Going backwards
March 30, 2022 9:26 AM Subscribe
I recently, 4-5 months ago, upgraded my iPhone 11 to an iPhone 13. Now I'm finding that the 13 is not as good as the 11 I had.
I started out by getting the 13 Pro, but with a day or two exchanged it for the 13 mostly based on the price.
I've taken a fair amount of pictures with the new phone, but just recently realized that the zoom was "not working right". Actually it's working fine for what it is, but what I didn't realize when I got the phone was that Apple downgraded the zoom power on the 13 to 5x from the 10x that the 11 has/had.
Perhaps this is 'on me' because I thought I was buying a similar phone, feature wise, with current upgrades, technology wise. What I got is a phone with a seriously downgraded camera. This is the first time I've encountered this when Upgrading a device. The Apple tech I spoke with had no satisfactory explanation outside of 'it is what it is'.
I guess I'm just curious why they would downgrade a key feature of their current model?? Oh, and the recent release of the discounted (~$500) phone also has a 5x zoom camera. Great.
Thoughts?
I started out by getting the 13 Pro, but with a day or two exchanged it for the 13 mostly based on the price.
I've taken a fair amount of pictures with the new phone, but just recently realized that the zoom was "not working right". Actually it's working fine for what it is, but what I didn't realize when I got the phone was that Apple downgraded the zoom power on the 13 to 5x from the 10x that the 11 has/had.
Perhaps this is 'on me' because I thought I was buying a similar phone, feature wise, with current upgrades, technology wise. What I got is a phone with a seriously downgraded camera. This is the first time I've encountered this when Upgrading a device. The Apple tech I spoke with had no satisfactory explanation outside of 'it is what it is'.
I guess I'm just curious why they would downgrade a key feature of their current model?? Oh, and the recent release of the discounted (~$500) phone also has a 5x zoom camera. Great.
Thoughts?
I'm confused by what you're experiencing. The specs pages for both the iPhone 11 and iPhone 13 mention 2x optical and 5x digital zoom. Are you using the stock camera app?
posted by griseus at 10:05 AM on March 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by griseus at 10:05 AM on March 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
Are you sure you didn't have an 11 Pro? The 11 Pro has 3 lenses: the ultra-wide (0.5x zoom), the wide (1x), and the telephoto (2x). With 5x digital zoom, the only way to get to 10x zoom is by using the telephoto lens.
The 13 Pro has ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto lenses as well. However, the 13 non-Pro just has ultra-wide and wide. Therefore you are limited to using the 1x optical zoom + 5x digital zoom = 5x overall zoom.
Perhaps I'm mistaken and the 11 really did have 10x digital zoom on just the wide lens. You can replicate the process of 10x digital zoom on the 13 by cropping an image with 5x digital zoom to half the size. That's all digital zoom really does.
posted by Maecenas at 10:40 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
The 13 Pro has ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto lenses as well. However, the 13 non-Pro just has ultra-wide and wide. Therefore you are limited to using the 1x optical zoom + 5x digital zoom = 5x overall zoom.
Perhaps I'm mistaken and the 11 really did have 10x digital zoom on just the wide lens. You can replicate the process of 10x digital zoom on the 13 by cropping an image with 5x digital zoom to half the size. That's all digital zoom really does.
posted by Maecenas at 10:40 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
FWIW, the "2x optical zoom out" on the pages griseus linked to refers to zooming out from the wide camera to the ultra-wide camera, i.e. the 0.5x zoom I mentioned. You can see the distinction in the specs page for the 13 Pro, which specifies "3x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out".
posted by Maecenas at 10:43 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Maecenas at 10:43 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've got the iPhone 11. Neither the iPhone 11 nor 13 has an optical telephoto lens at all. The Pro version of each does. The difference is visible: both non-pro phones have 2 lenses (wide and extra-wide); the pro phones have 3 lenses, adding telephoto.
