Camera
Pentax K-3 Mark III initial review
The Pentax K-3 Mark III is Ricoh’s latest high-end APS-C DSLR. It’s built around a 26MP BSI-CMOS sensor and has been redesigned from the ground up to become, on paper, the most capable, most usable K-mount camera ever made.
Although it shares much of its styling with the K-3 II, launched in 2015, the third iteration has been significantly redesigned and re-thought to offer improvements across the board. From the viewfinder and the sensor right down to the shutter button, it’s essentially an all-new DSLR.
Key specifications
- 25.7MP BSI-CMOS sensor
- SAFOX 13 AF module with 101 AF points (25 cross-type)
- 5-axis in-body stabilization rated to 5.5EV
- Weather-sealed magnesium alloy construction
- Viewfinder with 1.05x magnification
- Revised three-dial control system
- 8-direction AF joystick and touchscreen for AF positioning
- UHD 4K movie capture at up to 30p
In addition, the K-3 III has all the usual modes making clever use of the image stabilization system, including Anti-Aliasing Filter Simulation and the multi-shot Pixel Shift Resolution mode that shoots and combines four offset images to cancel out the Bayer pattern and remove the need for sharpness-sapping demosaicing.
The K-3 III will be available from late April in a choice of black or silver with a recommended price of $2000. A weather-sealed D-BG8 battery grip with matched controls will also be available. A kit combining the body and grip (along with a strap and additional battery) is priced at $2300.
What’s new…
Sensor
At the heart of the K-3 III is a new BSI CMOS APS-C sensor. Ricoh describes it as a 25MP chip, but the cameras resolution is actually 25.7MP, raising the possibility that it’s related to the one using in Fujifilm’s X-T4 (albeit with a more conventional color filter array and no pixels masked for phase detection).
Either way, the sensor has no anti-aliasing filter and is capable of 14-bit readout at up to 12 fps. Ricoh says the new sensor has better high ISO noise characteristics than the 24MP chip in the KP and that this combines with improved processing power from its PRIME V processor and ‘Accelerators Unit II’ pre-processor to give better detail retention and noise reduction in low-light conditions. Though this could well mean noise reduction applied in to Raw data, as it did with the K-1 Mark II.
The camera can shoot at up to ISO 1,600,000.
Viewfinder
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One of the most significant revisions in the K-3 III is an all-new viewfinder. Building on a Pentax tradition of large, prism-type viewfinders, the K-3 III’s viewfinder is a pentaprism offering an impressive 1.05x magnification
Viewfinder magnification figures are usually calculated with 50mm lenses, regardless of sensor size, so some of that high figure comes from the apparent magnification of the camera’s APS-C sensor. But, even taking this into account, it would be equivalent to a 0.68x magnification finder on full-frame, making it only a fraction smaller than the 0.70x finder in the Pentax K-1 models. That’s small by the standards of many mirrorless cameras, in which viewfinder size isn’t dependent on the viewing angle of the sensor, but is the largest ever fitted to an APS-C DSLR.
More than just the size, the new finder has been designed using a transparent display panel in the viewing path, rather than having the display of a separate panel projected into the finder, as was the case in previous K-3s. Ricoh says this change provides a 10% improvement in brightness over the Mark II. It also allows more flexibility in display customization.
New Autofocus module
Ricoh has developed a completely new AF module for the K-3 III. The Safox 13 has 101 AF points, 25 of which are cross-type. 41 of the AF points can be manually selected and the centermost nine points can focus at down to -4EV when paired with lenses that are F2.8 or brighter.
The optics in front of the lens module expand the coverage of AF points to be 20% wider in the frame than the Safox 11 module in the K-3 II.
On top of this, the camera’s continuous AF system has been completely reworked. The K-3 II uses a 307k-pixel RGB+IR metering sensor that provides the AF system with a higher-resolution view of the subject for subject recognition and tracking. A review of the predictive AF algorithms and the deep-learning-trained ability to recognize faces or subjects such as birds promises improved AF-C performance in a range of situations.
Improved in-body stabilization
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In-body stabilization is no longer the rarity it was when Pentax first introduced its Shake Reduction system, and the K-3 III’s system has been re-worked to keep up with the competition.
