IPhone 12 Pro
Capture stunning photos and jaw–dropping HDR video with this sturdier, faster, and more intelligent device
From $999
Features A14 Bionic; 128, 256 or 512GB storage; 6.1–inch Super Retina XDR OLED display; Ceramic Shield front; Pro camera system: 12MP ultra–wide, wide and telephoto cameras, LiDAR scanner (rear); 12MP camera (front); Dolby Vision recording (60fps), 6.66 ounces weight
BFrom Apple, apple.com efore I delve into my experience with testing the iPhone 12 Pro, here’s a brief bit of background to put my review in context. I shoot stills and video professionally. Since I acquired an iPhone 11 Pro a year ago my Canon Digital DSLR has been gathering dust. The 11 Pro has enabled me to snap publicity stills of events and share colorful, sharp and noise–free shots to social media — while I’m still at the event! When I used a DSLR to document an activity I’d have to return home and process the raw files on my iMac before I could share the best shots.
The iPhone 11 Pro hasn’t completely replaced my Canon when it comes to shooting video because the DSLR’s lens produces a soft background blur (bokeh) in talking–head interviews that isn’t as achievable with the iPhone. However, the new iPhone 12 Pro’s ability to shoot in 10–bit HDR Dolby Vision narrows the gap between iPhone and DSLR. More on that in due course.
But first, how does the iPhone 12 Pro compare to the 11? For starters, the 12 has a sharper, less bevelled edge. This makes it feel safer to hold than the slippery curved edges of the iPhone 11 Pro. But you probably won’t get to see and feel the 12 Pro’s edges for long because an easier–to–grip protective case is a must–buy — even if Apple declares that this model is water resistant and four– times more drop–resistant than the Pro 11. The Pro 12’s Super Retina XDR 6.1–inch display is a little larger when placed next to the 11’s 5.8–inch screen, but the size difference is negligible.
LOW LIGHT
To start my test I headed to the gloomy interior of my local church. I brought the 11 Pro along for the ride so I could shoot and compare the results of the two Pro models in identical conditions. Both devices were set to capture .JPEG rather than HEIF format files as the latter format produces shots featuring more compression artefacts.
The 11 Pro has always worked well in dark locations thanks to its Night mode but I was expecting that the 12 Pro would have the edge due to a variety of factors. I wasn’t disappointed. The 12 Pro’s Wide lens can open a little wider at an aperture value of f/1.6 compared to the 11 Pro’s f/1.8. In theory, by letting in more light a lower ISO speed will be needed to expose the subject, resulting in less noisy (grainy) results. In the cathedral’s dark interior 12 Pro photos captured at f/1.6 required an ISO speed of 250, resulting in some noticeable luminance noise in lighter areas such as smooth walls. When shooting the same indoor scene with the 11 Pro’s narrower f/1.8 lens the camera was forced to use a higher ISO speed of 500, plus a slower shutter speed, which adds to the danger of shake–induced blur. The 12 Pro can also activate Night mode when using the front– facing camera, which in theory enables you to capture better selfies in low–light conditions. In practice the front–facing cameras on both Pro models settled for a high ISO of 640 and the results looked equally noisy in our test. Both front–sourced stills also looked quite pixelated compared to the detail revealed using the back–facing lenses.
To give your low–light photography the edge the 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner helps the lenses focus in low light without having to zap a blast of flash on your subject (like the 11 Pro might need to do). LiDAR also enables you to create an accurate depth map when shooting in Portrait mode, so you can capture an attractive background bokeh even in low light. By making the Pro 12 less dependant on flash you can shoot in low light without drawing attention, which is especially useful in locations such as churches and museums. The LiDAR scanner can also be used in conjunction with third– party apps such as Canvas to create a 360º scan of a room. You can then display the room in AR, enabling users to tilt and pan the iPhone to view the room’s contents.
Overall we were impressed with the 12 Pro’s low–light handheld shooting abilities as it produced sharp results featuring detail in both shadows and highlights with a minimum of noise artefacts in most shots. However, the low–light results from the 11 Pro were almost as good, so the 12 Pro still needed to show us some new tricks in the outdoor portion of our test shoot to really impress!
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
In bright light the Pro 12 really shines. Thanks to Smart HDR (High Dynamic range) 3 it can distinguish between different scenes and subjects so all you need to do is point and shoot. Smart HDR 3 enables the 12 Pro to automatically set properties such as exposure and shutter speed to capture detail in different scenarios. When faced with a contrasting subject such as a sunlit white swan against darker water, a DSLR might blow out the swan’s highlights and lose texture and detail in the brightest pixels. The 12 Pro automatically captured both shadow and highlight detail without any clipping.
REDUCE DISTORTION
The iPhone 11 Pro’s Ultra Wide angle lens has always been useful for showing architectural subjects in context with their environment, but it does tend to create converging verticals that narrow inwards towards the top of the frame. This distortion has caused clients to criticize some of the stills that I’ve produced with the 11 Pro. The 12 Pro has a handy in–camera lens correction setting that reduces the perspectival distortion produced by the Ultra Wide lens. The results are subtle but welcome, as it alleviates the need to make lens corrections in post– production apps. When shooting a selfie on the 11 Pro your close proximity to the front–facing lens can cause your face to bulge in an unflattering way. The 12 Pro applies lens correction to its front–facing lens to help create a more flattering selfie. Just make sure that the Lens Correction feature is toggled on in the iPhone 12 Pro’s Camera Settings menu.
BEAUTIFUL BOKEH
The Portrait Mode on the Pro 11 was a hit and miss affair. Occasionally it would get confused between the foreground and background subject, causing some background details to remain sharp. The 12 Pro proves more effective at blurring the appropriate background details while keeping a subject’s foreground edges looking sharp. The gradual blend between sharp foreground and blurred
background is more realistic too, edging the 12 Pro a little close to matching a DSLR’s bokeh look. The background bokeh effect only works for stills as it is produced as a software “cheat.” It’s much more difficult to blur a subject’s background when it comes to shooting video on an iPhone compared to using a DSLR.
VIDEO STAR
Talking of video, it’s here that the iPhone Pro 12 really outpaces the Pro 11, despite the fact that the Apple ProRAW format was unavailable at the time of our test. The 10–bit HDR Dolby Vision recording format captures vibrantly colored video clips packed full of vibrant (and correctly balanced) colors. Our test footage of high–contrast swans looked stunning on the iPhone 12 Pro’s Super Retina XDR display. When we examined the footage on our Mac using Final Cut Pro X’s histogram tool the automatically set exposure was perfect, with no clipped shadows or highlights. When shooting with the Wide lens the optical image stabilization produced tripod–steady pans. You won’t need to buy a gimbal to capture smooth steadicam–style camera moves.
The iPhone Pro 12 has the edge on the Pro 11 when it comes to capturing better–looking stills, but the cinematic quality of the 12’s 10–bit HDR video footage will be enough to justify an upgrade for many video creators. Once Apple ProRAW appears then the iPhone Pro 12 will be an essential tool for every filmmaker due to the freedom the format will give them to reveal more color and detail while keeping compression artefacts at bay.
THE BOTTOM LINE. Thanks to the iPhone Pro 12’s Smart HDR 3 you can point and shoot to achieve colorful and well–exposed results. And the Dolby Vision HDR video footage will elevate your YouTube presentations to the next level. GEORGE CAIRNS
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