iPhone 15 Pro vs Fujifilm RAW Photo Shootout

[@aows]

Great video. I'm looking to "replace" my 1" sensor camera with the upcoming iphone 16 (which should be pretty similar to the 15) and I was interested in seeing how the small sensor reacts to challenging light like the one you showed. I do some heavy editing, increasing contrast quite a bit, and I've had issues with banding and halos even with big sensors. Something to keep in mind when using the iphone. Still a great device for many situations, and one you are likely to have with you all the time. Thanks for the video.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

There's a lot of people that don't want to believe just how powerful smartphones have become for photography (just see some of the comments). That said, they still have some limitations and photography will always be about using the right tool for the job. However, for many images, an iPhone or Android will take incredible images. Shooting RAW gives those images a lot more leeway in editing

[@benchen2248]

finally done right. this is e best camera-to-phone comparison by far.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Thanks for your kind comment. I try to base my comparisons on how people would take pictures in real life rather than pixel peeping in laboratory conditions.

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

I think that Alex Armitage also does some good iPhone - vs - camera reviews with a similar approach. 🙂

[@john-wiggains]

Thanks for this comparison! really well done. loved your Sony one too. I'm still on the 12 Pro - and I love my Fuji xh2. My fuji has been a joy for taking photos

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Thanks for your comments. The XH2 is a great camera just not right for me anymore. I believe the iPhone 12 Pro was the first to shoot RAW. Tbh I only upgrade every 4 years or so, on the 15 Pro it’s really the video that has moved on the most

[@des7638]

great comparison. thanks for this. :)

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Glad it was helpful!

[@charlesgroley6309]

Excellent comparison and also a good basic lesson in Lightroom. Clearly the Fuji lens/sensor combo is better for post-processing and larger-sized printing. I think iPhone images are easy to capture and great for sharing on the web, social media, etc. but I will stick to the larger/bulkier gear for photos I want to print and hang on my walls.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Glad you enjoyed it. I would agree, if you are going to print you images to a larger size then a full size camera is the way to go. But for a lot of run and gun stye photography, smartphones definitely have the advantage

[@ChrisThe1]

To me at least the difference is stark. The processing on the iphone shot makes it look artificial and ugly (not your editing, bit what apple does internally). It is far from a true raw. The easiest way to see that is the blue sky in the first shot. Dynamic range scales with sensor size, so the iphone's must be worse - hence the blue sky is an hdr effect in a "raw" photo. Resolution is also on a different level. While it's difficult to resolve 40 megapixels on aps-c and the 16-80 certainly doesn't it is possible, and the interchangeable nature of the xh2 lets one accomplish it. The iphone resolves around 10-12 megapixels; not only is the sensor not a true 48mp (it has 48m pixels, but only 12m micro lenses and a 12mp bayer filter) but the optical system simply cannon resolve such a dense sensor. For the xh2's pixel size diffraction affects the image at apertures smaller than 5.6, the iphone's are much smaller still. While the iphone's camera has been improving over the past few generations, those steps pale in comparison to how far it is still from any serious camera. Frankly I don't think it is possible for a iphone sized sensor to reach the optical performance of an xh2, and computation still has well over a decade until it can make up for the difference. The iphone is nice if you don't happen to have a camera on you, but in no situation would I pick it if i had the chance to bring something else. Side note, I own both the 15 pro and the xh2 among other cameras. I'm not just talking specs; I have used both of them.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

I would certainly agree that there is some processing going on with the Raws.