The five-axis ‘SR II’ IS system is rated at 5.5EV, using CIPA standard testing, which is a 1.0EV improvement over the rated performance of the K-3 II, and 0.5EV more than the K-1 Mark II. A dedicated ‘SR’ button lets you switch the camera between the default Auto mode, off, or ‘Panning’ mode, which lets you adjust the response, if the Auto mode isn’t correctly detecting slow, intentional panning movements.
Shutter mechanism
As with all the other major components of the camera, the K-3 III’s shutter mechanism has been completely reworked. It uses a coreless motor to drive both its shutter and mirror mechanisms, improving response times. The mirror mechanism has been made lighter, to reduce inertia.
The redesign means the mirror settles quicker, giving shorter viewfinder blackout times and giving the AF and metering systems more time to assess the scene between shots. This helps support the camera’s ability to shoot at up to 12 fps (11 fps with continuous autofocus).
The shutter unit is rated to withstand 300,000 releases, and the adoption of a leaf switch mechanism under the shutter button helps give a smoother response as well as increased durability to match.
4K capture
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The K-3 III becomes the first K-mount camera to offer 4K video capture. It can shoot UHD 4K at up to 30p and includes touchscreen control to avoid adding noise during recording.
Ricoh says the new IS system is quiet enough to be used during video capture, meaning the K-3 III is able to offer 3-axis (Roll, pitch and yaw) correction using mechanical stabilization, rather than the digital IS used in previous models.
How it compares…
It’s fair to say that the APS-C DSLR market is not what it once was. So we’ve tried to include meaningful reference points, however you choose to look at the K-3 III.
If you’re in the market for an enthusiast-level APS-C camera, Fujifilm’s X-T4 is the one to beat. If you’re not set on an APS-C sensor then you can get the very capable Nikon Z6 II for a similar amount of money. If it has to be a DSLR, then Nikon’s D500 remains an impressive contender, but if you have K-mount lenses you need to use, the K-1 Mark II is also worth a look.
| Pentax K-3 III | Fujifilm X-T4 | Nikon Z6 II | Nikon D500 | Pentax K-1 II | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSRP (body) | $1999 | $1699 | $1995 | $2000 | $1999 |
| Sensor res. | 26MP | 26MP | 24MP | 21MP | 36MP |
| Sensor size | APS-C | APS-C | Full-frame | APS-C | Full-frame |
| In-body image stabilization | 5.5 stops | 6.5 stops | 5.0 stops | Lens only | 5.0 stops |
| Autofocus system | Secondary PDAF (101 pts) |
On-sensor | On-sensor | Secondary PDAF (151 pts) |
Secondary PDAF (33 pts) |
| LCD type | Fixed | Fully articulating | Tilting | Tilting | Flexible-tilt |
| LCD size/res | 3.2″ 1.6M-dot | 3.2″ 2.1M-dot | 3.2″ 2.1M-dot | 3.2″ 2.1M-dot | 3.2″ 1.0M dots |
| Viewfinder res / mag (equiv.) |
Optical, 0.68x (equiv.) | 3.69M-dot 0.77x |
3.69M-dot 0.8x |
Optical, 0.67x (equiv.) | Optical 0.70x |
| Burst speed | 11 fps (12 fps with AF locked) | 15 fps / 20 fps mech/ e-shutter |
14 fps | 10 fps | 4.4 fps |
| Storage | 1 UHS-II SD; 1 UHS-I SD |
2 UHS-II SD | 1 UHS-II SD; 1 CFexpress Type B / XQD |
1 UHS-II SD; 1 XQD |
2 UHS-I SD |
| Video (internal) |
4K/30p 8-bit |
4K/30p (4K/60p w/ 1.18x crop) 10-bit |
4K/30p 8-bit |
4K/30p (1.5x crop) 8-bit |
Full HD / 30p 8-bit |
| Mic / headphone socket | Yes / Yes | Yes / Yes (with included adapter) | Yes / Yes | Yes / Yes | Yes / Yes |
| Battery life | 800 shots | 500 shots | 410 shots | 1240 shots | 670 shots |
| Weight | 820g (28.9oz) | 607g (21.4oz) | 705g (24.9oz) | 860g (30.3oz) | 1010g (35.6oz) |
Making a pick from such a diverse list is, of course, challenging. The K-1 II will offer better image quality if you mount full-frame lenses (and what are likely to be pretty competitive, albeit ~15MP, images when cropped to APS-C), but it uses an older AF system, can’t shoot as fast, is heavier and can’t shoot 4K video. The Nikon will again offer better image quality and has a very capable AF system. The Fujifilm can shoot faster and has a much better video spec, but like the Nikon can’t offer the longer battery life or optical viewfinder of a DSLR.
