Apple's iPhone 15's upgraded 48MP main camera and new features such as a 2x zoom and focus & depth controls. Tom's Guide tested out the iPhone 15’s camera against the iPhone 14 Pro in various settings. Also included the Pixel 7 into the fold because it’s priced similarly and should give you an idea of how the iPhone 15 holds up against its rivals.
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00:00And this year, they both get brand new 48MP cameras.
00:03On top of that, Apple does introduce a new zoom option, a two-time zoom,
00:08to complement the main camera and the wide-angle camera in there.
00:12Now, it begs the question, how exactly this new camera stacks up?
00:15Let's head on out.
00:17Alright, to make this a proper test, I'm going to compare shots from the iPhone 15
00:21with last year's iPhone 14 Pro and the Google Pixel 7,
00:25because they all sort of have similar price points.
00:28Got the iPhone 15 here, we're at 30 Rock,
00:31and the first thing you should know is that it's a brand new camera here.
00:33It's a 48MP camera, it's a step up from last year's iPhone 14,
00:38which had only a 12MP camera.
00:40It does share a lot of similarities with the iPhone 14 Pro,
00:43because that one had a 48MP camera too.
00:46So, theoretically, you get a professional camera this time around.
00:51iPhone 14 Pro, so I'm going to take a snapshot here,
00:54and I'm going to do both the full 48MP snapshot and a standard one.
01:00Second new thing is the new depth and focus control
01:03that's available with the iPhone 15's camera.
01:05Now, you don't have to worry about going into the dedicated portrait mode
01:09to take portrait photos.
01:11Instead, you can just use the standard mode,
01:13take out your camera, start shooting,
01:15you'll be able to actually convert it into a portrait right there,
01:19choose your subject, and also the aperture, the bokeh level effect.
01:23If I want myself to be in frame, I just select that.
01:26If not, I could choose Brandon over here,
01:28and he's in frame, and obviously I'm blurred out.
01:331x definitely does it closer than 2x zoom.
01:37And lastly, there is the new 2x zoom option with the iPhone 15,
01:42which Apple claims have optical quality.
01:44It's not a dedicated lens, because clearly there's only two cameras here,
01:47the ultra-wide and the main camera.
01:49But Apple's able to give you this 2x zoom,
01:52because now what it's doing, it's taking that 48-megapixel sensor,
01:55and it's using the middle 12-megapixels to produce the 2x zoom.
01:59The end result should be just as good as an optical lens.
02:03Okay, now 2x zoom.
02:10Now that I've finished testing out all three cameras,
02:12I'm going to go back to the studio to find out how they look on my computer.
02:22Okay, looking at the shots I took of St. Patrick's Cathedral,
02:26and I gotta say, the 15 does a fantastic job of matching the 14 Pro.
02:30Pretty much in every area, detailed and dynamic range,
02:34color accuracy, it's both spot on.
02:36So it's really hard to tell the difference between the two.
02:38Against the Pixel 7, it depends on what you like.
02:42I do like that it has, you know, a slightly more contrast look,
02:45so it draws out some details in the brickwork, especially when I zoom in.
02:49So on paper, they look almost exactly like one another.
02:52Switching over to their respective ultra-wide cameras,
02:55the only noticeable difference in these photos of 30 Rock
02:58is that the Pixel 7's ultra-wide camera has a slightly narrower field of view,
03:02so it doesn't capture as wide of a scene compared to the iPhone 15 or 14 Pro.
03:08Now, despite all this, all three have excellent dynamic range performance,
03:12and you kind of make it out by looking at the exposure
03:15between the bright light hitting the building,
03:17and of course, the shadowed areas of the foreground.
03:20Moving to low light, it's a clear win for the iPhone 15,
03:22which is crazy when you think about it, but especially for its price point.
03:26In this image of my backyard,
03:28you can see there's a lot more detail in the tree.
03:30It's brighter.
03:31I know the color saturation is a little bit much,
03:33but compared to the Pixel 7, the Pixel 7's lacking on the detail.
