iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Camera Review

ISO, Low Light Sensitivity, and Shutter Speed

Even though the main cameras retain their 12 megapixel count, the sensors behind the cameras are all-new. The standard wide camera’s ISO sensitivity increased by 33% and the tele camera’s aperture and ISO gains bring its light sensitivity up by a remarkable 42%. That means less blurry, less grainy photos with quicker shutter speeds that allow you to get sharp photos indoors and other darker lighting conditions. As with the software improvements, it’s not just that the sensors boast more on-paper light sensitivity, it’s how they use their capabilities to produce better images than ever. The new sensors and software mean there’s less noise in images across the lighting and ISO range, which is an important distinction. Oftentimes more sensitive sensors lead to more grain even in bright conditions; in this case, images are sharp in low light and bright daylight, with less noise than before. Put to the test shooting RAW in the Moment Pro Camera App, the sensors prove that they’re more than just fancy baked-in editing software in the native camera app.

The tele lens in particular demonstrates big advancements. The faster f/2.0 aperture and massively improved light sensitivity mean it’s a more useful lens in more situations than ever. Combined with a Moment Tele lens, the ultra-long optical zoom takes legitimately useable shots in low-light settings like concerts and sunset scenery photos.

All the sensor changes don’t just impact low-light and slow-shutter situations. The main wide angle camera can now capture images at up to 1/125000th of a second, which is faster than most every DSLR and mirrorless camera on the market. It’s also over six times faster than the iPhone XS. It’s hard to say for sure what the possibilities are with such a blazing shutter speed, but we are interested in finding out just what sort of results can be generated by stopping time so aggressively.