Essentially, it’s impossible to say whether the K-3 III makes sense for you without knowing why you’re considering it. However, what should be clear is that it’s a well-specced machine even compared with the latest mirrorless rivals, which means it’s a fair step forward from older APS-C Pentaxes.
Body and handling
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The K-3 III iterates on the ergonomics of the exiting K-3 models, which we’ve frequently praised. We’re pleased to be able to say that the K-3 III doesn’t diverge too much from this pattern: the magnesium alloy construction maintains the impressively dense and solid feeling that its predecessors conveyed. And, of course, it offers the extensive weather-sealing Pentax cameras have become known for.
The handgrip and dial position will be immediately familiar to Pentax shooters: it’s a camera that feels immediately comfortable in the hand.
Smart function button
The K-3 III iterates on the ‘Function Dial’ concept of the K-1 II. This adds an extra dial to the camera’s top plate, just forward of its rear command dial, which can be used to quickly access camera functions beyond the basic exposure controls of the two main command dials.
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Rather than having a forth dial to dictate the action of the Function Dial, the K-3 III has a button that cycles the dial’s function between the options custom assigned to it. You can select up to five options from a list of 22, to give you quick access to settings such as ISO, exposure comp, AA Filter Simulation, white balance or crop mode.
It’s even possible to customize which of the sub-options of particular settings are assigned to the dial, giving quick access only to the functions you want to use.
Instead of a function dial, the K-3 III has a small control to the right of the viewfinder hump for switching between viewfinder photography, live view shooting and video mode.
Joystick
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The K-3 III gains an 8-direction joystick, which allows rapid AF point selection by allowing diagonal movement. Pressing the joystick inwards resets the AF point to its central position.
Touchscreen
The K-3 III’s rear panel is a large, 3.2″ 1.62M-dot LCD. It’s a fixed panel, offering no articulation or movement, but it’s touch-sensitive in all the ways that make sense in a DSLR. In live view mode it can be used to position the AF point, position the AF point and focus, or position, acquire focus and fire the shutter. It can do similar things in movie mode and these settings can be defined separately.
The camera’s menus have been redesigned to make them touch operable and you can make all the expected pinch-to-zoom and swipe-to-scroll movements that you might expect in image playback mode.
The K-3 III’s viewfinder has an eye sensor that switching off the screen when you put your eye to the camera. The finder also protrudes further from the back of the camera than on its predecessor, reducing the risk of accidentally touching the rear screen with your nose.
Battery
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The K-3 III uses the same D-LI90P battery as the K-1 Mark II. This is rated to deliver 800 shots per charge, per the CIPA standard test methods. As usual, these figures don’t necessarily reflect how many shots you’ll get (it’s not uncommon to achieve double the rated figure, depending on how you shoot), but the ability to shoot without any display panels active gives the DSLR design a major advantage over mirrorless rivals.
The battery can be charged over the camera’s USB-C socket. Sadly the K-3 III doesn’t come with an external charger for its battery, it relies on a supplied USB wall adapter and cable.
Initial impressions
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| The K-3 III gains an SR button. The exact function of all these buttons can be fine-tuned. |
For transparency it should be made clear that, despite press releases, teasers and mockups dating back to at least September 2019, we’ve not had too much time with the K-3 Mark III, hence the lack of image samples.
However, the time we have spent, along with the details Ricoh has released make clear how much effort has gone into this camera. We also know that the Pentax system has a dedicated following who want to know about it, so we’ve tried to provide as much detail as is currently possible
Alongside this announcement, there’ll no doubt be plenty of YouTube videos ridiculing the idea of spending so much time and effort developing an enthusiast DSLR in what could be seen as the post-DSLR era. But that’s not the way I see things. I’m no Shakespearean scholar: I come not to bury the K-3 III, but to praise it. In concept at least.
