Apple's iPhone 15's upgraded 48MP main camera and new features such as a 2x zoom and focus & depth controls. Tom's Guide tested out the iPhone 15’s camera against the iPhone 14 Pro in various settings. Also included the Pixel 7 into the fold because it’s priced similarly and should give you an idea of how the iPhone 15 holds up against its rivals.
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00:00 And this year, they both get brand new 48MP cameras.
00:03 On top of that, Apple does introduce a new zoom option,
00:07 a two-time zoom, to complement the main camera
00:10 and the wide-angle camera in there.
00:12 Now, it begs the question,
00:13 how exactly this new camera stacks up?
00:15 Let's head on out.
00:16 All right, to make this a proper test,
00:19 I'm going to compare shots from the iPhone 15
00:21 with last year's iPhone 14 Pro and the Google Pixel 7
00:25 because they all sort of have similar price points.
00:28 Got the iPhone 15 here.
00:29 We're at 30 Rock.
00:31 And the first thing you should know
00:32 is that it's a brand new camera here.
00:33 It's a 48MP camera.
00:35 It's a step up from last year's iPhone 14,
00:38 which had only a 12MP camera.
00:40 It does share a lot of similarities with the iPhone 14 Pro
00:43 because that one had a 48MP camera too.
00:46 So, theoretically, you get a professional camera
00:49 this time around.
00:51 iPhone 14 Pro, so I'm going to take a snapshot here
00:54 and I'm going to do both the full 48MP snapshot
00:58 and a standard one.
01:00 Second new thing is the new depth and focus control
01:03 that's available with the iPhone 15's camera.
01:05 Now, you don't have to worry about
01:07 going into the dedicated portrait mode
01:09 to take portrait photos.
01:11 Instead, you can just use the standard mode,
01:13 take out your camera, start shooting.
01:15 You'll be able to actually convert it
01:17 into a portrait right there.
01:19 Choose your subject and also the aperture,
01:22 the bokeh level effect.
01:23 If I want myself to be in frame, I just select that.
01:26 If not, I could choose Brandon over here
01:28 and he's in frame and obviously I'm blurred out.
01:30 One X definitely does it closer.
01:35 And two X zoom.
01:37 And lastly, there is the new two times zoom option
01:41 with the iPhone 15, which Apple claims have optical quality.
01:45 It's not a dedicated lens
01:46 because clearly there's only two cameras here,
01:47 the ultra wide and the main camera.
01:49 But Apple's able to give you this two times zoom
01:52 because now what it's doing,
01:53 it's taking that 48MP sensor
01:55 and it's using the middle 12MP
01:57 to produce the two times zoom.
01:59 The end result should be just as good as an optical lens.
02:04 Okay, now two times zoom.
02:05 Now that I've finished testing out all three cameras,
02:13 I'm gonna go back to the studio
02:14 to find out how they look on my computer.
02:16 Look at the shots I took of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
02:26 And I gotta say the 15 does a fantastic job
02:29 of matching the 14 Pro.
02:30 Pretty much in every area,
02:32 detailed and dynamic range, color accuracy,
02:35 it's both spot on.
02:36 So it's really hard to tell the difference between the two.
02:39 Against the Pixel 7, it depends on what you like.
02:42 I do like that it has a slightly more contrast look.
02:45 So it draws out some details in the brickwork,
02:47 especially when I zoom in.
02:49 So on paper, they look almost exactly like one another.
02:52 Switching over to their respective ultra wide cameras.
02:55 The only noticeable difference in these photos of 30 Rock
02:58 is that the Pixel 7's ultra wide camera
03:00 has a slightly narrower field of view.
03:03 So it doesn't capture as wide of a scene
03:05 compared to the iPhone 15 or 14 Pro.
03:08 Now, despite all this,
03:10 all three have excellent dynamic range performance
03:12 and you kind of make it out by looking at the exposure
03:15 between the bright light hitting the building
03:17 and of course the shadowed areas of the foreground.
03:20 Moving to low light, it's a clear win for the iPhone 15,
03:22 which is crazy when you think about it,
03:24 especially for its price point.
03:26 In this image of my backyard,
03:28 you could see there's a lot more detail in the tree.
03:30 It's brighter.
03:31 I know the color saturation's a little bit much,
03:33 but compared to the Pixel 7,
03:35 the Pixel 7's lacking on the detail.
