Manual Photography with iPhone 16 Pro Max -  Android/Windows User Perspective

Adage as old as touchscreens on portable devices tells us that the best camera is the one you have. We have the luxury of having cameras everywhere we go because we are dependent and addicted to smartphones. And some do have excellent camera hardware. Apple iPhones undoubtedly have great camera hardware. I decided to test one as a long-time Android/Windows user after accidentally breaking my 4-year-old Xiaomi phone. More specifically, I am interested in getting the best possible result from the hardware I have.

16 Pro Max Hardware Specs

If you read camera "specs" on Apple's website - you will find a whole lot of nonsense marketing slop. Hilarious and ridiculous at the same time. I will not quote any of that because it means nothing. A much better website to get some numbers is gsmarena.com. Here we can see that the primary camera on this phone has a 1/28" inch sensor, which is second only to 1-inch class sensors, which are rare (in terms of size, the bigger, the better), with an f1.8 (physically) lens in front of it ar 24 millimeters of equivalent focal length. So, a standard wide-angle field of view.

The main sensor is a quad-bayer structure advertising 48 megapixels, so there are 12 total true megapixels. Both the 1x and 5x cameras have sensor shift-based stabilization. There is also the 0.5x or ultrawide-angle camera. I will mostly focus on the 1x shooter for now, but the fundamental approach, of course, applies to all modules.

Apple’s Default Camera App

The default camera app is relatively poor when compared to any Android device. There is no pro mode (so no choosing your iso and shutter speed), no light stacking/painting modes and the camera settings are only available in the general settings menu. You might argue this is to streamline the experience for 90 percent of people who do not need those modes; I would argue that this is just lazy, and every person can have fun with long exposure photography/photo stacking.

And if we think about it, having extra modes simplifies things, while not having something is a huge compromise, not a philosophy or an "approach". Also, the night mode is automatic, which means you can disable it or leave it on so it turns on automatically when it thinks it is needed. Same with the so-called macro-dubious control at best. And those modes that are present have zero information or real control. Like timelapse, for example, there is nothing to adjust or choose with this mode.

Why Have Manual Control

Why would one need so much control over the camera if the automatic modes work just fine? I am approaching this with photogrammetry in mind, of course, and being an actual camera owner, I know the benefits of consistency and quality. For those things, we need control, and we need those things for good results. I am not saying we can't get results in auto modes, but when auto mode fails us, we need to have the option to take control. Most people would not get an ONLY self-driving car.

Third Party Apps

Search for more control and more fun modes led to the app store. To see what the state of third-party camera apps is. My first impression is that the monetization is highly aggressive. Many apps pose as free but have extreme limitations, short free trials, and costs for each minor feature. Even the upfront paid apps have additional paid unlocks inside, many of which are subscriptions. I spent 4 days looking for apps, testing them, and buying them to find a decent camera app with manual controls, and here is the summary of my findings.

Free apps. I found two completely free apps for iPhone 16 Pro Max that allow you to get manual control, do not seem to be abandoned, and work decently overall:

Lumina is a simple and completely free manual camera app. It is nothing fancy but has all the basics: manual exposure control, manual focus, and all formats with some explanations. A singular drawback is a weirdly placed settings button. It has exposure bracketing; otherwise, there are no other fancy features.

Adobe Lightroom Mobile. Yes, the photo editor app has a camera module accessible even to free users. You will need to have an account, but the camera has the basics. If you already use Adobe products, this is a nice bonus, but as of writing, there is no option to obtain a 48-megapixel photo using this camera module. So, it is a good option but inferior to Lumina if you do not need editing.

Paid apps. There is a whole plethora of paid apps with various subscription options or one-time purchases; I bought a few, watched reviews, tried them myself, and found a couple of safe premium options, in my opinion:

Pro Camera by Moment. It offers a decent overall package with video capture, a decent interface, and an OK one-time purchase price: 9 euros for the app and 4 euros for the timelapse/slow shutter bundle, which should come with the app anyway. So, the one-time purchase is 13 euros. The app seems to be updated and maintained, and the physical Moment accessories line is compatible with it. The Moment website also leaves a good impression. I am comfortable recommending this app.

Reeflex Pro Camera. It has a very similar vibe to the Moment. It also has its own physical accessories line but has less value overall. This app can only take photos but costs 20 euros for a lifetime purchase. It also has all the basic photography features and a good interface. There is also the 7 euro yearly subscription model. It is a viable option, in my opinion.

Video. We are focusing on photos as a leadup to photogrammetric scanning. Still, I must mention the video apps because the situation here is much better. We have two excellent options for absolutely free:

Blackmagic Cam is a pro tool with every setting you might ever need. The interface might seem a bit difficult at first, but learning the app is worth it. It makes the iPhone an unprecedentedly good video camera.

Final Cut Camera is a first-party option with a more streamlined interface and some more advanced features. It is also an excellent tool for video makers.

Transferring the Photos using a USB Cable

During app testing, I wanted to make some samples with different formats and resolutions. And then I was struck with the most ridiculous Apple thing ever—I can not just connect the iPhone to a PC via a USB cable and copy the photos using File Explorer. The phone is detected, and the internal storage is displayed, but raw photos are nowhere to be found. It just does not display them.

After hours of research, I did not find out why that was the case, but I found a single free solution to this problem: software called 3uTools. I can not speak to the credibility of this software or the developer; all I know now is that this is the only free solution that allows me to transfer files via a cable to my computer. The most popular paid solution seemed to be iMazing. 

3uTools works OK so far, so I will stick with this solution, but frankly, it is preposterous that something like this is necessary. None of Apple's own software worked for that, even the old iTunes app.

Image Quality Comparison

To maximize image quality from any digital camera, we need to use as low an ISO as we can and choose our file format accordingly. This is why we need manual controls in some cases. Well, that and consistency between consecutive shots.

Shooting in a 48-megapixel mode with an iPhone does provide a decent bump in detail, and if you are willing to do some post-processing - shooting raw is a good option for white balance consistency and some minor adjustments to color and exposure. 

Otherwise, auto mode might be just fine in many cases, especially in well-lit scenarios. But remember that the amount of post-processing on each photo you take is insane and will test how much it may impact photogrammetry, where consistency between photos is essential.

Conclusion

Any recent iPhone is an excellent imaging kit, and the Pro Max has a TOF sensor in its camera array. This means it may be capable of outright 3D scanning. In future articles, I will explore that alongside classic image-based photogrammetry now that we know how to control and transfer the photos to a Windows computer, where most photogrammetry software resides, and which settings provide the best image quality.