Author Topic: iPhone 14 Pro Max Photo Thread (Read 978 times)

Molinari · « **on:** December 30, 2022, 10:14:43 am »

Just starting to play around with the new iPhone Pro Max macro lens. Comparison of sharpness with my old, old set-up. Will play with lighting so it isn’t so intense but I’m happy with the quality so far.

Ron C2 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2022, 11:15:28 am »

That's pretty good for a cell phone photo. With some cropping in Photoshop, that would be a usable shot.

It would be interesting to see the coin in hand and see how much is representative vs AI smoothing and sharpening.

Prieure de Sion · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2022, 11:54:10 am »

Oh! Thats very interesting - because my iPhone have a display crash - and I want buy the new iPhone.
And if the Macro Modus works well - I will pay extra charge for the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max - when the Macro Modus works fine for coins!

I hope I see next time more pictures

Thanks for the first experience.

Molinari · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2022, 02:25:07 pm »

I’ll definitely post more as I experiment. The price difference between the 14 Pro and Pro Max is not much and the Pro does not have the macro lens. Here’s a small, c. 5mm coin. I should mention both this photo and the Seleukid were with no set up—just snapping pics in my hand to try it out.

Ron C2 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2022, 03:36:19 pm »

I don't think you have the focus right on that last coin - your fingerprints are sharper than the flan.

For that one, you'd be better off zooming a little and holding the phone further away, I think. And maybe use spot metering.

Molinari · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2022, 04:16:53 pm »

Probably—this was just a quick snapshot.

Virgil H · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2022, 09:49:39 pm »

I do not have an iPhone, but I have an Android phone with a decent camera and the little three lens array. Possibly Apple cameras are better. I have taken my best photos of coins with it because my real camera has macro limitations that I haven't figured out. But, I am still not happy. The digital artifacts introduced by these tiny lenses are very noticeable to me and, while the photos suffice, they are not on par with what dealers and auction houses produce. Especially with zooming, the digital stuff makes my coins what I would call in old photography terms, grainy. I would also add artificial. Your photos look quite good and are probably adequate for what you need them for (I wouldn't use them in a book), but I can tell they are digitally produced. People argue with me, but there is no way these tiny lenses can make truly good pictures. There is a reason a Zeiss lease can cost $1K or more, not counting the camera it goes on. I find it somewhat dismaying that no one (except me) uses a real camera these days. When I carry it now, I get funny looks. Of course, most people take a photo with their camera, upload it to some place like Facebook or Instagram, and no one ever sees it again after a day or two. No more photo albums that families hand down. Someone dies, their photos go with them because no one goes through hard drives of deceased people's computers, etc. It is ironic because we have entered a time when future generations will have fewer photos of their ancestors than we had in the later 20th century.

Virgil

Prieure de Sion · « **Reply #7 on:** December 31, 2022, 05:48:24 am »

Quote from: Molinari on December 30, 2022, 02:25:07 pm

The price difference between the 14 Pro and Pro Max is not much and the Pro does not have the macro lens.

Sorry to correct you here (no offence intended).

a) No iPhone has a macro lens. Not even the 14 Pro Max. The macro function is done by the wide angle lens - the macro function itself is done by the software. The three cameras of the 14 Pro and the 14 Pro Max are: 48 (wide angle), 12 (ultra wide angle), 12 (telephoto).

b) The iPhone 14 Pro and the 14 Pro max do not differ in terms of the camera and the macro function.

"iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max differ only in battery and size."

Only the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus have only 2 camera lenses and do not support the macro function.

iPhone 14 - 2 camera lenses - no macro function
iPhone 14 Plus - 2 camera lenses - no macro function
iPhone 14 Pro - 3 camera lenses - with macro function
iPhone 14 Pro Max - 3 camera lenses - with macro function

Just in case another interested party is reading along here and is faced with the decision, 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max. By the way, the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro max also have 3 lenses and support the macro function as well.

Molinari · « **Reply #8 on:** December 31, 2022, 08:10:36 am »

None taken. My wife must have the Pro Plus then, because hers is definitely different.

Getting the phones was a real fiasco. I recommend to anyone between the ages of 18-75 to do it yourself online instead of in store. I didn’t realize this was an option until too late!

More photos soon

Molinari · « **Reply #9 on:** December 31, 2022, 10:26:40 am »

McCabe method: sitting by window on cloudy day, light gray background. Took about 60 seconds each including stitch and crop with “FrameMagic” app.

Molinari · « **Reply #10 on:** December 31, 2022, 10:27:24 am »

Coin 2:

Ron C2 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 31, 2022, 10:41:46 am »

This last 2 are underexposed, more so on the lower half of each coin.

Can you trick the phone to overexposed by an f-stop and see if that helps?

Molinari · « **Reply #12 on:** December 31, 2022, 11:52:13 am »

I appreciate the commentary but it is like you’re speaking an entirely different language to me! My purpose here is to get clear photos that are true to what the coin looks like in hand with as little work as possible. These last two are close. I have to admit I’m not just a lousy photographer but also a lazy one, hence my desire to have the entire process down to about a minute per coin! I would like them a bit brighter.

