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ToddJ

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 23, 2008
565
24
I bought my iPhone 13 Pro a week and a half ago and I am seriously thinking about returning it and keeping my iPhone 11 Pro (partially cause of the cost....partially cause of the camera quality.) I LOVE that the iPhone 13 Pro has RAW capabilities, but picture quality sometimes seems worse than my iPhone 11 Pro......I might switch back to my iphone 11 because the camera seems to be a little bit better on my iphone 11 Pro, but maybe that is all in my mind. Also, I get a really really good deal on my phone currently, but if I quit my job i won't have as good of a deal so it might make more sense to trade in my phone with Decluttr (they will give me over $600 for my iphone 11 Pro 256 because i locked in the price) or i could trade it into AT&T and get a $1000 back (but i will be stuck with AT&T which might be bad if the price of my plan goes up if I quit my job.)
 

firoze

macrumors regular
Jul 3, 2011
239
83
I am not surprised you like the photos from the 11 Pro more appealing than the 13P. I recently compared photos between the 12 mini and 11Pro Max. The 11PM photos were instantly more appealing, essentially the greens of leaves and trees. The 12 mini greens are muddy in comparison. The 11PM photos also looked more 3-dimensional while the 12 mini photos looked flatter. This was especially noticeable in the separation between leaves in trees. The blue of the sky was also more natural on the 11PM. On the other hand, the 12 mini photos were noticeably sharper, especially on the ultra wide lens. However if I added a bit of sharpness in post-processing, the 11PM photos were as sharp as the 12 mini.
In low light however, the 12 mini was distinctly superior to the 11PM.
Photography is my hobby hence I did these detailed comparisons.
 
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zakarhino

Contributor
Sep 13, 2014
2,496
6,771
The 11PM photos also looked more 3-dimensional while the 12 mini photos looked flatter.

This has been the case since the 12 series. Whatever they did that year to Smart HDR really ruined the depth of many scenes. Over the years Smart HDR has gone overboard with smoothing, denoising, and bumping up the constrast to an unnatural degree. Sometimes it's a hit and sometimes it's a miss. The 13 makes this worse by not giving you the option to turn off HDR in the default camera app.
 
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firoze

macrumors regular
Jul 3, 2011
239
83
Thank you for that info, I did not realise the culprit was Smart HDR. Pity there is no option to turn it off.
 

Jmik4

macrumors member
Sep 23, 2019
55
53
I actually go back also and see that some of my 11 PM camera shots are just as nice as my new 13 PM photos. For some reason my photos on the 11PM have always been really superior to everything I would compare too and even my family and friends would ask what camera is that it’s amazing.

Now I’m not saying it’s better than the 13 PM I personally think the 13PM is better and shoots amazing pictures but the 11PM has always been my favorite until now and still compares. Im not a photographer so if I was upgrading for camera alone I wouldn’t have done so to the 13PM.
 
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DDustiNN

macrumors 68020
Jan 27, 2011
2,491
1,416
$1,000 trade-in is a no-brainer. Basically a free upgrade.

It’s weird to me that people switch carriers so often. I’ve been with Verizon since before they were called Verizon.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,155
I am not surprised you like the photos from the 11 Pro more appealing than the 13P. I recently compared photos between the 12 mini and 11Pro Max. The 11PM photos were instantly more appealing, essentially the greens of leaves and trees. The 12 mini greens are muddy in comparison. The 11PM photos also looked more 3-dimensional while the 12 mini photos looked flatter. This was especially noticeable in the separation between leaves in trees. The blue of the sky was also more natural on the 11PM. On the other hand, the 12 mini photos were noticeably sharper, especially on the ultra wide lens. However if I added a bit of sharpness in post-processing, the 11PM photos were as sharp as the 12 mini.
In low light however, the 12 mini was distinctly superior to the 11PM.
Photography is my hobby hence I did these detailed comparisons.

Greens are oversaturated on the iPhone 11 (at least my iPhone 11). This is a photo from my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Aside from the over saturation its overexposed slightly too. So it definitely "pops" more however its not accurate to reality. Technically the hand should have a bit more red as it looks muted/grayish.

