moved forward significantly since
the 12 mini.
LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY:
Talking of features that were also
offered by the previous model, let’s
talk about low-light photography.
I took the 13 mini out at night to
test out its rendition of Night Mode,
the feature first rolled out on the
11-series iPhones which turns night
into day and produces images that are
technically incredible but (in my view)
slightly artistically suspect.
Interestingly, the 13 mini
seemed far more flash-prone than
the models I’ve tested in previous
years. Whenever I took a night-time
photo it would activate the flash by
default, even though that’s rarely a
good option – you’ll illuminate the
subject, but the background will be
basically black.
Deactivating the flash manually
I got Night Mode to kick in, and this
performed solidly, with the night sky
transformed from near black to a light
grey and respectable detail visible
in both fore- and background. But
as before, and because of the long
exposure, I found it very susceptible
to shake. It’s very important to brace
the phone against a knee (or use a
tripod, ideally) to get sharp results.
VIDEO
I’ve left one of the most interesting
camera upgrades to last. And that is
Cinematic Mode, a rough analogue to
Portrait Mode for video capture.
This mode is activated in the
same way as Portrait Mode, with a
dedicated slot in the Camera app’s
carousel of options. It works in real
time as you shoot, detecting faces
automatically and adjusting the
focal length to them; but you can
tap different areas of the frame and
direct the focus elsewhere. (This is
non-destructive, however, and you
can edit the video later to focus on
something else.)
I’ve seen reviewers describe this
mode as a gimmick, and wonder when
it’s likely to be used: those making
short films can have fun with it, of
course, but how many of us do that?
But my sense is that, like Portrait
Mode, it may end up as the default
that I use nearly all the time (when
shooting people, at least). I like
the effect, think it’s executed well,
and can’t really see any downsides
to using it since you can always
remove it afterwards.SPEED TESTS
As is traditional, all four 13-series
iPhones have the same processor: