iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera Samples
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iPhone 12 Pro Max, Night mode with the main camera. Compare this image with the following two. The difference is small, but there's less noise on the underside of the above-ground subway tracks, making it look more clear. This underside is also brighter.
Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with the main camera. All three of these photos are similar, but I think the Pixel 5 has a small edge over the iPhone 12 Pro, as it has less noise and is sharper (though it's a step behind the Pro Max). The Pixel does tend to aggressively white balance though—the lighting in real life was warmer like on the iPhone shots.
iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. By no means is this a bad photo, but you can see how it's darker than the Pro Max's shot in some areas, and if you zoom in, you can see the noise.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu01iPhone 12 Pro Max, Night mode with the main camera. Compare this image with the following two. The difference is small, but there's less noise on the underside of the above-ground subway tracks, making it look more clear. This underside is also brighter.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu02Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with the main camera. All three of these photos are similar, but I think the Pixel 5 has a small edge over the iPhone 12 Pro, as it has less noise and is sharper (though it's a step behind the Pro Max). The Pixel does tend to aggressively white balance though—the lighting in real life was warmer like on the iPhone shots.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu03iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. By no means is this a bad photo, but you can see how it's darker than the Pro Max's shot in some areas, and if you zoom in, you can see the noise. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu04iPhone 12 Pro Max, Night mode with the main camera. Perhaps there's no better example showcasing just how small a difference the larger image sensor sometimes makes compared to the iPhone 12 Pro. Zoom in and you'll see one or two areas where the Max's photo is sharper, and that's about it.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu05Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with the main camera. Barring the white balance, there's not too much of a difference between this photo and the Pro Max. I'd argue the Pixel's shot is a tad sharper (look at the parking sign on the left). 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu06iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. This shot is near identical to the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu07iPhone 12 Pro Max, Night mode with the main camera. Here's an example where the Pro Max falls short of the Pixel. It's noisier and not as sharp.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu08Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with the main camera. I quite like the contrast in this shot, plus it's sharper than the other two iPhones.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu09iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. Strangely enough, I like this shot more than the iPhone 12 Pro Max's. It's not as bright, so it retains some of the photo's mood. Both are similar in every other way. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu10iPhone 12 Pro Max, Night mode with the ultrawide camera. Compare this photo with the following one. The Pro Max's ultrawide has a larger field of view over the Pixel's, and while it supports Night mode, it often loses out on detail.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu11Google Pixel 5, Night Sight with the ultrawide camera. The not-so-wide ultrawide allows for the Pixel to produce a slightly sharper shot. Look at the “Wear to Mask” sign on the right window, and you'll see it's a tad more legible. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu12iPhone 12 Pro Max, Portrait Night mode. The lidar scanner on both iPhone Pro models allows for Night mode to work with Portrait mode. And the larger image sensor on the Max gives it a slight edge in producing an image with a little less noise over the iPhone 12 Pro, as is the case here.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu13Google Pixel 5, Portrait Night Sight. Google's newest phone also now has the ability to use Night Sight with Portrait mode, and while its results are usually ahead of the Android competition, it's not as up to par as the new iPhones. The photos aren't quite as sharp.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu14iPhone 12 Pro, Portrait Night mode. The difference between this photo and the one from the Pro Max isn't huge, but there's slightly more visible noise if you look closely.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu15iPhone 12 Pro Max, 2.5x optical zoom camera. Compare this photo with the following one. The Pro Max has a telephoto camera that can zoom in 0.5x more than the iPhone 12 Pro, but it has a narrower aperture so it won't perform *as* well in low light. Look at the license plate on the left of this photo, and you'll see it's not as sharp as the one in the next image. I still prefer the ability to zoom in more though.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu16iPhone 12 Pro, 2x optical zoom camera. The telephoto camera on the regular iPhone 12 Pro can absorb more light, so it fares a bit better in low light but it can't zoom in as much. Night mode doesn't work on the zoom cameras on both phones.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu17iPhone 12 Pro Max, 2.5x optical zoom camera. Here's another example of the Pro Max's zoom camera not producing as sharp a result as the regular Pro. But you can see exactly how much closer you can zoom in. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu18iPhone 12 Pro, 2x optical zoom camera. This shot is easily sharper than the previous one, with less noise and more structure.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu19iPhone 12 Pro Max, 2.5x optical zoom camera. The telephoto camera is stronger during the day when there's lots of light. Take a look at the following photo, and you can see how the additional zoom here lets you frame the photo better (without needing to crop). 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu20iPhone 12 Pro, 2x optical zoom. The regular iPhone 12 Pro's telephoto camera doesn't zoom in as much, which is why I caught some other pedestrians on the street. I'd probably crop this photo, but then I'd lose some image quality.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu21iPhone 12 Pro Max, Portrait mode. The larger image sensor doesn't really show its benefit during the day. This photo is very similar to the following one fro mthe iPhone 12 Pro, though it does handle the sky a little better. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu22iPhone 12 Pro, Portrait mode. This shot is a little brighter than the Pro Max's photo, but it's otherwise the same.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu23iPhone 12 Pro Max, main camera. Compare this photo to the following image. This is a sharp, colorful photo. My only issue is Apple's handling of the sky, which looks strange—the hue isn't right. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu24Google Pixel 5, main camera. I much prefer the colors in the Pixel's shot, and the sky looks exactly how it was in real life. It's more uniform, and a more natural shade of blue. Plus, the photo is just as sharp.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu25iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. This scene was a lot darker than the final result suggests. It's sharper than the same photo I captured on the Pixel (not in the gallery). 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu26iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. Here's another photo that came out sharper than the Pixel 5. The mural itself is well-detailed, and the bridge in the background on the right isn't too noisy.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu27iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. This photo has a little more noise than the others, but this scene was darker in real life. The Pro Max still manages to get the right details and good colors. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu28iPhone 12 Pro, Portrait Night mode. The bokeh outline around my dog is excellent, with no errors whatsoever. My dog is relatively sharp, and the Pro Max nailed the colors. This isn't possible on previous iPhones without external light sources.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu29iPhone 12 Pro, Portrait Night mode. The blur outline isn't as accurate as the previous photo, masking away some of my partner's hair, but it's close. Her face is very sharp and detailed, and there are good colors all around. 
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu30iPhone 12 Pro, Night mode with the main camera. The iPhone managed to expose the storefronts and the sign with a delicate balance. This photo is tack sharp, too.
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