Both the 11 and 13 (non-pro) have basically the same optical capabilities except that the 13 has a slightly faster wide lens (f1.6 vs f1.8). Both offer the same amount of "digital zoom" which is just pixel interpolation—not much of a feature IMO.
posted by adamrice at 10:43 AM on March 30, 2022 [5 favorites]
Both the 11 and 13 (non-pro) have basically the same optical capabilities except that the 13 has a slightly faster wide lens (f1.6 vs f1.8). Both offer the same amount of "digital zoom" which is just pixel interpolation—not much of a feature IMO.
posted by adamrice at 10:43 AM on March 30, 2022 [5 favorites]
XS was the last to have the telephoto lens on the main iPhone. Once they introduced the ultrawide second lens, they did regular+ultrawide on the regular and mini phones, and regular+ultrawide+telephoto on the pro/pro max versions. They have capped digital to 5x optical so if you had an XS or an 11 Pro you’d have seen 10x, but if you had an 11, you’d have seen the same 5x as the 13.
If you can afford it, you should exchange again for a 13 Pro because zoom is clearly important to you. It’s a 3x optical zoom, so you’ll be able to go out to 15x digital. Definitely useful.
posted by michaelh at 11:41 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you can afford it, you should exchange again for a 13 Pro because zoom is clearly important to you. It’s a 3x optical zoom, so you’ll be able to go out to 15x digital. Definitely useful.
posted by michaelh at 11:41 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Pros across both model years definitely have better lens setups than the non-Pro models. The availability of optical zoom on the Pros, where physical lens lengths determine the scale of the zoom rather than solely depending on software approximating it (digital zoom), improves the Pros' zoom capabilities noticeably - the higher digital zoom numbers on the Pros are based on the software maxing out at a 5x digital zoom capability on all models, but the better lens capabilities on the Pros then lets you multiply the capabilities together for a higher final digital zoom number. This explains why you're perceiving a "downgrade" in your photo zoom capability going from an 11 Pro to a 13 not-Pro - you *are* going from 10x digital zoom to 5x digital zoom maximums.
iPhone 11: 5x digital zoom in for photos, 3x digital zoom in for videos. No optical zoom capabilities, and the stock camera app does not go above 5x zoom of any kind, so it is unlikely this is your own old phone model.
iPhone 11 Pro: 2x optical zoom in, 10x digital zoom in for photos; 2x optical zoom in and 6x digital zoom in for videos. Based on what you're saying about being able to zoom in 10x on your old phone, I agree with everyone else that your old Phone was an 11 Pro.
iPhone 13: 5x digital zoom in for photos, 3x digital zoom in for videos. No optical zoom capabilities. This is the phone you most recently switched to.
iPhone 13 Pro: 3x optical zoom in and 15x digital zoom in for photos, 3x optical zoom in and 9x digital zoom in for videos. This is the phone you returned to save money.
If the ability to zoom in is important enough to you to have on a phone rather than on a separate dedicated camera, you should switch back to the 13 Pro. (But to get better quality zoomed in pictures, you should definitely be looking at separate dedicated cameras, where even the cheapest decent ones will start at 5x optical zoom.)
posted by Pandora Kouti at 12:28 PM on March 30, 2022
iPhone 11: 5x digital zoom in for photos, 3x digital zoom in for videos. No optical zoom capabilities, and the stock camera app does not go above 5x zoom of any kind, so it is unlikely this is your own old phone model.
iPhone 11 Pro: 2x optical zoom in, 10x digital zoom in for photos; 2x optical zoom in and 6x digital zoom in for videos. Based on what you're saying about being able to zoom in 10x on your old phone, I agree with everyone else that your old Phone was an 11 Pro.
iPhone 13: 5x digital zoom in for photos, 3x digital zoom in for videos. No optical zoom capabilities. This is the phone you most recently switched to.
iPhone 13 Pro: 3x optical zoom in and 15x digital zoom in for photos, 3x optical zoom in and 9x digital zoom in for videos. This is the phone you returned to save money.