03:38 The iPhone 14 Pro does a good job of adding more detail.
03:41 It's a little bit brighter,
03:42 but nowhere as sharp or clear versus the 15.
03:45 So the 15's hands down the big winner in low light.
03:48 Now all three phones can shoot 4K video
03:50 at 60 frames per second.
03:52 That is the industry standard for today's high-end phones.
03:56 Yet again, I can't tell the difference
03:58 between the iPhone 15 and 14 Pro
04:01 when I look at these videos
04:02 of the Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Center.
04:04 They both capture the same amount of details
04:06 and I actually like their dynamic range performance.
04:09 However, with the Pixel 7, it isn't too shabby,
04:12 but I can make out some noise in the shadows
04:14 on the left side of the video
04:16 and it's also just a tad bit softer in tone.
04:19 Interestingly, after taking all those shots
04:22 using the iPhone 15's camera,
04:23 both with the one-time zoom, two-time zoom options,
04:27 I'm looking at the samples here on my computer
04:28 and honestly, I can't tell the difference.
04:31 In this first image here of the grass cow,
04:33 you can see the textures in the cow itself with the grass
04:37 and then next to it, the signage.
04:38 When I crop into the 1X zoom image,
04:42 you could tell that it's identical to the two-time zoom.
04:45 You can't really see the difference here.
04:47 Details are no different.
04:49 So to me, what's happening here
04:50 is that Apple's just basically applying a digital zoom effect
04:54 with the main camera to get that two-time zoom.
04:56 And as you can see in this other photo of this flower I took,
04:59 when I crop into that 1X zoom photo
05:01 and match it up to the 2X one,
05:03 the flower itself has the same amount of detail
05:07 on both shots.
05:07 You can't tell the difference.
05:09 Same thing with the color saturation
05:10 and also the bokeh level in the background.
05:13 So while it technically doesn't offer any improvements
05:16 as far as detail superiority,
05:19 I think that the two-time zoom option is still usable.
05:22 So you'll be able to use it in different situations
05:24 just to get closer.
05:25 And that to me is worthwhile.
05:27 Before I finally answer the question
05:29 of whether or not the iPhone 15's two-time zoom is legit,
05:32 I wanna show you how all three phones handle two-time zoom.
05:36 Take the same scene of the golden Prometheus statue.
05:38 You could see that the iPhone 15 and 14 Pro look identical.
05:42 The details, contrast, and color production are identical,
05:46 but the Pixel 4 is just softer.
05:48 You could see it in the details around the ring,
05:50 which aren't as sharp.
05:52 In this other shot of these figurines,
05:54 the iPhone 15 and 14 Pro produce the same amount of detail.
05:58 Even when I punch into the photos a little bit more,
06:01 I also like how they do a better job
06:03 at boosting shadows than the Pixel 7,
06:05 which tends to lose the detail.
06:07 Despite not having a true third telephoto lens
06:11 like the iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max,
06:14 I think the iPhone 15 is pretty legit
06:16 with this two-time zoom option
06:18 because as you saw, it gets us closer
06:20 without that much degradation to details.
06:23 And overall, I think that it's a pretty good camera.
06:26 We all know that Apple makes some incredible cameras,
06:31 and the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus is no different.
06:34 It does well against the iPhone 14 Pro,
06:37 and as you saw, it does much better than the Pixel 7,
06:40 so it's outstanding in every way
06:42 in all different lighting conditions.
06:44 Now, the other point I wanna make here
06:45 is about that two-time zoom level.
06:47 It's usable.
06:48 At the end of the day,
06:49 you could still use it to get closer, which is great,
06:51 but I don't think so it's any better than the one-time zoom.
06:54 So if I were you,
06:56 I would just shoot in your standard photos in one-time zoom
06:59 and then crop later on
07:00 because it's essentially just a digital zoom,
07:03 and you'll get more flexibility out of that.
07:05 That is it for our video, guys.
07:08 If you wanna learn more about anything
07:10 in the top of this video,
07:11 check out our website, tomsky.com.
07:13 I'm John V.
07:14 Don't forget to follow us on Twitter,
07:16 Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok,
07:18 and what do you guys think about the two-time zoom quality?
07:20 Is it good?
07:21 Is it bad?
07:22 Is it legit?
07:23 Let me know in the comments.
07:24 (upbeat music)
07:27 (people chattering)
07:30 (camera shutter clicking)
07:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]