The world’s best cellphone gets better.

I opted for the Max large version of the iPhone 12 Pro for two reasons. I really want to obsolete my 7″ Kindle Fire for reading (it’s a nice small size and weight which can be held in one hand when lying on the sofa) as fewer gadgets are always a good thing. And because the iPhone 12 Pro Max has some nice enhancements over the iPhone 12 Pro and 11 Pro when it comes to the cameras. Night Mode is now available on both 12 Pro models for the UWA lens (not available in the iPhone 11 Pro) and internal processing sees to it that the objectionable UWA ‘mustache’ distortion is no longer present.

Uncorrected UWA images – iPhone 11 Pro vs. iPhone 12 Pro Max.

You can read about the high distortion levels in the UWA lens in the iPhone 11 Pro here and follow the link to my LR/PS distortion correction profile from that piece. Suffice it to say, as the above images disclose, there is no need for a distortion correction profile with the UWA lens in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Masochists can go to Settings->Camera->Lens Correction to turn off in camera distortion correction for both the UWA and standard lenses.

Another reason to upgrade to the iPhone 12 is the shape of the case. The iPhone 12 has reverted to the slab sided design seen in the iPhone 4 and boy, is it wonderful to hold after the slippery eel that is the iPhone 11. So much so, that while I am sticking with a (larger) belt holster for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, I no longer use a protective cover or case as it’s so much nicer to hold naked in the hand. The worst aspect of the iPhone as a full time camera has always been its awful ergonomics, and this is a significant step in the right direction.

There’s another ergonomic upgrade courtesy of software changes. Go to Settings->Accessibility->Touch->Back Tap and set it as follows:

Back Tap.

You can now simply double tap the rear of the iPhone to release the shutter; sadly no single tap option is available. But either way, this is a strong argument to avoid the use of any sort of protective cover, or to cut a hole in the back if you do use one to permit the use of Back Tap. I have found that the UWA is so wide that getting your fingers out of the way is a challenge using Back Tap with that lens, but it’s easy with the other two.

Speaking of lenses, the ‘long’ lens, still at 50mm in the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, is now 65mm in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Until a periscope zoom comes along in later iPhones, this is a step in the right direction.

Finally, the new LIDAR detector permits accurate determination of focus even in darkness. This image of my son watching TV on the patio was taken in almost total darkness, the iPhone advising me to keep still during the three second hand held exposure. This is magic. Why would anyone revert to the dated, incompetent offerings from Sony, Nikon, Canon et al?

LIDAR assisted Night Mode in near total darkness. 65mm lens.

As for obsoleting that Kindle Fire as a book reader, here are the key statistics:

Kindle Fire – screen diagonal 6.8″, weight 10oz, battery life 7 hrs.
iPhone 12 Pro Max – screen diagonal 6.4″, 8.6 oz, battery life 20 hrs.

Hast la vista Kindle.

More when Apple Pro RAW becomes available in the iPhone 12 with an upcoming iOS release.

The iPhone 12 Pro is the best camera in the world for 99% of users.

You think the iPhone 12 Pro Max is expensive? Run the numbers. Read this. It costs $300 a year.

The best camera in the world gets better.

I have gone with the larger Max model to experience the premium camera features not available in other versions.

It’s selling like hot cakes – as I wrote (9am MST) delivery is already up to 3 weeks distant.

Night Mode

With the nights getting colder, it’s time for the annual overhaul of the propane heater on the patio. This exceptionally bad design dictates that something fails annually. Over the four years of ownership, the pilot has got clogged, the tilt switch failed and finally, this year, the pilot had to be completely replaced as it was beyond redemption. (The main burner will not ignite if the pilot is faulty). $18 and some sweat equity did the trick. Quite why so commonly used a device should stick with 1950s technology last seen in the Eisenhower administration defeats me, but the chances are if you eat at an outdoor restaurant equipped with these propane heaters, half of them will not be working. The lead chap at Chernobyl probably cut his teeth on propane patio heater design.