03:38The iPhone 14 Pro does a good job of adding more detail.
03:41It's a little bit brighter, but nowhere as sharp or clear versus the 15.
03:45So the 15 is hands down the big winner in low light.
03:48Now, all three phones can shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second.
03:52That is the industry standard for today's high-end phones.
03:56Yet again, I can't tell the difference between the iPhone 15 and 14 Pro
04:01when I look at these videos of the Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Center.
04:04They both capture the same amount of details,
04:06and I actually like their dynamic range performance.
04:09However, with the Pixel 7, it isn't too shabby,
04:12but I can make out some noise in the shadows on the left side of the video,
04:16and it's also just a tad bit softer in tone.
04:19Interestingly, after taking all those shots using the iPhone 15's camera,
04:23both with the one-time zoom, two-time zoom options,
04:26I'm looking at the samples here on my computer,
04:28and honestly, I can't tell the difference.
04:31In this first image here of the grass cow,
04:33you can see the textures in the cow itself with the grass,
04:36and then next to it, the signage.
04:38When I crop into the 1x zoom image,
04:42you could tell that it's identical to the two-time zoom.
04:45You can't really see the difference here.
04:47Details are no different.
04:49So to me, what's happening here is that
04:51Apple's just basically applying a digital zoom effect
04:54with the main camera to get that two-time zoom.
04:56And as you can see in this other photo of this flower I took,
04:59when I crop into that 1x zoom photo and match it up to the 2x one,
05:03the flower itself has the same amount of detail on both shots.
05:07You can't tell the difference.
05:09Same thing with the color saturation
05:10and also the bokeh level in the background.
05:13So while it technically doesn't offer any improvements
05:16as far as detail superiority,
05:18I think that the two-time zoom option is still usable.
05:22So you'll be able to use it in different situations
05:24just to get closer, and that to me is worthwhile.
05:27Before I finally answer the question of
05:29whether or not the iPhone 15's two-time zoom is legit,
05:32I want to show you how all three phones handle two-time zoom.
05:36Take the same scene of the golden Prometheus statue.
05:38You can see that the iPhone 15 and 14 Pro look identical.
05:42The details, contrast, and color production are identical,
05:46but the Pixel 4 is just softer.
05:48You can see it in the details around the ring,
05:50which aren't as sharp.
05:52In this other shot of these figurines,
05:54the iPhone 15 and 14 Pro produce the same amount of detail.
05:58Even when I punch into the photos a little bit more,
06:01I also like how they do a better job
06:03at boosting shadows than the Pixel 7,
06:05which tends to lose the detail.
06:07Despite not having a true third telephoto lens
06:11like the iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max,
06:14I think the iPhone 15 is pretty legit
06:16with this two-time zoom option,
06:18because as you saw, it gets us closer
06:20without that much degradation to details.
06:23And overall, I think that it's a pretty good camera.
06:29We all know that Apple makes some incredible cameras,
06:31and the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus is no different.
06:34It does well against the iPhone 14 Pro,
06:37and as you saw, it does much better than the Pixel 7,
06:40so it's outstanding every way
06:42in all different lighting conditions.
06:44Now, the other point I wanna make here
06:45is about that two-time zoom level.
06:47It's usable.
06:48At the end of the day, you could still use it to get closer,
06:50which is great,
06:51but I don't think so it's any better
06:53than the one-time zoom.
06:54So if I were you,
06:56I would just shoot in your standard photos
06:58in one-time zoom and then crop later on,
07:00because it's essentially just a digital zoom,
07:03and you'll get more flexibility out of that.
07:07That is it for our video, guys.
07:08If you wanna learn more about anything
07:10to talk about in this video,
07:11check out our website, tomsky.com.
07:13I'm John V.
07:14Don't forget to follow us on Twitter,
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07:18And what do you guys think
07:18about the two-time zoom quality?
07:20Is it good?
07:21Is it bad?
07:22Is it legit?
07:23Let me know in the comments.