When we reviewed the Nikon D850, it struck me that it might be the pinnacle of DSLR design. In part because it was so good in so many ways but also because, with the exception of a few models for the pro-sport/photojournalism niche, it seemed unlikely that there’d be many contenders for its crown.
I can’t yet say how well Ricoh has done in this regard, but it’s clear that its engineers have looked at every detail of the K-3 II and asked ‘what could be done to make this better?’
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| Ricoh has also developed a matching battery grip, the D-BG8. It features the same controls as the camera body. The second battery it adds can also be charged using the camera’s USB port. |
There’s an argument that this is proof of Ricoh trying to produce the perfect buggy whip* when most other companies are looking at how to replace the internal combustion engine, but perhaps this only matters if you assume that every camera is trying to be the best camera for everyone. It may make sense for Ricoh to try to be the last company offering an up-to-date DSLR for those photographers who love the optical viewfinder experience.
The K-3 III’s price can also look somewhat anachronistic. The Nikon D500 was launched for $2000 and Canon’s EOS 7D Mark II for $1800, but a long time has passed since those cameras were released. It’s no longer uncommon for full-frame cameras to be released at or below $2000 (including Ricoh’s own very impressive Pentax K-1 models).
But that still assumes that these other cameras would make appropriate substitutes for the K-3 III. If you’ve spent a decent chunk of your life and your income building up a set of good Pentax lenses, that may not be the case. For some people it’ll be better to have an improved DSLR for their K-mount lenses than to have yet another mirrorless option that would still require a whole new set of lenses or risk a sub-optimal experience with adaptors.
Perhaps the only question that matters for the K-3 Mark III is: does it offer enough of an improvement to prompt existing Pentax owners to upgrade? We can’t know for certain until we’ve tested it, but it’s clear that Ricoh has done all it can to make it a ‘yes’, with promised improvements to just about every aspect of the camera. Maybe we’ve not yet seen the last great DSLR, after all.
| Images: Tamron |
Tamron has announced a firmware update that it says will ‘significantly’ improve the autofocus tracking performance on the Sony E-Mount versions of its 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD and 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD lenses. The company’s press release says the lenses should now ‘keep excellent track of moving subjects.’
The updates also add support for Sony’s AF Assist function, which lets you manually focus even when autofocus is enabled. That should be handy for videographers who want to use autofocus to initially grab focus but then rack focus to something else in the frame, provided they have a Sony body that supports the feature.
The firmware is now available to download from Tamron’s site.
| Image: Apple |
It’s that time of year: Apple has announced its new suite of iPhones, raising the question of whether current owners should upgrade or stick with their older model.
There are many factors to consider – those still using the Lightning port could potentially justify an upgrade for USB-C alone– but we’ll mainly focus on the cameras for this article. This year, more than ever, the price premium on the Pro phones doesn’t make much sense if you’re not using them for photography and videography, so we’ll be trying to answer a straightforward question: will upgrading let you take better pictures?
Note: unlike last year’s models, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max appear to have identical camera setups. We’ll talk a lot about the ‘iPhone 16 Pro’s’ cameras in this article, but anything we say will apply to both size options.
Scenario 1: You have an iPhone 15 Pro
We’ll start by comparing the 16 Pro to the last-generation 15 Pro since it lets us talk about the brand new features that will be an upgrade over the 14 Pro and 13 Pro too. However, we’ll start by saying it’s hard to recommend the year-over-year upgrade unless you have a specific use case that requires the new features.
Even Apple quietly admits this; during the announcement, whenever it compared the iPhone 16 Pro to previous models, it was usually put up against the iPhone 14 Pro instead of its direct predecessor. The iPhone 15 Pro is also the only other phone in Apple’s lineup capable of running all the Apple Intelligence features, which are the main selling point of the iPhone 16 line.
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| Image: Apple |
However, there are still some improvements to be found in the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera system. Apple says that the 16 Pro uses a ‘second-generation’ sensor for its main camera, which can read out data two times faster, ‘enabling zero shutter lag’ even when taking Raw photos.