If the ability to zoom in is important enough to you to have on a phone rather than on a separate dedicated camera, you should switch back to the 13 Pro. (But to get better quality zoomed in pictures, you should definitely be looking at separate dedicated cameras, where even the cheapest decent ones will start at 5x optical zoom.)
posted by Pandora Kouti at 12:28 PM on March 30, 2022
I went from a standard 11 to a 13 Pro specifically for the camera improvements. Not having zoom on the 11 was tough for me (I don't count going from wide angle to regular as zoom in any meaningful sense; I also don’t care about digital zoom). The 13 Pro has wide, regular, and 3x zoom lenses, and that was a huge improvement in functionality for me. Comparing these two phones, it’s definitely not a step backwards in the camera department.
I’d expect standard 11 and standard 13 to be pretty similar camera wise, though. I don’t know if the regular 13 attempts to use the wide angle lens for macros like the 13 Pro does; I found that annoying, but you can turn it off. I’m finding macro mode a mixed bag, period; the 13 Pro has a longer minimum focus distance naturally than the 11 did (due to the size of the sensor, I think), hence the use of the wide angle lens for macros. The 13 Pro also sometimes has a tendency to focus on the background instead of my subject, even when I’m at a reasonable distance and the subject is prominent; the 11 wouldn’t have missed it, but I have to tap to refocus the 13 Pro more often. The 13 Pro's depth of field can also be very shallow, more so than I’d expect. In short, I find that it has quirks, but they can be dealt with, and you get two big things in return: the 3x optical zoom, and spectacular low light performance.
After a trial period, I'd been dithering on returning the 13 Pro and regretfully giving up the zoom lens, not because of the other camera quirks, but because I found the shape and weight of the new phone slightly uncomfortable. But then I took it out at night and took some snapshots. It KILLED the 11 in low light. Everything was beautiful. I had to have it. I’ve gotten used to the feel of it now, and I love my little rectangular brick and its dead sexy camera. If camera is where you’re concentrating, I’d go straight to the 13 Pro.
posted by kite at 8:37 PM on March 30, 2022
I’d expect standard 11 and standard 13 to be pretty similar camera wise, though. I don’t know if the regular 13 attempts to use the wide angle lens for macros like the 13 Pro does; I found that annoying, but you can turn it off. I’m finding macro mode a mixed bag, period; the 13 Pro has a longer minimum focus distance naturally than the 11 did (due to the size of the sensor, I think), hence the use of the wide angle lens for macros. The 13 Pro also sometimes has a tendency to focus on the background instead of my subject, even when I’m at a reasonable distance and the subject is prominent; the 11 wouldn’t have missed it, but I have to tap to refocus the 13 Pro more often. The 13 Pro's depth of field can also be very shallow, more so than I’d expect. In short, I find that it has quirks, but they can be dealt with, and you get two big things in return: the 3x optical zoom, and spectacular low light performance.
After a trial period, I'd been dithering on returning the 13 Pro and regretfully giving up the zoom lens, not because of the other camera quirks, but because I found the shape and weight of the new phone slightly uncomfortable. But then I took it out at night and took some snapshots. It KILLED the 11 in low light. Everything was beautiful. I had to have it. I’ve gotten used to the feel of it now, and I love my little rectangular brick and its dead sexy camera. If camera is where you’re concentrating, I’d go straight to the 13 Pro.
posted by kite at 8:37 PM on March 30, 2022
Depending on the urgency, you may just want to wait to the fall, and get the 14 Pro when it is released. According to (usually ballpark accurate) rumours, the cameras are getting quite a bump this year...
posted by birdsquared at 11:55 PM on March 31, 2022
posted by birdsquared at 11:55 PM on March 31, 2022
Not sure if this is related to the differences you're seeing, but it is interesting: Have iPhone Cameras Become Too Smart? (New Yorker)
posted by librarina at 1:06 PM on April 1, 2022
posted by librarina at 1:06 PM on April 1, 2022
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Just one of those things, I'm afraid. Welcome to capitalism.
posted by rd45 at 9:43 AM on March 30, 2022