About four months ago, I downgraded my phone. I went from what would be considered a more photography-oriented phone, the iPhone 14 Pro, to the less photo-feature-rich iPhone 13 Mini. I don’t miss the photography pieces of the phone at all, and I’ll bet you won’t either.
I’m aware that this is a hot take. My primary reason for downgrading is that the larger iPhone never quite felt right in my hand. The Goldilocks “just right” size of the iPhone 12 Mini was always perfect in my hands, so when I saw a good-condition iPhone 13 Mini for sale, I jumped on it.
So, for a quick comparison, what does one give up when they go from a Pro model to a non-Pro model? Well, there’s the obvious missing telephoto lens. On the new iPhone 16 Pro models, those are about 120 mm in full frame equivalencies; on my iPhone 14 Pro, it was closer to 77 mm. Now I’m limited to about 13 mm for the wide camera on my phone and 26 mm. There’s a small bit of regret about giving that up.
There are also resolution differences. The iPhone 13 Mini shoots at 12 MP across the board, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro had a 48 MP main camera sensor, while the new iPhone 16 adds that to the wide angle as well. But who is looking at photos from a tiny sensor that large? I haven’t given this a second thought. I’m also the guy who shot a 12 MP Nikon D700 well into 2020, so there’s that.
Finally, there was the one feature that’s a headline for the Pro models, and that’s Apple’s ProRAW mode, which lets you shoot DNG files for easier editing in something like Adobe Camera Raw or your other editor of choice. Surely, I’d miss that?
Surprisingly, no. ProRaw was never as “raw” as one would think. I ran it through some extensive testing and while there’s a lot more possibility to recover shadows and highlights there, there also seems to be some strange artifacts introduced in the files, as a result of possible computational imaging technology or AI hitting the pipeline before a raw file is output. In short, it’s never been a true raw file in the sense of the word with actual mirrorless or DSLR cameras as we know it.
The biggest thing that has come from the “downgrade,” though, is the mindset change. They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and one of the changes I made is to always keep my Canon EOS R50 and RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM Lens with me most of the time I’m out—or, if nothing else, it’s in the car ready to go. While it’s not a small setup, especially compared to the phone, the amount of reach I have with the telephoto and the better image quality remind me why it’s always better to use a dedicated camera instead of one that also makes phone calls.
The iPhone is mostly relegated to getting family moments on the spot or for documentation. In a pinch, it can hold its own with the right composition and lighting, as it did on this morning on the way into work:
But fundamentally, I’ve stopped trying to force it into the box of a photography tool like I did with my previous Pro model phone. It’s just not, and it shouldn’t be. I’m a photographer, after all. I should use the right tool for the job.
What are your thoughts on camera phones? Have you found yourself in a similar boat with your phone? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
You would be wrong. The low light capabilities alone are worth it.