Introduction
Hey, you might have heard that lately Apple has been filming some of their events fully on iPhone, including WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference), which is a big deal in the tech industry. So I thought if the iPhone is just as good at video as a cinema camera is, why not test out its photography capabilities. So that is what I have done...
I will be comparing images taken on an iPhone using the built-in camera app and Apple’s built-in presets with images taken on my Sony A7III, both using similar lenses.
Specs and overall comparison
Here I will be comparing the sensors and software stack of both the iPhone 13 and Sony A7III. I will also attach the official spec sheets of both devices at the bottom.
iPhone
The iPhone 13 has a sensor size of 12MP, which is half of the 24MP that a full-frame camera like the Sony A7III has. The iPhone 13 was released in September 2021 compared to the Sony that was released in 2018. The major difference here is software. The iPhone's software was designed in 2021 and is constantly updated, whereas the Sony's software was released in 2018 with the camera and has not been updated since. The other plus of using the iPhone is that it syncs directly to your photos app, which means no fiddly SD card or adapters, just snap and sync.
Test 1: Background Separation
Bear in mind the iPhone shoots at a slightly different aspect ratio, so an identical shot was not possible. As you can see, the DSLR's background separation is far superior to that of the phone.
Taken on iPhone 13 (12MP)
Taken on Sony A7III (24MP)
Test 2: Light
In this comparison, I wanted to look at how both cameras react to being pointed directly at bright light (in this case, the sun).
Taken on iPhone 13 (12MP)
Taken on Sony A7III (24MP)
Test 3: Out in the Field (Literally!)
This is just a general test of versatility in color, depth of field, and resolution.
Taken on iPhone 13 (12MP)
Taken on Sony A7III (24MP)
As you can see, the DSLR naturally has a warmer tone and a shallower depth of field, whereas the iPhone likes to keep everything in focus and aims for true-to-life coloring as much as possible.
Software
As you can see in the photos below, the iPhone interface is by far the simplest and most aesthetically pleasing, and the DSLR's interface looks cluttered and messy to facilitate the huge amounts of information coming from all 24 million pixels.
iPhone interface
Sony camera interface
Conclusion
In conclusion, in terms of ease of use, the iPhone is a clear winner as it is in your pocket anyway and photos sync without the need for SD cards or hard drives. As you might have guessed, the image quality of the iPhone is much lower, and I think it shows. In terms of color resolution, I think they are both pretty even. I would like to make it clear that after taking the photos on default settings, I did no further photo manipulation, so that the comparison is as accurate as possible.
iPhone spec sheet and
Sony A7III spec sheet-Noah
