms of details, even if you zoom in 100%, the photos still have a good look and feel.

In addition to the rich photo formats, the biggest upgrade of the main camera of iPhone15Pro this time is customizable focal length.

Due to the increase in sensor area, the available focal lengths of iPhone15Pro are getting wider and wider. In addition to the conventional 24mm, 28mm and 35mm have also become the conventional focal lengths for the main camera. You can even directly adjust any focal length to your default focal length in the settings. The implementation principle is the same as the principle of cropping the main camera to bring 2X focal length on the iPhone 14 Pro last year.

It is worth mentioning that in August this year, a blogger broke the news that OPPO’s next major version of the system, ColorOS14, already supports the selection of the default wide-angle focal length. Isn’t this a “far ahead”~

Finally, there is the telephoto lens.

Due to the limitations of the fuselage space, the 15Pro was not able to insert a quadruple reflective prism like the 15ProMax to achieve 5x optical zoom. Instead, it was equipped with a 3x optical zoom telephoto like the previous generation. Judging from the parameters and actual shooting performance, there is indeed no upgrade. Maybe Apple has focused all its research and development on ProMax.

iPhone15Pro telephoto sample

iPhone15Pro telephoto night scene sample

So why did I not choose to buy the ProMax model that supports 5x optical zoom, but chose the 15Pro with a small upgrade?

First of all, I think that although the iPhone 15 Pro Max supports 5x optical zoom, there is no suitable lens to relay between 2X and 5X, which are more commonly used in daily life. This results in a poor image experience between this focal length, and can only rely on main camera cropping.

iPhone15Pro5X sample

In addition, according to the parameter information on Apple’s official website, the 5X telephoto lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is not very advanced in terms of hardware. This means that when there is sufficient light during the day, there will not be a big gap between the high-power focal length sample of the 15 Pro through main camera cropping and the 5X telephoto lens of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. In poor light conditions, the telephoto of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will not be triggered, and the main camera will also be used for cropping.

Therefore, I think the 5X telephoto on the iPhone 15 Pro Max this time is more of a gimmick than practical, and the 3X telephoto on the 15 Pro is more suitable for daily experience.

Finally, let’s talk about the “ghosting” problem that iPhone has always been criticized for.

At the press conference, Apple emphasized that the three cameras of the iPhone 15 Pro series use a new nano-coating, which can effectively reduce the "glare" problem in dark light environments.

Judging from our actual experience, the glare problem has indeed been improved, but the "ghosting" problem still exists, and it can be said without mercy that there is basically no change.

iPhone 15 Pro “ghosting” remains

In general, the iPhone 15 Pro’s imaging has basically not been upgraded in terms of hardware this time. The main upgrades are in imaging algorithms, but I think these imaging algorithms can be reproduced on the 14 Pro series through an OTA. Therefore, the iPhone 15 Pro has basically been in trouble for another year in terms of imaging.