ACJC.S
Night mode
With iPhone 11 Pro Max handheld in really dark conditions. So dark in fact that I could hardly see the colors with my eyes but Apple's "Deep Fusion" could "see" in the dark!
What I like about the iPhone 11 Pro Max (overpriced as it is):
1) Capable of rather natural looking photos, good colors.
2) Ultrawide, wide and fast prime all in a pancake form factor.
3) Ultrawide 13mm equivalent is really very wide.
Caveat, under low light, the Wide is noticeably better thanks to Night Mode which is not available with the Ultrawide.
4) Portrait mode (52mm equivalent)
a. Bokeh simulation usable, can only get better in future versions with 3D ToF sensor.
b. "f-stop" adjustable to f1.4.
c. Studio Lighting and various lighting modes.
d. Post shot edit allows changes in "Lighting" mode and even f-stop!
5) Usable Night Mode with choice to lengthen exposure if necessary, able to perform much longer exposures that would require a tripod. Applicable for the primary (equivalent 26mm) lens only.
The iPhone 11 Pro as good as it is will not replace ILCs today but the smartphone market is so much bigger with rapid advancements vs a rapidly declining camera market releasing minor iterative upgrades, ultimately only the Sports and Wildlife genres will survive for ILCs.
Olympus however does have various multi-shot modes with RAW output. Olympus' Handheld High Resolution (HHHR) and Hi-Res modes both seek to increase resolution but the mechanics are different. In addition, Olympus also has 2 automated HDR modes (ISO fixed at ISO200) and Handheld Starlight mode (max ISO800, no longer available on E-M1 Mk2) but these are JPEG only modes.
HHHR works by switching off the IBIS intermittently while being handheld, merges the resultant 16 shots and does offer RAW output. Currently available only with the EM1X but should also be in the upcoming E-M1 Mkiii as well.
Olympus's tripod based Pixel-Shift (Hi-Res) feature utilizes ½ pixel movement of the sensor for 8 shots which are merged in camera with RAW output.
If Olympus can provide RAW output from merging/stacking in their "Hi-Res" modes, why can't they do likewise for in-cam HDR outputs which merges 4 sequential shots at different exposures, where's the logic of denying RAW for HDR!? Same thing with Handheld Starlight mode which averages 8 shots for lower noise.
The E-M1 Mkii in-cam HDR can be quite useful for night shots except it's not separately "marketed" as "Night Sight" or "Night Mode".
In comparison, iPhone's so called "Deep Fusion" stacks 9 shots at one go. "Deep Fusion" takes 4 (out of 9) shots before we even press the shutter for subsequent processing, Olympus' "Pro Capture" can do the same for up to 14 full resolution RAWs.
In summary, Olympus' HHHR mode handles 16 sequential handheld shots, Handheld Starlight mode merges 8 shots, tripod based Hi-Res deals with 8 shots and HDR mode merges 4 shots vs Apple's "Deep Fusion" assembly of 9 shots. Some of "Deep Fusion" 9 shots are taken prior shutter press, a process akin to Olympus' "Pro Capture" mode.
To claim that the iPhone 11 Pro camera is able to match m4/3 and even APS-C outputs is totally bogus! The m4/3 sensor is 10x the size of the largest sensor in the iPhone 11 Pro, so what if "Deep Fusion" is able to stack 9 shots!?
The E-M1 Mkii is capable of various multi-shot modes and the handheld HDR mode to my eyes produces results far superior to iPhone 11 Pro's Night Mode.
The E-M1 Mkii is feature rich but just too complicated (both by design as well as very bad design) for the average user, perhaps they need to implement much better iAuto mode like how "Deep Fusion" works which does everything behind the scene.
Meanwhile Huawei will be releasing a phone with 5 cameras which will likely include the Ultra-wide, Wide, periscope Tele of 240mm, Macro and 3D ToF sensor, all in a "pancake" form factor. A ToF sensor can perform "3D-depth range scanning" great for background blur.
As it stands for ILCs, we'll need separate lenses for UWA (incls Wide), Standard 50mm, Portrait Fast Prime, Macro and Telephoto but you can potentially do all that with the new Huawei without any lens change and the largest sensor used will be 1/1.3" at 52mp! Sony for all their prowess in sensors, display, video and gaming, yet their smartphones are so uncompetitive it boggles the mind really!
Ultimately, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is a very good smartphone camera but it will not replace a proper ILC camera unless the "photographer" is really clueless.