Ron C2 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 31, 2022, 12:03:29 pm »

I'm not an iPhone guy. I run android. But on android you can manually increase the exposure brightness before you take the shot. In photography, with a real camera, you can do this several ways:

1) increase the speed of the "film" or it's digital equivalent by using higher iso settings. A higher iso with the same settings will produce a brighter photo.

2) increase the duration the sensor is exposed to light. This will create a brighter photo, but for moving subjects, it can increase blur. Not a problem with a static coin if your phone is not moving.

3) increase the aperture setting of the lens (f-stop). A lower f-stop number means a more open lens (i.e. the blades in the lens don't close as much during the stuff), resulting in a brighter photo. You do lose depth of field doing this, so less depth of the photo would be in focus. For macro photography, ideally you have the lens stopped all the way down.

4) use a flash.

With a smart phone, none of the above things are adjusted by your average user, except perhaps flash. Instead, they usually give you a brightness slider somewhere on the screen or in a menu. Adjusting that slider will digitally play with one of the above factors. Some phone apps give you more control than others.

I'll borrow my daughter's iPhone and see if I can tell what you need to adjust.

Ron C2 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 31, 2022, 12:12:52 pm »

Ok looking at an iPhone now.

On an iPhone, there are laughably few controls when taking a photo. Makes me remember why I hate iPhones.

After you take the photo, apple has put exposure adjustment in the photos app instead, which sucks, but may be workable to a degree.

Open the photo by clicking on the last image you took in the lower left corner of the camera app. Click edit in the lower right of the screen. It will suggest clicking auto. Don't. Auto isn't what you are after.

Below the photo are 3 icons, a magic wand, a circle with +/- and a ying/yang symbol. Click the +/- icon.

You'll now see a scale below the photo you can drag left or right. Put your finger on the middle of the scale and slide your finger left. That will use the phone's AI to increase exposure value by upping the brightness.

Not ideal, but better than nothing.

Or buy android and enjoy the phone manufacturer assuming you are competent by giving you actual control over the image making process. Lol.

Molinari · « **Reply #15 on:** December 31, 2022, 01:16:55 pm »

I have indeed played with those settings before but I don’t plan to because my frustration tolerance is too low and I don’t have the time (with so many coins, maybe I will for my best specimens). I’m going to try with my last set-up, the black hole Doug Smith method, and choose which I like the best. Honestly though the last two are essentially fine for my tastes!

Molinari · « **Reply #16 on:** December 31, 2022, 02:03:16 pm »

A Roman coin. Better angle for the lighting.

Virgil H · « **Reply #17 on:** December 31, 2022, 03:04:30 pm »

That last photo looks pretty good. One thing I do with 100% of my coin photos is I adjust levels and maybe a couple other things. I never use the photos as-is, even when taken with a proper camera. I use The GIMP program because it is free and just as powerful as PhotoShop. PhotoShop works, as well, of course. So, there is a process I go through which is, for one coin:
1) take photos
2) import to computer
3) Open in The GIMP
4) Crop out excess background
5) Make adjustments to improve image, mostly Levels
6) Resize image so they can be uploaded to Gallery or Forum
7) Repeat process with the Reverse

Increase Canvas size of Obverse to double
9) Copy and paste Reverse into Obverse canvas and position
10) Crop again as necessary
11) Export as a jpg

It doesn't take as long as it sounds from the steps. Also, I have no idea why there is a smiley where the 8 is, I guess that is the code for it.

Virgil

Molinari · « **Reply #18 on:** December 31, 2022, 09:59:28 pm »

I’ll use Gimp and PS when I have to remove backgrounds and things for publication.

Molinari · « **Reply #19 on:** January 06, 2023, 03:50:33 pm »

New photo—today seemed the appropriate day to reshoot this one!

Ron C2 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 06, 2023, 07:56:53 pm »

I think a lot of the photos you are showing here are too dark on the lower 1/3 of the photo. I understand your wanting the shots to be fast and easy. Perhaps try positioning the coins angled toward your light source, even if it's a window.

A piece of clay, putty, playdough, or whatever fashioned into a small wedge to add some angling to the coin may help, though you will then have ot hold the phone at an angle parallel to the surface to get a flat shot. It would improve the lighting a fair bit, I think.

Molinari · « **Reply #21 on:** January 07, 2023, 01:25:42 pm »

Here’s one I took with a bit of a told to the base.

Virgil H · « **Reply #22 on:** January 07, 2023, 01:28:24 pm »

That one looks pretty good. I would bump the Levels a bit to get it brighter.

Virgil

Molinari · « **Reply #23 on:** January 07, 2023, 03:32:07 pm »

I’m going to play around with a lighting set up once my stands are ready. Eventually I’ll choose which method I like for bulk photos and stick to that. For the nicer coins, I’ll take more time to get the photo just right.

Kingston · « **Reply #24 on:** March 05, 2023, 01:33:09 pm »

It looks really good with this iPhone, as expected.
I tried to take photos with my Samsung Galaxy S8+ and was disappointed with the results. Now I upgraded to a Google Pixel 7. Have not tried the photos with it yet but I hope it will be better (probably not as good as this iPhone though).

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Author Topic: iPhone 14 Pro Max Photo Thread (Read 978 times)