iPhone 17 Pro Max for Tour Photography
I recently got an iPhone 17 Pro Max as an upgrade to my iPhone 15 Pro Max - primarily because Apple said they had made some improvements to the camera app. The iPhone camera has done a decent job for most situations but has been fairly poor for telephoto shots, so in testing it, I focused primarily on telephoto.
The summary is that the primary advantage of the iPhone 17 is the option for 24 megapixels compared to the maximum of 12 megapixels for the iPhone 15. Compared to a digital SLR, the iPhone is not as good - but my tests were fairly extreme telephoto. The resolution of fine detail is about the same as the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
I tried to post the test pictures here but I kept getting a message that the upload failed, so I put the pictures on my web site, along with text, and you can see it here - https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2025-iPhone17Evaluation
Comments
MikeHenderson thanks for the review. I am contemplating upgrading to the 17 from the iPhone 15 Pro. A friend just purchased the iPhone 17 Air--I was nervous just holding it. It's incredibly thin and the protruding camera lens is awkward (to me). I haven't taken my DSLR on the last two tours and I'm not planning on taking it to VCT. I will take it to Namibia next year. I've enjoyed not carrying the extra weight of the camera bag and heavy camera with zoom lens. I rarely print or enlarge photos anymore...the iPhone sharpness is good enough...for now
@PureLuxury - Thanks for your comments. Yes, I'm using my iPhone more and more. It's so much more convenient than carrying a large camera. I'm going to Antarctica soon and I'm going to try to just use the iPhone. All I do with the pictures is put them on my blog, so they don't have to be professional quality.
The only advantage I saw for the iPhone 17 Pro is that you can choose 24 megapixels - up from the 12 megapixels of the iPhone Pro 15.
The iPhone Air does not have the better camera - only the Pro and the Pro Max.
I hope you enjoy the Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand tour. I thought it was a good tour.
MikeHenderson I used my DSLR in Antarctica; however, at the time of my tour (2012), if I remember correctly, I was using a Blackberry. The iPhone will be more than sufficient. You will be up close to the seals, birds, and penguins and hopefully you get to see a few whales. Antarctica is still in my Top 3
Tony Northrup has a good review of the new iPhone 17 camera