IMG_4206.jpg

I would try out the iPhone 13's 'Photographic Styles' with Rich and Vivid to maybe get back to the style you prefer.

Screen Shot 2021-10-07 at 10.36.15 PM.png
The iPhone 13 has a wider aperture than the iPhone 12 with its wide and ultra wide cameras. Therefore the iPhone 13 is going to have a narrower depth of field which will cause objects not in that narrower focal range to be blurry, especially with the ultra wide camera (f/1.8 vs f/2.4). Conversely the telephoto should have a wider depth of field which is where you'd want it.

That said, a wider aperture (bigger hole) lets more light in (as big holes tend to do vs small holes) so your low light performance should be better, from clarity to color representation. That is what I've also been seeing in most photographer reviews of the iPhone 13 as well. I haven't used one so I can't speak from experience.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,155
This has been the case since the 12 series. Whatever they did that year to Smart HDR really ruined the depth of many scenes. Over the years Smart HDR has gone overboard with smoothing, denoising, and bumping up the constrast to an unnatural degree. Sometimes it's a hit and sometimes it's a miss. The 13 makes this worse by not giving you the option to turn off HDR in the default camera app.

Merging layers with HDR will give a natural noise reduction. Smart HDR (Samsung has Live HDR i believe) is the only reason these cameras can work with a high shutter high ISO. If I look back through my photos I can see more and more noise on older iPhones in low light settings. Here is a couple links on the subject especially how sharpness is perceived, it wasn't until smart HDR that I feel Halide really came into its element for me...


 

ToddJ

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 23, 2008
565
24
Do you think they will add the ability to shut off HDR for the iPhone 13 pro?
 

Brooke795

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2016
713
1,217
San Diego
I bought my iPhone 13 Pro a week and a half ago and I am seriously thinking about returning it and keeping my iPhone 11 Pro (partially cause of the cost....partially cause of the camera quality.) I LOVE that the iPhone 13 Pro has RAW capabilities, but picture quality sometimes seems worse than my iPhone 11 Pro......I might switch back to my iphone 11 because the camera seems to be a little bit better on my iphone 11 Pro, but maybe that is all in my mind. Also, I get a really really good deal on my phone currently, but if I quit my job i won't have as good of a deal so it might make more sense to trade in my phone with Decluttr (they will give me over $600 for my iphone 11 Pro 256 because i locked in the price) or i could trade it into AT&T and get a $1000 back (but i will be stuck with AT&T which might be bad if the price of my plan goes up if I quit my job.)
How much of a discount do you get on your plan? Can’t be that much unless you’re an employee.
 

firoze

macrumors regular
Jul 3, 2011
239
83
Greens are oversaturated on the iPhone 11 (at least my iPhone 11). This is a photo from my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Aside from the over saturation its overexposed slightly too. So it definitely "pops" more however its not accurate to reality. Technically the hand should have a bit more red as it looks muted/grayish.

View attachment 1859551

I would try out the iPhone 13's 'Photographic Styles' with Rich and Vivid to maybe get back to the style you prefer.

View attachment 1859562
The iPhone 13 has a wider aperture than the iPhone 12 with its wide and ultra wide cameras. Therefore the iPhone 13 is going to have a narrower depth of field which will cause objects not in that narrower focal range to be blurry, especially with the ultra wide camera (f/1.8 vs f/2.4). Conversely the telephoto should have a wider depth of field which is where you'd want it.

That said, a wider aperture (bigger hole) lets more light in (as big holes tend to do vs small holes) so your low light performance should be better, from clarity to color representation. That is what I've also been seeing in most photographer reviews of the iPhone 13 as well. I haven't used one so I can't speak from experience.
That photo definitely looks "off". It probably is not a problem with your phone, but sometimes under certain circumstances every camera gives weird results. The greens on the 11PM I tested were quite accurate, judging by the scene as I saw it, and also close to the results I get from my Leica camera.
 

