It has taken many years software cleverness to achieve – or at least approximate – what physical size managed with sheer dumb luck when it comes to photography. As a result we as photographers rarely give iPhones the credit they deserve, and I'm just as guilty, even though, of course, those software developers went a lot further, adding features like panoramic mode which is so standard on phones we barely think of it but used to require special hardware.
The upshot is that, while I frequently dip into my pocket for my iPhone 15 Pro Max to serve as a camera, I barely use the Panorama option. It doesn't help that the experience does require a little bit of a steady hand and patience on my part – much less than setting up a tripod, but I fear phones have eaten away at my diligence.
