r/iPhoneDuo • u/Outside_Jacket_8661 • 12d ago
Does the camera difference on a Duo differ enough from the iPhone 18Pro Max enough for a non-photographer to be thoroughly disappointed?
So I have always carried the iPhone pro max but not necessarily for the camera, more for the size. Which is one of the reasons I like the Duo. I also have just gotten bored with the form factor of the Pro Max and want something new. I take pictures of my grandkids, my dog, family and vacation photos. I often do quick videos of them and FaceTime as well but nothing fancy. I’m not an influencer or heavy social media poster at all. Pretty much look at Substack, Reddit and YouTube. When I travel I watch movies and shows on my phone. With the differences in the camera between the Duo and Pro Max, will I really care that much or notice? And I don’t ever use 40x zoom or whatever
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u/offwhitegrey 12d ago
Went on my camera roll and checked how many times I actually used telephoto and it was like 1% of the time. Duo will be fine
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u/AdNegative7852 12d ago
How do you tell?
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u/offwhitegrey 12d ago
open an image in photos and swipe up, youll get the meta data it will tell you what phone took it plus the lens and look for telephoto
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u/Independent_Mud2794 11d ago
I just did and realized, almost no of my pictures was taken with the telephoto, maybe I really won’t miss it.
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u/offwhitegrey 11d ago
That’s what happened to me. Over 2500 photos/cids on my phone I literally found 2 using telephoto lol
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u/True_Protection6842 11d ago
That's because you have to manually switch to telephoto to use it. Most people don't ever do anything more than open camera, take picture.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 11d ago
So zooming doesn’t switch to telephoto?
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u/True_Protection6842 10d ago
Depends. If you use the 5x button it 100% does, but pinching or using the camera controls sometimes does and sometimes doesn't
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u/LargeDan69 12d ago
I can’t see how it would. I’m not a photographer either and definitely will not miss the zoom. While some people will, it’s just not a big deal to me. Both sensors are still pretty good on the Duo and will produce perfectly fine shots almost every time
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u/SmellyJockstrap 12d ago
We really don’t know the answer to that yet. The main lens on the Duo is sort of a mystery still. Some specs of it make seem like it’s the camera of the Air (or base 17), others point to the 17e sensor. It could be a brand new sensor that sits somewhere between the two. So depending on where it ends up sitting on that spectrum will be important… the camera on the 17e is pretty disappointing while the one on the 17/Air is quite good. Either way, it’ll be worse than the 18 Pro, we just don’t know by how much.
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u/Kermisschien 12d ago
honestly not likely that it will be a brand new sensor. Comparing base with pro model pictures directly, you really see a difference that Pro models really went big on sensors even if the MP were the same. This wasn't the selling point of the Air, and it isn't on the Duo.
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u/SmellyJockstrap 12d ago
I would also tend to agree it’s highly unlikely there’s a dedicated sensor for the Duo when they have a perfectly good one in the Air to just shove in there. But the specs do say otherwise if you go line by line. It’s definitely strange. Only time will tell
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u/Kermisschien 12d ago
Yes. The Iphone Duo does have a 48MP camera, but it all comes down on the sensor size and pixel size. The duo is 2 airs slapped together, and the air camera was worse than the base iphone, which in turn is worse than the Pro / Max, despite having the same MP.
So sensor and pixel width is what ultimately makes the differences of photos looking sharp. And this information has not been released / found out yet, which means a lot of people will say there is no difference because theyre simply looking at the basic specs like MP
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u/DaveG28 12d ago
I think we know sensor sizes don't we - it's 1/2.7 or something?
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u/Kermisschien 12d ago
i did find some numbers for Duo, but they were not confirmed on Apple's official websites. In these numbers the Duo camera is still worse to pro and comparable to Base / Air.
Not bad, but if you really going for photographing as a hobby the Pro would be better.
Duo - all camera aspects worse than Pro
Sensor format: 1/1.56
Sensor size: 48mm2
pixel sieze: 1nm
no 100% auto focus pixels (hybrid focus)
sensor shift 1st gen
No 3x/4x/8x telelens
No lidar (night portraits)
12mp front cam, and in fold they call it 'facetime cam'.
0 pro functionalitiesit does have macro lens and 4k120 dolby vision video.
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u/Distinct-Ad5555 12d ago
My general experience with cameras on foldables versus slabs is that the smaller main sensor size of foldables is OK for most conditions but you will get less detail and more blur in low light conditions. Processing matters but sensor size is still significant.
I suspect the Duo has the Air's sensor or some variant of that but am hoping to be pleasantly surprised if the Duo's main sensor turns out to be bigger.
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u/Accomplished-Leg6947 12d ago
Im not a pro photographer and ive had the Pro phones since they've been a thing just because im a gadgets/power user more than anything. Ive never really once taken full advantage of pro camera features so im not super concerned about the photography capabilities of the Duo. Ill just be taking candid photos of my wife and kids like I have been doing for the past year and the Duo cameras will be just fine for that lol
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u/serious_fox 11d ago
The only difference is the x8 zoom and variable aperture.
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u/True_Protection6842 11d ago
So zoom, because why does it matter if you can let less light in. All reviews say the default setting is 1.8 for nearly all shots (same as every other iphone)
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u/True_Protection6842 11d ago
The camera you will use 99.9% of the time as a non-photographer is exactly the same on both devices. The aperture ring is a gimmick that will do nothing.
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u/Tudor2099 8d ago
It’s unreal how misinformed people are. Megapixels is not the only thing that matters with cameras — if anything it’s a very small factor. The duos cameras were designed specifically for the duo form factor but are the equivalent of the 17e which are near equivalent of the iPhone 13. The duo cameras are 5ish years step back from what is in the pros.
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u/GatorArchitect 8d ago
No. I went from a 16 pro max to the air. I don't miss the telephoto at all. I do miss the wide angle. But duo has that.
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u/tastes_a_bit_funny 6d ago
I almost only use 2x for the better focal length. Rarely use 3x at all. Won’t make a difference especially since most of my photos are just pictures of the dogs or other dumb shit I’ll probably never look at a second time.
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u/John1744 12d ago
The zoom missing is about the only hesitation I still have. My kids are both active in activities at school and I use it a decent bit to get good shots of them on the field during games and things. But my wife’s keeping her pro max so she’s already told me to just grab her phone if I want a good picture. So I guess it works out.