One of the biggest reasons I was interested in upgrading my iPhone XS to the new iPhone 11 Pro is for the ultra wide angle lens. Not only can you fit more in the frame, but it allows you to get up close to your subject, and angling up or down, can leave for an interesting perspective. This can also create some distortion. The image above shows what I’m referring to. To see how much wider the ultra wide lens is compared to the other two lenses, compare the images below.
.5x lens (ultra wide)
1x lens
2x lens
The other feature that many are excited about, is the improvement with Night Mode. This mode improves brightness and reduces image noise. I no longer have my iPhone XS, but from what I’ve read, it’s quite an improvement. Apparently the image is still pretty dark when using the iPhone XS. I did, however, provide an example compared to the iPhone 8. See example images below.
iPhone 8 (left), iPhone 11 Pro (right)
iPhone 8 (left), iPhone 11 Pro (right)
One other feature I’ve been reading about is Deep Fusion. How this works is whenever you take a photo in mid to low lighting conditions (such as indoors), the iPhone 11 Pro will go into Deep Fusion mode. This mode lowers image noise and optimizes details.
There have also been a few updates to portrait mode. You can now take photos at either 2x or a wider 1x. It’s nice to have both options. One other fun feature that’s new to portrait mode is High Key Mono, which is similar to Stage Light and Stage Light Mono. If you’re not familiar with Stage Light, it simulates a studio photo taken against a black background. Stage Light Mono is the same, but in black and white and the newest mode, High Key Mono is similar, but uses a white background instead. See images of my husband and I using regular Stage Light and High Key Mono below.
Stage Light (left), High Key Mono (Right)
Overall, I’ve been having fun exploring all the new camera features. And I will continue to do so!