As an example, the tilt switch, which is a safety device intended to disable the main burner in the event the heater is accidentally tipped over, uses a mercury switch last seen 50 years ago in domestic HVAC systems. It is designed to fail and I simply bypassed it when it did so. The risk of a tip over in my location is zero. One thing less to go wrong.

The spark starter finally failed this year and I have given up on replacing it in favor of a wand type gas lighter. Simple, fail proof and cheap.

To cut a long story short I finally got the heater working and when it works it really is an object of wonder, putting out amounts of heat that electric alternatives can only dream about. A 5 gallon propane tank last for many hours.

Add the firepit (no pilot, no sparker, no tilt switch and bog reliable as a result), which also uses bottled propane, and you have a pretty jolly setting for watching the TV at night. As we fired up another episode of the wonderful ‘Endeavour’ series about the early life of Inspector Morse, starring that fine Welsh actor Shaun Evans, an actor far superior to the overrated John Thaw in the BBC original, it struck me that it was time to again report on the magic of Night Mode in the iPhone 11 Pro.

Winston enjoys some late night TV.

The sole illumination for this snap was the two propane sources plus the smallish flat screen TV some 10 feet from my son. This image is ‘straight out of camera’ and hand held. Night Mode kicks in automatically when needed.

The just announced iPhone 12 Pro further improves Night Mode by enhancing focus accuracy using the newly added LIDAR detector. I can’t wait.

Another nail ….

Hastening the demise of the DSLR.

…. in the coffin of DSLR and mirrorless camera makers. Yes, Zeiss just released an Android based mirrorless which will run you $6,000 and will get you hacked at no extra charge. A fool and his money …. But innovative?

The point is that innovation in traditional camera design is notable for its absence. Nikon makes ugly ducklings cobbled together by a committee, Sony makes more models than you can shake a stick at and Canon is focusing on multi-megapixel high ISO sensors no one needs. ISO 100,000 and 80 megapixels? Essential, no? And they all cost more than the iPhone which can be upgraded annually for less than $500 and does lots of other things than just take pictures.

You can read my iPhone 11 Pro user review here and the iPhone 12 Pro comes with no surprises, kaizen being the order of the day. Perhaps the most interesting new feature for photographers is the addition of a LIDAR detector. The newly added Laser Imaging, Detection and Ranging sensor makes nighttime focusing even more accurate, building on the already stellar Night Mode missing from your $3,000 mirrorless SLR.

Suffice it to say that the iPhone 11 Pro saw me selling my two Nikon FF bodies, some two dozen Nikkor lenses and two Panasonic GX7 bodies with four more lenses. I would have sold the china cabinet this lot needed for storage, but a small thing called COVID got in the way.

On the phone front there is 5G, a not-ready-for-prime-time feature awaiting the build out of US networks, but, hey, trendy as heck.

More when my iPhone 12 Pro arrives here, my order delayed by the wait for my favorite Lameeku wallet case to be released… Yes, the iPhone 12 Pro is differently shaped than the iPhone 11 Pro and that may be the greatest new ‘feature’ of all, for any change to the iPhone’s awful handling can only be an improvement. When Steve released the slab sided iPhone 4 in 2011 – a form factor emulated by the iPhone 12 Pro – he stated that his goal was to emulate the quality feel and experience of using a Leica. What he did not mention was that the iPhone was a fraction of the cost of the Leica rangefinder and did not break down. These two attributes carry over to the iPhone 12 Pro. There is still no optical zoom lens, but I would think that will be added next year when Apple perfects the periscope zoom design which will fit within its existing case designs.

High end photography has never been cheaper.

The iPhone 11 Pro lens array.

The ever bubbling rumor mill has it that this year’s iPhone 12 Pro will come with a 60+ megapixel sensor and a fourth ‘time of flight’ lens which will enhance virtual reality viewing as well as providing more granular depth map data for selective focus effects, rendered in software.

I will immediately list my iPhone 11 Pro on Swappa and will sell it for $300 less than its iPhone replacement. This is the extent of my annual hardware cost, the equivalent of a few rolls of film plus some prints or another lens for a DSLR or mirrorless body. Photography has never been cheaper. And I get a new camera annually, comfortable in the knowledge that every iPhone camera has been better than the one which came before it.