Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max cameras
Let's start with a few specs:
| Lumia 1020 (2013) | iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020) |
|
Dedicated two-stage shutter button/launch key Single camera: 41 MP, f/2.2, 1/1.5", contrast-AF, OIS Xenon flash plus LED video light |
Three cameras: 12 MP, f/1.6, 1/1.9" (estimated), dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS |
As before, it's clear that the Lumia is massively outgunned and, with the iPhone shooting in ProRAW mode (sharing photos to AAWP here in standard JPG form) there won't be any complaints about modern edge enhancement and sharpening. I've said several times that the 12 Pro Max is in some ways a spiritual successor to the 1020 in terms of its approach - the similarities in terms of delivering pixel purity and even to maxing out at 2.5x lossless zoom are definitely there.
Notes:
- The Lumia 1020 shoots, as usual, at its standard 5MP (leaving headroom for lossless 'PureView' zoom into the sensor and also getting the advantages of PureView oversampling and noise reduction). This does mean that framing isn't exact in the crop comparisons, but it is what it is - your eyes will have to look for detail differences a little harder than usual!
- The iPhone 12 Pro Max was capturing in its ProRAW mode. Here, the usual HDR smarts and techniques are allowed but note that there's no final edge-enhanced, populist, JPG export stage. To get ProRAW images from the iPhone for comparison here, I used my top tip - making any 'Edit' change to a ProRAW image is enough that it can be shared by AirDrop to a desktop as a JPG. So, typically, I'd change the saturation by 1%, something trivial, but sufficient. Note that the original ProRAW DNG is always still on the phone, so future edits are always from the underlying DNG. Again, a bit like the Lumia 1020 and its reframing system.
- All photos were otherwise taken on full auto and handheld, as a regular user would do. No tripods allowed!
Let's pit the results against each other, using our Famed Interactive Comparator (FIC). All 1:1 crops are at 900x500 for comparison, though I've put up the originals on my own server, for you to download if you want to do your own analysis.
| Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! You ideally need a powerful, large-screened tablet or a proper laptop or desktop. This comparator may not work in some browsers. Sorry about that. On Windows 10 Mobile, use the 'AAWP Universal' UWP app, which handles the comparator very competently (see the tips in the app's help screens) |
Test 1: Sunny landscape
Maybe 'sunny' is putting it too strongly - just weak winter sun! Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Both perfectly fine photos, though I do prefer the typical warmer colour cast on the Lumia 1020 - everything just looks richer. However, despite its colder appearance, the extra resolution on the iPhone 12 Pro Max levels the score. We're going to need to push the phone cameras a lot more than this, methinks...
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 10 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 10 pts
Test 2: Sunny landscape, zoomed
The same scene, but zoomed to 2.5x. You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
In good light, the PureView lossless zoom on the Lumia 1020 does a great job, but noise and uncertainty is just starting to creep in. Plus the dynamic range isn't huge so brighter areas are easily blown out. The 12 Pro Max's 2.5x telephoto result isn't perfect, but the purity of solid colours is impressive, the dynamic range is higher and, yes, the extra resolution again helps with the fine details.
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 8 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 10 pts
Test 3: Maximum zoom
Another weak winter scene, this time only looking at zoom - 2.5x lossless on the 1020 (because that's all the UI allows) and (say) 5x lossy zoom on the iPhone (which goes up to 12x, but let's not get silly with to much made-up pixels!) Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Aside from the blown out highlights, the Lumia's lossless zoom from the single camera is still mightily impressive here - but the iPhone 12 Pro Max goes one better, thanks to the extra telephoto lens plus plenty of power to interpolate and zoom in software. Although the lossy algorithms lose the pixel crispness, look at the 5x zoom shot as a whole and it's eminently useable, while also having more actual detail than the 1020's version, thanks again to the resolution difference.
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 8 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 9 pts
Test 4: Gloomy light
A gloomy, overcast, rainy plane scene, quite a bit dimmer than the snap makes it seem:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The tendency of the 'smart' algorithms in the iPhone imaging stack, even in ProRAW mode, do tend to exagerate the fence links, while the 1020's complete lack of HDR, plus a lower output resolution, help the fence melt away to invisibility. But that aside, the 12 Pro Max image clearly has more detail, even if most of this is down to resolution. At least nothing's ruined by edge enhancement, as would happen with many non-ProRAW captures.