Night mode
With iPhone 11 Pro Max handheld in really dark conditions. So dark in fact that I could hardly see the colors with my eyes but Apple's "Deep Fusion" could "see" in the dark!
What I like about the iPhone 11 Pro Max (overpriced as it is):
1) Capable of rather natural looking photos, good colors.
2) Ultrawide, wide and fast prime all in a pancake form factor.
3) Ultrawide 13mm equivalent is really very wide.
Caveat, under low light, the Wide is noticeably better thanks to Night Mode which is not available with the Ultrawide.
4) Portrait mode (52mm equivalent)
a. Bokeh simulation usable, can only get better in future versions with 3D ToF sensor.
b. "f-stop" adjustable to f1.4.
c. Studio Lighting and various lighting modes.
d. Post shot edit allows changes in "Lighting" mode and even f-stop!
5) Usable Night Mode with choice to lengthen exposure if necessary, able to perform much longer exposures that would require a tripod. Applicable for the primary (equivalent 26mm) lens only.
The iPhone 11 Pro as good as it is will not replace ILCs today but the smartphone market is so much bigger with rapid advancements vs a rapidly declining camera market releasing minor iterative upgrades, ultimately only the Sports and Wildlife genres will survive for ILCs.
Olympus however does have various multi-shot modes with RAW output. Olympus' Handheld High Resolution (HHHR) and Hi-Res modes both seek to increase resolution but the mechanics are different. In addition, Olympus also has 2 automated HDR modes (ISO fixed at ISO200) and Handheld Starlight mode (max ISO800, no longer available on E-M1 Mk2) but these are JPEG only modes.
HHHR works by switching off the IBIS intermittently while being handheld, merges the resultant 16 shots and does offer RAW output. Currently available only with the EM1X but should also be in the upcoming E-M1 Mkiii as well.
Olympus's tripod based Pixel-Shift (Hi-Res) feature utilizes ½ pixel movement of the sensor for 8 shots which are merged in camera with RAW output.
If Olympus can provide RAW output from merging/stacking in their "Hi-Res" modes, why can't they do likewise for in-cam HDR outputs which merges 4 sequential shots at different exposures, where's the logic of denying RAW for HDR!? Same thing with Handheld Starlight mode which averages 8 shots for lower noise.
The E-M1 Mkii in-cam HDR can be quite useful for night shots except it's not separately "marketed" as "Night Sight" or "Night Mode".
In comparison, iPhone's so called "Deep Fusion" stacks 9 shots at one go. "Deep Fusion" takes 4 (out of 9) shots before we even press the shutter for subsequent processing, Olympus' "Pro Capture" can do the same for up to 14 full resolution RAWs.
In summary, Olympus' HHHR mode handles 16 sequential handheld shots, Handheld Starlight mode merges 8 shots, tripod based Hi-Res deals with 8 shots and HDR mode merges 4 shots vs Apple's "Deep Fusion" assembly of 9 shots. Some of "Deep Fusion" 9 shots are taken prior shutter press, a process akin to Olympus' "Pro Capture" mode.
To claim that the iPhone 11 Pro camera is able to match m4/3 and even APS-C outputs is totally bogus! The m4/3 sensor is 10x the size of the largest sensor in the iPhone 11 Pro, so what if "Deep Fusion" is able to stack 9 shots!?
The E-M1 Mkii is capable of various multi-shot modes and the handheld HDR mode to my eyes produces results far superior to iPhone 11 Pro's Night Mode.
The E-M1 Mkii is feature rich but just too complicated (both by design as well as very bad design) for the average user, perhaps they need to implement much better iAuto mode like how "Deep Fusion" works which does everything behind the scene.
Meanwhile Huawei will be releasing a phone with 5 cameras which will likely include the Ultra-wide, Wide, periscope Tele of 240mm, Macro and 3D ToF sensor, all in a "pancake" form factor. A ToF sensor can perform "3D-depth range scanning" great for background blur.
As it stands for ILCs, we'll need separate lenses for UWA (incls Wide), Standard 50mm, Portrait Fast Prime, Macro and Telephoto but you can potentially do all that with the new Huawei without any lens change and the largest sensor used will be 1/1.3" at 52mp! Sony for all their prowess in sensors, display, video and gaming, yet their smartphones are so uncompetitive it boggles the mind really!
Ultimately, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is a very good smartphone camera but it will not replace a proper ILC camera unless the "photographer" is really clueless.