The 5x, 120mm equiv. camera from the 15 Pro Max is also now available on the regular-sized iPhone 16 Pro, replacing the 3x, 77mm equiv. camera from the 15 Pro. That’s not necessarily a clear win, though. The extra reach may be useful if you often shoot far-away subjects, but it makes it a little bit harder to take portraits; you’ll have to stand further away from your subject if you want to get the classic 80mm portrait framing, which will also compress the foreground and background more. However, if you want a 5x camera in a smaller phone, the 16 Pro is Apple’s first model to offer it.
iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 15 Pro cameras
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 48MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 120mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~10.8x |
| iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 77mm equiv / 120mm equiv. (Max) | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) / Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~8.7x / ~10.8x |
There are a few other minor improvements to the 16 Pro’s camera system compared to the 15 Pro’s. It can now shoot 3D-esque Spatial Photos, and Apple has upgraded the Photographic Styles system, which lets you apply different looks to your photos straight out of camera. Previously, they were baked-in, meaning you couldn’t shoot a picture with the ‘Warm’ Photo Style and then change it to the ‘Cool’ or ‘Rich Contrast’ one – now you can.
The 16 and 16 Pro also have slightly larger screens than their predecessors, which makes taking and viewing photos nicer, and the QuickTake video that you can access from the photo mode is now 4K60p instead of 1080p30p.
The most significant changes relate to the iPhone 16’s ultrawide camera and video modes. That brings us to a few reasons you might be able to justify an upgrade.
Scenario 1a: You’re a macro/wide-angle photography enthusiast
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The ultrawide camera used for macro shots now has a much higher-resolution sensor.
Image: Apple |
The iPhone 15 Pro’s 0.5x, 13mm equiv. F2.2 ultrawide camera uses a 12MP, 5.6×4.2mm sensor and produces broadly disappointing photos. While the ultrawide camera on the iPhone 16 Pro appears to be using the same size sensor, it’s now using 48MP quad-Bayer technology.
This will allow for pixel binning, though the real-world effect remains to be seen. Given that the sensor is the same size and will likely bin down to the same resolution, it’s hard to imagine there being much of an improvement in low-light performance, which is where the previous iteration of the camera struggled.
If the 0.5x camera is your favorite, it’s probably worth waiting for the reviews to see how much of a difference the resolution bump makes. We’ll be sure to update this article as soon as we can with some wide-angle comparison shots.
Scenario 1b: You are going to shoot The Weeknd’s next music video with your iPhone
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The Weeknd’s new music video is the latest addition to the Shot On iPhone gallery.
Image: Apple |
The next-generation sensor in the iPhone 16 Pro’s main camera enables a big jump in video performance: it can now shoot 4K footage at 120fps, double the speed of the previous Pro. You can even shoot at 120fps in Apple’s ProRes codec, provided you’re recording to external storage via USB-C.
Apple also claims the 16 Pro has much-improved audio with the addition of a ‘studio-quality’ four-microphone array. The microphones allow for wind noise reduction and some fancy software tricks called ‘Audio Mix’ that enable you to fine-tune how a video’s subjects sound.
As with the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple showed off the 16 Pro’s video prowess by having a famous artist shoot a music video with it. This year, it was The Weeknd, whose video for ‘Dancing in the Flames’ (seen above) was shot with the iPhone 16 Pro, making heavy use of the new slow-motion features. Feel free to judge how the footage fares, though do keep in mind that the video was shot by top-tier professionals using thousands of dollars of lighting and grip equipment.
Scenario 1c: You can’t live without the Camera Control
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| Image: Apple |
We get it: new buttons are exciting, especially when they’re providing a new function. Apple’s new Camera Control button promises to let you launch the camera from anywhere, will act as a shutter button once you’ve opened the app, and you can slide your finger across it to adjust parameters like the focal length or aperture.
Apple also promised to improve the button via a software update that will make it act like a traditional shutter button that locks focus and exposure with a half press, and takes a picture with a full press. The Camera Control will also be available for third-party developers, so you may get some milage out of it even if the default iOS camera app isn’t your go-to.