[@Yupthereitism]

The larger the sensor the better in 99% of cases, at least with todays technology

[@DigiDriftZone]

* iPhone 15Pro main camera is 24mm f/6.3 equiv (ultra wide is 13mm f/10 equiv) * That's about 16mm f/4.2 on APS-C, so this is a good and fair comparison :)

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Thank you, yes that’s why I picked the 16-80mm for this test. I think the iPhone held up pretty well considering. Decent light levels helped, I am sure it will fall apart at higher ISOs fairly quickly

[@DigiDriftZone]

​@@JasonRowPhotography ISO also scales with crop factor, for example at ISO450, it should equal 24mm f/6.4 at ISO3200 on FF - ISO formula is ISO*(CropFactor*2). For video at least the native ISO is 1200 on the iPhone which is roughly equivalent to ISO 9000 on FF - being a Sony sensor, it seems to share some of the characteristics of cameras like the A7S3, also being 48 megapixels quad bayer and it actually beats the Fuji in dynamic range in video with an appropriately matched lens and ND filter. For photos, it's usually the lower the ISO the better, but again ISO50 on the iPhone would be the equivalent of something like ISO400 on APS-C, so worth matching that for a 100% fair comparison, you'll find it's even closer then, especially in dynamic range and noise levels.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

I watched Gerald Undone's video on the maximum dynamic range of the iPhone's Log video. It wasn't a great surprise, although companies like Fuji and others fix their ISO to the most dynamic range which in the case of F-Log 2 is 1250. I want to do a video doing some real life comparisons of Fuji F-Log2 and Apple Log - although I need to buy a CF Express card to get Prores on the Fuji whereas my iPhone records it direct to an SSD

[@DigiDriftZone]

@JasonRowPhotography that would be awesome! Note the blackmagic app lets you record LOG in H265 internally on the iPhone.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Yes, I have used the BM app for much of the previous YT video. Not only H265 Log but also the various forms of ProRes, ProRes LT being my favourite. It's still way ahead of the new Final Cut Camera

[@earlfenwick]

Great! Really nice comparison. I've gotten much more natural looking images on my Pixel 7 using the OpenCamera app. It's free, though I would pay for it. I've done some really nice video with it as well and it has a lot of different format options. That said, I'm not replacing even my RX100m3 with a smartphone. Subbed.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Thanks so much. I agree it’s best to keep a main camera as well as a smartphone. Different tools different uses. Thanks for the sub

[@Yupthereitism]

The iPhone pictures have a lot of artificial lighting and sharpening, which gives them a look. If you like that look, than these images are compatible. The iPhone pictures aren’t awful but I don’t like the artificial look. Film>digital>larger sensor>smaller sensor

[@GregMcMillan]

Although the use of a third party camera app may not be, to some, the ideal way to use the iPhone camera, I think it would be a more accurate comparison between the RAW files if you were to use an app like Reeflex that allows you to shoot RAW as opposed to ProRAW. The RAW setting in Reeflex doesn't use the Apple computational stuff like Deep Fusion, SmartHDR, Noise Reduction, etc. Reeflex also has the ability to shoot ProRAW, JPG and HEIF, but the RAW option would give you a more fair comparison. Doing so would likely show that the Fujifilm gives better image quality due to the larger sensor, and as an iPhone only photographer (not professional for those who might jump all over that admission), as much as I like using the iPhone, I'm fully aware that traditional cameras will produce a better image. I used to have a Canon DSLR and all the fixings, but I'm quite happy to use the iPhone and even take a photographic approach to it. It's my camera of choice. And yes, it is a real camera.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

I felt that for this test, it was important to compare like for like, ie the default app with all it's baked in computational photography against the standard Fuji RAWs. I am aware of other apps, but many of them do not output the 48mp image, dropping to a 24mp image.

[@GregMcMillan]

@@JasonRowPhotography ah yes, there’s the issue of getting the full 48MP. Damn Apple!

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Yes, they don't make it easy. I believe that there are some apps that can now access the full 48mp but I need to do my research on them

[@GregMcMillan]

@@JasonRowPhotography the third party apps can shoot ProRAW at 48MP but none of them can shoot RAW in 48, just 12MP. I’ll save you the research. I have the most popular cameras apps on my phone at all times so I can test things like this.

