I currently have an XS Max but have been contemplating the 11 Pro Max for the cameras. I’m curious about the Night Mode on the new phones. Is it just the ability to take a long exposure? I currently use Lightroom’s camera for long exposure and wonder if there would be any difference?
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Is iPhone Night Mode just long exposure?
- Thread starter seadragon
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I don't know if Apple fully explains all that the iPhone does when it engages nightmode. It does use longer exposure, but it may also be incorporating other effects like multiple exposures and machine learning to enhance the photo. The cameras themselves can still only do so much, so what you can do is still limited to the sensor size. I remember taking 30 second exposures with my LG G4 with decent results, so it just comes down to what your other camera apps allow.
Happy to help another G9 shooter!Thanks, Darmok. I’m sure you’re right that it does more that just long exposure. It certainly won’t replace my G9 but I really like the idea of having the best possible camera in my pocket all the time.
You do get an extra lens on the Pro, so that does sweeten the pot a bit. And I bet you get a pretty hefty trade-in value for the XS Max.
Night mode is far more than just longer exposure times. It's takes loads of shots and builds up the image with some fancy computational photography. I went from an X to an 11 Pro, and find the camera amazing.
Of course, you'd be going from an XS, so this video is worth watching ( it's Dan from MacRumors doing the comparison)...it includes some Night mode shots.
XS vs 11Pro
Also, have a look at the images on the thread below...they include both nighmode and standard images all taken with the new 11....well worth a look.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...o.2199706/page-36?post=28027697#post-28027697
Of course, you'd be going from an XS, so this video is worth watching ( it's Dan from MacRumors doing the comparison)...it includes some Night mode shots.
XS vs 11Pro
Also, have a look at the images on the thread below...they include both nighmode and standard images all taken with the new 11....well worth a look.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...o.2199706/page-36?post=28027697#post-28027697
I tried taking some late evening shots hand held with the iPhone 11 pro. It was just a notch less than pitch black outside, and the phone picked a 10 second exposure for night mode.
This is handheld, no tripod, no leaning on a rock or anything like that. It seems back focused, but overall I'm very impressed. No way would I have had a shot this steady looking out of a DSLR or a FF mirrorless after 10 seconds. And the colors actually turned out very close to true.
Also attached is a shot of the same scene taken with a short exposure - 1/4 seconds, according to EXIF.
This is handheld, no tripod, no leaning on a rock or anything like that. It seems back focused, but overall I'm very impressed. No way would I have had a shot this steady looking out of a DSLR or a FF mirrorless after 10 seconds. And the colors actually turned out very close to true.
Also attached is a shot of the same scene taken with a short exposure - 1/4 seconds, according to EXIF.
Attachments
It must be taking multiple exposures to accomplish this, as there is no way internal optical stabilization would be able to compensate for as much movement as even the steadiest hands would get at 10s. Pixel does something similar, from what I gather. It just must take 10s for the phone to get enough exposures to resolve a decent image. Still, it’s impressive, and I wonder is similar strategies could be employed on pro bodies.
This is exactly what happens. If the phone detects a steady mount (tripod) then it will go up to 30 seconds to compose the shot. You can’t call it a 30 second exposure in the conventional sense due to the computation that’s going on.
I got into a debate on another thread about how I felt that the 11 was the first iPhone that felt like a threat to conventional quality cameras. There were lots of comments about how that couldn’t possibly be due to laws of physics, bigger sensors etc. All of this is only true if you apply DSLR rules to camera phone tech.
Camera phones have a new trick coming to town, with software compensating for their physical limitations. In 3 or 4 years time, where will they be and how big (or small) will the gap be to prosumer SLR/Mirrorless cameras?
True, but imagine if these same tricks can be applied to something like a compact m43 body with interchangeable lenses? You could get the best of both worlds. My G9 has a 20MP sensor, but can produce a 80MP image in-camera with sensor shift. The challenge here is that Apple and Google have been putting more effort into this for longer. Can DSLR companies keep up with the pace of AI in smartphone cameras?
10 seconds... Handheld? I would be very interested in seeing the results of this, even with image stabilization. Even with something as short as 2 to 5 seconds my camera is on a tripod with mirror lock and a remote shutter.