whattodo11

macrumors 6502a
Mar 17, 2010
512
771
Sorry to revive this thread but I am completely undecided on if I should keep the 13 pro. I love the camera. I hate the feel of the squared off frame and the weight of the phone. The x and 11 pro feel so much better in my hand. I wondered if you indeed returned your 133 pro and kept the 11 pro?
 

sparkie7

macrumors 68020
Oct 17, 2008
2,430
202
Had my 13PM for a few days, and starting to think that my 11PM photos look better also.... I need to test with other apps. Shouldn't have to, but going to give them a go as well as shoot in RAW
 
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Noctilux.95

macrumors 6502a
Jan 20, 2010
556
354
LA
I went from the 11 pro to the 13 pro. While the image quality and light gathering on the new phone is far superior, the lens choices on the 13 pro suck ass. It’s beyond stupid to have a 13mm, 26mm, and then jump to a 77mm. For me the most most useful focal length would be in the 35-50mm range. To jump from 26mm to 77mm is beyond idiotic. And btw the 77mm image quality is far inferior to the 26mm. My personal choice would have been 13mm, 35mm or 50mm, and a higher quality short tele.
 
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Tmacc47

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2018
144
75
Ohio
$1,000 trade-in is a no-brainer. Basically a free upgrade.

It’s weird to me that people switch carriers so often. I’ve been with Verizon since before they were called Verizon.
People switch so much because carriers offer new customers such good deals to switch.
 

nordique

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2014
1,976
1,600
Really up to you OP

Personally, I can't go back to a 60hz iPhone.

11 pro is great - in battery, performance, cameras....but 13 pro is just better in all categories and it also has the excellent 120 hz promotion feature. But depending on how one uses their phone, the 11 pro is certainly more than enough.


if you're ok to save a few bucks and go back to the 11 pro and it works fine for your needs, and you may want to jump on a future iPhone 14 pro or 15 pro upgrade instead, then do that. you shouldn't need to seek justification on a forum from other people. if the 13 pro isn't "checking" your personal boxes, then return it.
 

Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
5,055
5,956
Florida Unfortunately
I bought my iPhone 13 Pro a week and a half ago and I am seriously thinking about returning it and keeping my iPhone 11 Pro (partially cause of the cost....partially cause of the camera quality.) I LOVE that the iPhone 13 Pro has RAW capabilities, but picture quality sometimes seems worse than my iPhone 11 Pro......I might switch back to my iphone 11 because the camera seems to be a little bit better on my iphone 11 Pro, but maybe that is all in my mind. Also, I get a really really good deal on my phone currently, but if I quit my job i won't have as good of a deal so it might make more sense to trade in my phone with Decluttr (they will give me over $600 for my iphone 11 Pro 256 because i locked in the price) or i could trade it into AT&T and get a $1000 back (but i will be stuck with AT&T which might be bad if the price of my plan goes up if I quit my job.)
I feel your pain.
 

ght56

macrumors 6502a
Aug 31, 2020
839
815
I am about to return mine and go back to my 11 Pro. The 13 Pro camera absolutely sucks compared to my 11 Pro. I've been trying to find a settings fix but nothing has worked.

I had a video appointment with my doctor and when I tried to show him a cut on my leg, the camera quality on the 13 Pro was so blurry in a close-up that I had to change over to my 11 Pro. The 13 Pro is a great phone...minus one pivotal component that is now almost a life necessity.
 

ght56

macrumors 6502a
Aug 31, 2020
839
815
I went from the 11 pro to the 13 pro. While the image quality and light gathering on the new phone is far superior, the lens choices on the 13 pro suck ass. It’s beyond stupid to have a 13mm, 26mm, and then jump to a 77mm. For me the most most useful focal length would be in the 35-50mm range. To jump from 26mm to 77mm is beyond idiotic. And btw the 77mm image quality is far inferior to the 26mm. My personal choice would have been 13mm, 35mm or 50mm, and a higher quality short tele.
Is this why when I try to take a close up picture that is is blurrier than my iPhone 4? I'm not a camera expert but I need a phone that when I take a close up it doesn't look like it was taken in 2010. Every other iPhone I have had has a camera that worked well for its respective day and age. Why is the 13 Pro inferior to the 11 Pro in this regard?
 
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