There will be some people who call the Camera Control a gimmick, and who say that there’s no way it’d be worth upgrading from a perfectly good phone that’s only year old for it. And sure, it’s possible it won’t end up being very useful because of its placement, or its relatively complicated control scheme, which mixes gentle taps and press with swipes.
But if it actually improves the ergonomic experience of taking pictures with an iPhone, it could a real nice-to-have – though it’s up to you whether it’s ‘immediately upgrade’ compelling, or ‘look forward to it the next time you get a new phone’ compelling.
Scenario 2: You have an iPhone 14 Pro
The iPhone 14 Pro introduced the 48MP, 9.8×7.3mm quad-bayer sensor that Apple has iterated on for the iPhone 16 Pro, but that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been improvements in the past two years. The 16 Pro’s faster readout speeds should provide the same speed boost compared to the 14 Pro as they did to the 15 Pro.
The lenses on the 16 Pro’s cameras also have a variety of coatings not found on the 14 Pro, and, similar to the 13 Pro, the 14 Pro is stuck with the slower Lightning port instead of the near-universal USB-C one found on the 16 Pro.
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The 16 Pro can shoot slow-mo ProRes 4K. The 14 Pro can’t. (The 128GB 14 Pro can’t shoot ProRes 4K at all; it’s limited to 1080p.)
Image: Apple |
For the main camera, many of the iPhone 16 Pro’s upgrades lie in software, not hardware. The 14 Pro can only shoot 4K ProRes at 30fps, which rules out the possibility of using it for slow motion like you can with the iPhone 16 Pro’s 120fps 4K mode. The 16 Pro also has a ‘next-generation’ portrait mode, which Apple says offers ‘2x better low-light performance.’ Given that the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera hardware isn’t taking in any more light, that’s almost certainly down to changes in how it handles multi-shot photography.
By default, the 16 Pro will also bin images to 24MP, versus the 12MP that’s the only option for the 14 Pro. You also no longer have to shoot in ProRaw to capture a 48MP image, as the 16 Pro has a ‘HEIF Max’ mode that offers compressed images with higher resolution. (Do note that it’s not available in all modes, though; night mode and flash photos are still binned to 12MP.)
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The ultrawide camera is one of the iPhone 16 Pro’s most notable upgrades.
Image: Apple |
The iPhone 16 Pro’s other lenses have more notable improvements. The iPhone 14 Pro’s ultrawide camera is the same as the one found on the iPhone 15 Pro, so any jump in quality provided by the 48MP sensor will apply here as well.
The 16 Pro’s telephoto lens also has a larger sensor, and tighter focal length; the 14 Pro’s 3x (77mm equiv.) camera has a 4x3mm sensor, where the 16 Pro’s 5x (120mm equiv.) camera bumps that up to 4.5×3.4mm – a 27.5% increase. Both cameras produce 12MP images, and have F2.8 lenses.
iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 14 Pro cameras
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 48MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 120mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~10.8x |
| iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 77mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) | F2.8 | ~8.7x |
Overall, the 16 Pro’s cameras are iterative improvements over the 14 Pros. However, if you take tons of images on your phone or are serious about video, there’s probably enough there for you to notice a difference. If you’re more of an occasional shooter, though, it may be worth sitting this one out.
Scenario 3: You have an iPhone 13 Pro
If you have an iPhone 13 Pro or one of its predecessors, the 16 Pro’s cameras should be an upgrade in pretty much every way. The 13 Pro has a 12MP F1.5 main camera, while the 16 Pro bumps the resolution up to 48MP. While its F1.78 lens is slower, its 9.8×7.3mm sensor also has 65% more area versus the 13 Pro’s 7.6×5.7mm sensor – that equates to around 0.3EV more light gathering ability, even with the brighter aperture.
That extra resolution enables a lot of camera features on the 16 Pro that the 13 Pro doesn’t have. The most obvious is the pixel-binned 12MP or 24MP shots, as well as the 48MP ProRaw mode. It also allows for the 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm ‘faux-cal’ lengths for the main camera, which work by taking different crops off the sensor. The iPhone 13 Pro also lacks the ‘2x’ option, which crops in to the 12MP middle section of the sensor.
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The 16 Pro’s main camera is a notable improvement from the 13 Pro’s.