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 9 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 10 pts
Test 5: Gloomy light, zoomed
Oh, go on then, one more zoom test. The same gloomy plane scene, but zoomed to 2.5x. You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the genuine telephoto and multi-frame HDR on the iPhone triumphs here, with an almost perfect zoom photo. The Lumia 1020's lossless zoom is indeed that, but with no oversampling and no HDR facilities, and with an older underlying sensor, the 1020's zoomed result in this gloomy light shows uncertainty and noise wherever you look. Relatively speaking, of course - this sort of zoom slayed in 2013, but it's now outclassed.
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 8 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 10 pts
Test 6: Sunny close-up
A little late afternoon winter sun and some pale green buds, up close at about 20cm. You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
Here are scaled crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Interestingly, neither phone camera really nailed the colour of the buds. They're actually an incredibly pale green at the moment, but the 1020 shows them as a richer green while the iPhone tinges everything with that golden hour sunlight. Which is odd, as it's normally the Lumia that warms images up! This is, therefore, an example of how different cameras/phones can make a scene look totally different - neither are 100% accurate here, so it comes down to personal preference. In terms of detail, they're equivalent, so I'm declaring a draw.
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 9 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 9 pts
Test 7: Macro shot
Decentish light but trying to get really close to this leaf. The 1020 needed a touch of PureView zoom, the iPhone managed it unaided. You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
Here are scaled crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
As with the other close up shot, it's colour differences that stand out. The Lumia 1020 gets the colour right to my eyes (as with all these shots, the subjects are near my Covid lockdown home, so I can triple check colours after the fact!), while the iPhone's shot has greens that are too light and yellow that's too vibrant. Having said that, the detail and precision in the iPhone snap is impressive. The Lumia wins it by a nose overall though.
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 10 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 9 pts
Test 8: Night time
Dead of night in suburbia. Here is the overall scene:
You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), for your own analysis.
To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, from the Lumia 1020 and then the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Not for the first time on AAWP, I should put in some perspective here. The 1020's result above would have been astounding back in 2013. Most of the competition were shooting essentially black rectangles unless you put the relevant phone on a tripod. But OIS on phones is now so good (the 12 Pro Max here has sensor shift stabilisation and can shoot a genuine 1 second exposure, handheld!) that any phone over about £200 can rival 2013's Lumia 1020 at night.
Here, the iPhone's photo is just stunningly clear and noise free. Very impressive indeed. Remember that this is with ProRAW and without any extra edge enhancement or sharpening - if the image is this good, why do Apple engineers think anything needs extra enhancement, I wonder?
Microsoft Lumia 1020 (2013): 7 pts; iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 10 pts
Verdict
For the record, the scores add up as:
- iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020), in ProRAW mode: 77 pts (/80)
- Lumia 1020 (2013): 69 pts
Readers may remember that part 1 of this feature (with the default JPG/HEIC capture) also featured a flash test, which the 1020 won and gained four extra bonus points. I guess I could do this again and bring the margin down, but after all the examples recently I think we've got the general picture (pun intended). The iPhone 12 Pro Max's shots are consistently better by most metrics than those of the classic Lumia 1020 in either default or ProRAW modes, though the margin remains relatively small for a seven and a half year difference in age.
The ProRAW capture mode impressed me again, only dropping three points in the eight test scenes above. That night scene crop above should impress you too - it's a perfect blend of modern imaging 'smarts' with purity of capture. Almost 'PureView'.
More subtly, the question remains whether it's best to leave the iPhone 12 Pro Max in ProRAW mode? Well, as it turns out, there's a natural reset period, i.e. shoot in RAW and then go back to Camera shortly after and it's still in RAW mode, but leave it more than a few minutes and the mode is lost, presumably so that users don't leave it in ProRAW inadvertently and end up using too much storage for their photos? I think this behaviour is fair enough - after all, several minutes later and you'll be in front of a different subject and so will need to make the capture mode decision all over again.
For me, I leave the iPhone 12 Pro Max in its default (HEIC, in my case) capture mode for casual snaps, and then I break out ProRAW mode for landscapes and special subjects - the images look similar on the phone screen but I'll know that I can edit, reframe, and generally fiddle with these later on to my heart's content.
PS. Coming up next will be Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra imaging versus some of the usual contenders - and, unlike most current sites, I'll throw the 1020 and 950 XL into the mix. Happy days!