Are photos from iPhone 12 Pro easier/harder to edit than DSLR photos...?

[Turnpike]

I'm taking photos of some small machines as they are sold to later use in a book I'll publish. Small desktop vintage machines in a studio or room that I can control the lighting on. Since many are chrome, or have tinted plastic parts on them, reflections of light or the studio may have to be edited out of the photos that have to be taken at a straight-on angle.

So a question for the photo pros on here who may be familiar with the iPhone 12 Pro photos, would I have a markedly better photo or an easier-to-edit photo with a 12 Pro or a DSLR? Or isn't there that much of a difference? When I take a photo with a macro/micro lens or a portrait lens and compare it to the iPhone 12 Pro photo, they look about the same quality, is there something that I should factor in where one would be better to use to take these photos over the other? For image quality, or ease of editing?

 

[gwang73]

I would use a dslr and shoot in Raw. This will capture more dynamic range and provide you the most adjustability for editing the image. If you get advanced with the glints off the chrome, you can easily bracket on a dslr and take them into photoshop or other image editor and merge them into a single image with even greater dynamic range.

Color adjustments with Raw images are so much easier to do vs. jpeg. If you are looking for bokeh, nothing will beat a dslr and a fast lens.

As for editing out unwanted reflections, it'll be the same amount of work and doesn't matter which camera is used.

Sounds like you already have a dslr and iPhone. You can always take the shot with both cameras and decide in post which image you want to use.

Hope this helps.

 

[thekev]

This is going to vary somewhat by subject matter, but you should be able to test it pretty easily. These all to this day use some variation on the bayer array, although Apple has definitely experimented with alternative designs.

You have to consider what makes an image hard to edit. For me it would be things like the sensor produces weird shifts in certain subject types, washes out details in some subject types, or produces aberrations that become more visible upon editing. The available tools for working with the manufacturer's version of "raw" also make somewhat of a difference.

Be aware that even with raw, these things are only as raw as they choose to release. They're probably already demosaiced and may have some degree of gamma correction embedded in them.

I'm wondering from your question though, is this the first time you have done this? If so, do some testing before you do the actual job. If you have access to both without renting additional equipment, I would probably favor the dslr for maximum control over image capture (not necessarily image quality).

 

[Turnpike]

This is going to vary somewhat by subject matter, but you should be able to test it pretty easily. These all to this day use some variation on the bayer array, although Apple has definitely experimented with alternative designs.

You have to consider what makes an image hard to edit. For me it would be things like the sensor produces weird shifts in certain subject types, washes out details in some subject types, or produces aberrations that become more visible upon editing. The available tools for working with the manufacturer's version of "raw" also make somewhat of a difference.

Be aware that even with raw, these things are only as raw as they choose to release. They're probably already demosaiced and may have some degree of gamma correction embedded in them.

I'm wondering from your question though, is this the first time you have done this? If so, do some testing before you do the actual job. If you have access to both without renting additional equipment, I would probably favor the dslr for maximum control over image capture (not necessarily image quality).

Yes, this is the first time I'm doing this. And I'm not really a photographer, and not at all a photo editor. I just wanted to take the most useful photos possible for later on when I find the time and someone to edit them. I just have the opportunity to photograph them now, and will have someone edit them to my liking later. That's why I don't know enough to take photos with both and compare them, I have no experience editing anything and I don't know what to look for.

Thanks for the input, the replies are super helpful.

 

[jz0309]

RAW gives you much more control for adjustments, eg exposure adjustments, highlights, shadows etc.
DSLRs can shoot RAW, they also have lens choices ...
iPhone stock camera app compresses, jpeg is limiting adjustments, iPhone 11 and later can use HEIC which allows for more flexibility with adjustments but it still is compressed, meaning you lost some of the data in the captured image. Also you are obviously limited to the 3 "lenses" with the Pro iPhone ...
You can use a camera app that lets you shoot in RAW, personally I have Lightroom app but hardly ever use it, HEIC is fine for what I shoot on the iPhone and I shoot RAW with my DSLR.

You might get additional insights in the Digital Photography subforum ... I frequent there and just happen to see this thread in the forum summary view

 

[ian87w]

I'm taking photos of some small machines as they are sold to later use in a book I'll publish. Small desktop vintage machines in a studio or room that I can control the lighting on. Since many are chrome, or have tinted plastic parts on them, reflections of light or the studio may have to be edited out of the photos that have to be taken at a straight-on angle.

So a question for the photo pros on here who may be familiar with the iPhone 12 Pro photos, would I have a markedly better photo or an easier-to-edit photo with a 12 Pro or a DSLR? Or isn't there that much of a difference? When I take a photo with a macro/micro lens or a portrait lens and compare it to the iPhone 12 Pro photo, they look about the same quality, is there something that I should factor in where one would be better to use to take these photos over the other? For image quality, or ease of editing?

Do you currently have a DSLR?
Best way is to try them out. Take a photo of the subject and use both your iPhone and a DSLR and see which one would you be comfortable with in editing. If you have no experience in photo editing, no worries. Focus on your setup that the photo you get will be what you want right away. One thing you should keep in mind is, keep and back up the original file from your camera or iPhone as is, and create a duplicate, and do your edits on the duplicate file. This way, you will have the original file whenever you want, safely backed up.