[@simon359]

There is no comparison, one as one has a viewfinder and the other one doesn’t. I’ve been doing street photography for sometime now and the XT5 blows away any iPhone period! Just helped the lady get rid of her phone for street and get an XT50. The results speak for themselves

[@JasonRowPhotography]

I have been a professional photographer for 40 years. In normal lighting conditions (point of this test) there is not a huge difference between them in image quality. Low Light high ISO, yes but ideal conditions it’s marginal. They are both tools and both extremely capable

[@simon359]

@@JasonRowPhotography You’ve been a photographer for 40 years, good luck getting a paid gig with an iPhone! 🤣 I’ve been a photographer since I was 17 and now I’m 67, what does that mean?

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Did I say I do paid gigs with iPhones? No, I said in bright light the image quality is very similar. Thanks for your input though

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

I would expect the Fuji to have similar lens flare to the iPhone if you'd use the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Does the 16-55 have really bad lens flare? I had thought about buying one

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

@@JasonRowPhotography I like the lens a lot, but I do think it has some issues with flare. (Actually the 50-150mm has worse flare, but I think the 16-55 too under wrong circumstances). It's not the worst lens for flare I've had -- but I have a suspiction that your picture shot with the 16-80mm looks better than it would be on the 16-55. Check perhaps some reviews for the lens, Christopher Frost checks flare in all his lens reviews, he may have reviewed this lens. Or perhaps DPReview.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

@TimvanderLeeuw Thanks for your insights

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

@@JasonRowPhotography You're welcome!

[@nevvanclarke9225]

I would use bracketing if I was doing an iPhone. I would take three images and stack them. I'm not sure if the iPhone does that. I'm pretty sure it would. The reason I prefer cameras over. Phones is not so much the Photography quality. It's actually about the experience when you're using a camera it is tactile and it is buttons and you become immersed in the process. Whereas is when you are using phone you are just looking for that instant photo. No one talks about the mindfulness suspect of Photography because that's the way I teach Photography and one of the things I teach is allows students to immerse themselves in the experience and they just don't get that with a phone. The other thing that happens with phone photographers is as soon as you get a pop-up they will answer their message or their phone call or whatever because no one put their phone into Aeroplane Mode. Well not many people do anyway.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Whilst I am sure bracketing is available on some third party apps, to me the idea of doing that and then HDR merging negates the real reason for using a smartphone, freedom. Whilst I agree there is a good reason for newcomers to photography to embrace the tactile feel of a larger camera, the use of a smartphone can be creatively liberating. It frees you from having to make multiple technical decisions and allows you to focus on the creative. As for mindfulness, perhaps look at my video on shooting in Edinburgh. It was literally the act of shooting an iPhone over my larger Fuji system that massively improved my wellbeing. Regarding messages and calls, you get low battery and card full warnings on larger cameras, these can also break creativity if you allow them. The key is, not to allow them,

[@Perceptions-2.0]

Would have been a better test had you used a prime lens on the Fuji. Besides that, your test was skewed forcing the Fuji to use an extreme focal length for it's larger sensor, and also with a compromised zoom lens. For your next test, use a 26mp X-T3 with the awesome 23mm 1.4 and use the equivalent lower megapixel 35mm equivalent lens on the iPhone. Game over.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

No problem, you send me an X-T3 and 23 1.4 and I will do the test. Unless you want to make a video yourself to prove how big a difference it is

[@Perceptions-2.0]

@@JasonRowPhotography So what you did is not really a test. You just used the gear that you have and tried to make a video about something. I guess you're low on ideas?

[@JasonRowPhotography]

Thanks for your input

[@chamade166]

Dedicated cameras have few reasons to exist anymore, outside of the professional environment. I suspect this will only become more true over time.

[@JasonRowPhotography]

I think that phones and dedicated cameras will live side by side for quite a while. But there is no doubt that the rise of computational photography is slowly eroding some of the advantages of the larger cameras. That will only continue, and those that disagree are in denial. I had the same arguments when film went digital and when DSLR went mirrorless. You cannot halt progress but you can work with it

[@ChrisThe1]

@@JasonRowPhotography I disagree. I have both the iphone 15 pro and the xh2, and the iphone stinks in comparison