Apple iPhone 12 Pro Camera vs Apple iPhone 13 Pro Camera: How do the two cameras compare?

Apple recently launched iPhone 13 series with an upgraded camera module in a virtual event on 14 September 2021. But how to does it compare to Apple's iPhone 12 pro camera module? 

We rounded up all of the data that Apple has provided, describing a full breakdown of both cameras modules. So without further ado, here's everything you need to know for the iPhone 12 Pro Camera vs iPhone 13 Pro Camera.

Optical and Digital Zoom Capabilities

iPhone 13 pro-Max comes with 3x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, 6x optical zoom range, & Digital zoom up to 15x, whereas iPhone 12 pro-Max comes 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, 5x optical zoom range, and Digital zoom up to 12x.

Better High Dynamic Range

iPhone 13 pro-Max has Smart HDR 4 for photos and on another side, iPhone 12 pro-Max comes with Smart HDR 3 for photos. Better HDR means photos will have less noise, richer colors, and deeper contrast.

During the keynote, Pujols also stated that Smart HDR 4, Apple's newest iteration of its intelligent multi-frame capture and fusion pipeline, now uses a learning-based method to recognize individual subjects in an image and process different skin tones individually. Also, Smart HDR 4 now makes unique adjustments for multiple people in a scene. Our software and ISP automatically refine contrast, lighting, and skin tones for each person. So everyone always looks amazing.

Photographic Styles 

Apple introduced Photographic Styles that apply your preferred Tone and Warmth settings to your photos. But unlike filters, they keep things like skies and skin tones natural. This feature is not present in iPhone 12 pro max. 

Macro Photography 

Apple iPhone 13 pro max has a new redesigned macro lens The new Ultra-Wide camera can focus at just 2 cm, making even the smallest details seem epic. Previous generation iPhones do not have macro lens capabilities.

With the help of a new macro lens, you can take close-up pictures of small objects such as insects or flowers.  

Video Capabilities

 iPhone 13 pro max has 3x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, and digital zoom up to 9x, whereas iPhone 12 pro max comes with 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, and digital zoom up to 7x.

Apple has made a big move by adding "Cinematic Mode" in iPhone 13 series, It's basically a 'Video Portrait Mode' and a way to change focus (and depth-of-field effect) after the fact, something we've dug into deeper in our article here. We think it could revolutionize video for the photographers and people who love making videos.

iPhone 13 pro series is the first smartphone series to provide an end-to-end pro workflow, letting you record and edit in ProRes or Dolby Vision. The high color fidelity and low compression of ProRes let you record, edit, and deliver broadcast-ready content on the go. Now you can complete a project in ProRes entirely on your iPhone. Or easily make ProRes videos from your iPhone into Final Cut Pro on your Mac. Cinematic mode and ProRes are not present in iPhone 12 pro series.

Writer - Sahil Madaan

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