Review: iPhone 11 Pro from a Photography Perspective
I was lucky and got a shiny new iPhone 11 Pro the day it came out. Here are my first impressions of the latest photography features of the iPhone 11 Pro.
While the majority of the crowd queued up at the Apple Store in Vienna, I got mine from another local Apple dealer - without the queue. While people were still queuing up to get the new iPhone 11, I was already out taking the first sample shots and familiarizing myself with iPhone 11 Pro photography features.
I was especially curious how the new ultra-wide lens of iPhone 11 compares to the Moment Wide Lens I used until now. Plus, I wanted to try the iPhone night mode camera and the shoot outside the frame feature.
Please note that I'll most likely update this post a few times in the coming weeks as I gain more experience with the iPhone 11 from a photography perspective. Let's connect on Twitter or Facebook, and you won't miss when I update this post.
Let's start with the triple-lens system.
The iPhone 11 Pro triple Lens System
The new iPhone 11 Pro comes with a triple-lens system compared to the dual-lens setup of the iPhone 11 ("non-pro"). You'll find the following lenses on the iPhone 11 Pro:
- A new ultra-wide lens with f/2.4 aperture and a 120-degree field of view.
- A standard wide lens with f/1.4
- A 2x telephone lens with an f/2.0 aperture.
Those numbers look impressive. Especially the ultra-wide lens that covers a 120-degree field of view sounds promising.
So, here are two series of sample photos I took from the same spot without zooming in or out with my feet. I didn't edit those photos much and didn't crop them, so you get to see the full-frame.
From left to right you'll find a photo taken with the 2x telephoto lens, the 1x wide lens, and the 0.5x ultra-wide lens. Click any photo to view it large.
Cathedral shot on iPhone 11 telephoto lens
Cathedral shot on iPhone 11 wide lens
Cathedral shot on iPhone 11 ultra-wide lens
Lost Place shot on iPhone 11 telephoto lens
Lost place shot on iPhone 11 wide lens
Lost Place shot on iPhone 11 ultra-wide lens
Isn't the ultra-wide lens amazing? So, what does that mean for the Moment Wide Lens I've used so far?
Moment Lenses and iPhone 11
I'm still a huge fan of the Moment Lenses. But the iPhone 11 has changed the game a bit. Most likely, I won't need the Moment Wide Angle Lens as much as I did before.
But based from my experience with the iPhone 11 so far, there are still a number of scenarios where I will use it. I also will try the Moment Fisheye and the Moment telephoto Lens as soon as I get the iPhone 11 Photo Case from Moment.
It should arrive sometime in October. As soon as I get it, I'll test all the Moment Lenses and update this blog post.
In case you don't want to miss the update, let's connect on either Facebook or Twitter. I'll let you know once I've posted the update.
Shoot outside the frame
On iPhone 11 Pro, the iOS camera app has a new feature that's called shoot outside the frame. As of now, the function is exclusively available for the iOS camera app, and no third party app has this feature (yet?). So how does this feature work?
First, you need to enable it in the camera settings:
- In Settings, tap Camera
- Under Composition turn on Photos Capture Outside the Frame
Then, when you take a photo with the telephoto lens, iPhone will automatically take a photo with the wide lens. Likewise, when you take a photo with the wide lens, iPhone 11 will automatically take a photo with the ultra-wide lens.
Now you have 30 days to use that additional photo. After 30 days, that extra photo will be deleted. To identify a photo that has a photo outside the frame, look for the icon in the upper right corner. The icon is only visible if you view a photo large. You won't see it in the thumbnail view.
Icon indicating a photo captured outside the frame
Here's how capture outside the frame works after you've taken the photo.
- Look for the shot outside the frame icon in the upper right corner of each photo.
- If it's there, tap edit in the top right corner to put the photo into editing mode.
- Switch to cropping in the lower Toolbar
- Make a pinch-out gesture (moving two fingers together) over the photo and suddenly you'll see the wider photo.
- Tap the yellow checkmark to use the wider photo instead of the original one.
As a last note, that only works on the iPhone. That editing feature is not present in iPadOS 13.
I find this feature quite useful and need to experiment a little more with it.
Lastly, I tried the iPhone night camera mode.
iPhone night camera mode
If you own a new iPhone 11, you'll notice a new icon in the upper left corner of your camera screen if you're trying to take a photo in a low light environment.
iPhone night camera mode icon
This icon is for the iPhone night camera mode. In this mode, the iPhone will take several longer exposures and combine them to a low noise and well-lit photo.
One thing I already noticed is that the iPhone night camera mode is only available for the standard wide lens. As soon as you switch to the 2x or 0.5x ultra-wide lens, it disappears.
It also seems that the iPhone camera app detects if your iPhone is mounted to a tripod (because of the motion sensors built into iPhone). If iPhone 11 pro thinks it's attached to a tripod, you can set a much longer exposure time then when you're using it handheld.
Here's how this feature works:
- If you see the night camera mode icon, tap it
- Depending on the scene, you're able to set a longer exposure time in the lower Toolbar. During my tests, I was able to set an exposure time of max. 28 seconds.
- Now tap the shutter release button and iPhone will take several photos and combine them right before your eyes. This means that the photo will gradually become brighter in the viewfinder.
Sample photos to come.
View Full HDR
View Full HDR is an option that you can turn on / off in the photos app. If it's turned on and you view a photo you may notice that the screen suddenly changes.
This is what View Full HDR is all about. iPhone will adjust the screen to show the best possible photo.
While this feature is excellent, I find it disturbing when editing photos. With this feature enabled, it may become difficult to edit a photo, so it looks good on any screen.
How long does the battery of the iPhone 11 Pro last?
While I didn't measure battery time by the minute, I can tell from the last few days that the battery lasts longer. After I spent an afternoon photographing and tracking a hike, I still had 50% left when I returned home. That's more than with the iPhone XS.
Another thing I can already tell is that wireless charging does not take any longer than with my old iPhone XS. Using the Anker Powerwave 7.5 wireless charger (Amazon Link), iPhone 11 Pro takes around two hours to charge from 20% to 100%.
Conclusion
If you take a lot of photos with the iPhone, the iPhone 11 is definitely worth the upgrade. The ultra-wide lens is simply stunning and allows you to capture so much more of a scene. If you also need an optical telephoto lens, get the iPhone 11 Pro.
I bet you know where to get your iPhone 11. But just in case, you can get the iPhone 11 from Amazon and, of course, the iPhone 11 pro is also available from Amazon.