Image: Apple |
The ultrawide and telephoto cameras also use larger sensors, and the 16 Pro’s 5x camera offers a 120mm equiv. focal length compared to the 13 Pro’s 3x 77mm equiv.
The iPhone 16 Pro also includes the latest iterations of Apple’s image stabilization and HDR systems, though the company hasn’t said much about what benefits they offer over the predecessors found on the iPhone 13 Pro.
iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 13 Pro cameras
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 48MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 120mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~10.8x |
| iPhone 13 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 26mm equiv. | 12MP | Type 1/1.7 (7.6×5.7mm) | F1.5 | ~4.6x |
| 13mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) | F1.8 | ~8.7x |
| 77mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) | F2.8 | ~8.7x |
The 16 Pro has several video features not found on the 2021 model, such as Apple Log, Spatial Video, the super-stabilized ‘Action Mode,’ and access to 60 and 120fps frame rates when shooting 4K. And if you’re shooting a lot of video and want to offload it to a computer, the iPhone 16 Pro will offer a much better experience; its USB-C port can transfer files at 10Gbit per second. That’s 20 times faster than the USB 2.0 speeds that the 13 Pro’s Lightning port provides.
Outside of the camera, the 16 Pro has a lot of quality-of-life improvements. To name a few, there’s satellite SOS, tougher front glass, faster charging, an always-on-display and both the Action button and the new Camera Control button. It’s also 5g lighter despite being physically larger because its frame is made of aluminium and titanium instead of stainless steel.
None of this is to say that you must upgrade your iPhone 13 Pro. In fact, two of the winning photos from this year’s iPhone Photography Awards were shot with an iPhone 13 or 13 Pro. If you’re happy with your phone, by all means keep using it. However, if you do feel ready for an upgrade the iPhone 16 Pro should offer enough features and camera improvements to make it well worth it.
Just five days after the arrival of first Mirrorless camera, and 16 years ago today, Canon revealed a camera that would help define the final years of DSLR dominance: the EOS 5D II.
This was no simple upgrade to the original EOS 5D, though in a move from 12.8MP to a better performing 21MP CMOS sensor, the addition of an improved viewfinder and the gain of features such as liveview, it was that, too.
What famously set the 5D Mark II apart was its ability to capture Full HD video, the first DSLR to do so. The Nikon D90 had added 720p HD capture about two weeks before but it was the Canon that caught the world’s imagination.
This was helped by the option to download the Cinestyle color preset developed by film processing company Technicolor and a successful PR stunt that involved an entire episode of the TV show ‘House’ being filmed using the camera.
In hindsight, the 5D II is a relatively basic filmmaking tool: all is footage is 8-bit, so has limited grading (an official Canon Log option wouldn’t arrive until the Mk IV), there were no tools such as focus peaking to help with focus and to monitor your sound you needed all manner of adapters to get at the audio feed from the A/V socket. It didn’t even gain full manual exposure control in video mode until a post-launch firmware update.
The 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world
But the 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world, putting the flexibility and ‘look’ of a full-frame sensor in the hands of budding film makers and letting them use relatively affordable EF lenses.
Beyond this, the Magic Lantern open source software project created an extensive array of video support tools to boost the 5D II’s capabilities way beyond those that Canon had developed for it, including focus peaking, false color and control over the A/V output level.
There are plenty of people that used the 5D II solely as a stills camera, and it certainly represented a major step forward, compared with its predecessor: it had a larger, higher resolution screen, a sensor happier to shoot at higher ISOs and could shoot 30% faster than the Mark 1, despite the much higher pixel count. It also gained features that we take for granted, such as Auto ISO.
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The newer sensor in the 5D II allowed a maximum expanded ISO of 25,600: three stops higher than on its predecessor.
Image: Don Wan |
Its top speed of 3.9fps looks disappointing once you got used to the option to capture the 30fps burst that its spiritual successor, the EOS R5 II can manage. But, even though 4K and 8K modes have become commonplace in the sixteen years since the 5D II’s launch, a well lit, well-exposed and interesting video shot with the 5D II still looks pretty great, even on a big TV.
In the original review we referred to its video capabilities as its ‘party trick.’ Well it proved to be quite the trick, and over a decade and a half later, we’re all still at that party.
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