Wesley Hilliard
Professional photographers Stephen Wilkes and Reuben Wu share their experience shooting images with iPhone 15 Pro Max, praising the upgrades.
The camera system is one of the most important updates in Apple's iPhone each year. For 2023, the iPhone 15 Pro Max received an upgraded telephoto lens capable of 5x zoom.
An exclusive report from People showcases work shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max from Stephen Wilkes and Reuben Wu. The images showcase the strengths of Apple's latest camera systems.
"I think it's a really great upgrade in terms of the image quality," Stephen Wilkes said. "To be able to have prints that look the way these do at that scale [and] captured from a phone is an amazing thing."
Wilkes created a photo series called The Endless Summer shot on Block Island in Rhode Island. Reuben Wu shot a series called The Inner Landscape in the deserts of southern Utah.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited an exhibit showing off the images, praising the work in an X post.
World-renowned photographers Stephen Wilkes and Reuben Wu show us creativity is limitless with iPhone 15 Pro Max. Their vivid photos display breathtaking views from the beauty of summer in Rhode Island to the other-worldly deserts of Utah. Thank you for showing me your work. pic.twitter.com/6kYnln7HYF
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 22, 2023
Apple says the iPhone 15 Pro Max has seven individual camera systems in one device. This is possible because the Main Camera offers 24 mm, 28 mm, and 35 mm focal lengths thanks to the 48MP sensor.
The other cameras include a macro mode, Ultra Wide camera, 2x zoom using the Main Camera, and a 120 mm (5x zoom) telephoto camera.
"I loved the 120 mm lens because I found that it was its own individual lens," Wilkes adds. "I could see the brightness of it. I could see the clarity of it very quickly when you see the image come on the screen."
Pro camera system upgrades in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max focused on user control and image quality. There are more options in the Camera app than ever, plus a new 24MP HEIF default.
The 24MP HEIF is a new approach across the entire iPhone 15 lineup. It provides a higher-resolution image than the previous 12MP default but has more contrast than a 48MP.
"I think it gives people an opportunity to create very scalable art in a very beautiful way so you're never at a deficit," Wilkes concludes. "If you have your phone with you, you can make a picture and have a photograph that actually is something that you could hang on your wall. As a photographer and an artist, it's a great thing to be able to have a tool that's always with you like that."
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have begun shipping to customers worldwide. In-store availability begins on September 22.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
9 Comments
Does anyone else find it odd that very little is being said (in fact, nothing that I've been able to find) about image quality when using the new 120mm lens? In fact, the only remark I've seen anywhere is from the tech reviewer for the Wall St Journal who wrote that photos taken with the lens were "not as crisp" as she had hoped. Hmmm. I expected that Apple would assign pro photographers and encourage pro photography sites to really put the new lens through its paces. After all, it's THE marquee (and only) feature that distinguishes the Pro Max camera system from the Pro. Suspiciously, Stephen Wilkes comments above about the lens seem to intentionally duck any specifics. "I love the 120mm lens because I found it is its own individual lens." Ummmm... And this was a surprise to you? The fact that an individual lens by design turned out to be an individual lens is the reason you love it? Huh? And then he continues: "I could see the brightness of it. I could see the clarity of it very quickly when you see the image come on the screen." Well, call me crazy, but I don't think that how a lens images on your phone's screen counts as a rigorous test or testament to its image quality.
If anyone comes across a more serious test of this lens, please post and link to it!
With every new iPhone come the articles: "You don't need a real camera, the iPhone is incredible!" Sadly people don't realize what they're missing. People's photo libraries are flooded with poor quality, wide-angle, zero-subject-isolation snapshots.
FYI You could take images from any camera from the 1950s on, shrink them down to a small size, apply the same noise reduction and image enhancement, and they'd look "good" too.