Can You Tell Which Photos Were Shot on a Leica – And Which on an iPhone?

Technology

Split-view image showing a clear mountain lake in the foreground with snow-covered peaks and blue sky in the background. The left and right sides display slightly different perspectives of the same scenic landscape.
One photo was shot by a Leica, the other was shot by an iPhone 17 Pro. Can you tell which one? It stumped the Waveform Podcast.

Smartphone cameras have taken giant leaps forward, but can they really be as good as a Leica? Photographer David Imel, who is co-host of the Waveform Podcast, recently created a fascinating test to find out.

On a recent trip to the French Alps, Imel brought along an iPhone 17 Pro and a Leica M11. In an experiment to “push the limits of the iPhone camera,” he downloaded the Halide app, which allows photographers to shoot in “actual RAW” rather than Apple’s ProRAW, which Imel says is “already a little bit processed.”

Imel says the photos seen here are “barely processed” from the Halide RAW file, therefore they don’t have the usual computational photography, HDR style of an iPhone photo.

“I decided I was going to shoot a bunch of photos on all my cameras and I was going to take a look at how different all of the photos were,” Imel explains to his fellow hosts, which include Marques Brownlee.

Imel made a Google Slideshow of the images, which severely compresses the photos and levels the playing field somewhat. The photos on this article are taken from the same slideshow. Imel also adds that he shoots “closed down”, meaning he sets his aperture small so that everything is in focus.

Leica or iPhone?

Two stone mountain huts with red-trimmed windows stand on a rocky path, with a dramatic, snowy jagged peak rising sharply in the background under a clear blue sky.
First picture
Snow-covered mountain peaks rise above clouds under a clear blue sky. The sunlight highlights the rugged, rocky summits, while mist and snow blanket the lower slopes, creating a dramatic and serene winter landscape.
Second picture
Split-view image showing a clear mountain lake in the foreground with snow-covered peaks and blue sky in the background. The left and right sides display slightly different perspectives of the same scenic landscape.
Third picture
A stone cairn stands on a snowy mountain trail, surrounded by rocks and patches of ice, with rugged, snow-covered peaks rising sharply under a clear blue sky.
Fourth picture
Snow-capped mountains rise behind a clear blue alpine lake surrounded by rocky terrain and patches of sparse vegetation under a bright, cloudless sky.
Fifth picture
A clear blue alpine lake surrounded by rocky terrain and high snow-covered mountains under a bright blue sky.
Sixth picture
Snow-capped mountains are illuminated by the golden light of sunrise or sunset, with a green valley and small village below. Wispy clouds partially cover the peaks under a clear sky.
Seventh picture
A snow-covered mountain is reflected in a calm lake under a clear blue sky, with a person standing on the shore in the distance. Wisps of clouds partially cover the mountain's base.
Eighth picture
A snow-covered mountain peak rises above a dark, forested valley at dusk. Rocky slopes and pine trees line the foreground, with a winding path leading toward the majestic mountain under a clear sky.
Ninth picture

The answers are below. But remember, there are a couple of caveats: all of these photos have been compressed by Google Slideshow and most of the photos were shot during peak sunlight on a glorious Alpine day, which, as Brownlee points out, “almost any modern sensor is going to do a very respectable job.”

“This is the point I wanted to make,” Imel adds. “Is that phone-processing sucks. All they’re doing is optimizing for storage, optimizing for shadow details.”

Imel points to when Google got rid of their regular RAW processing, and introduced Pro-RAW. “In my opinion, it’s worse because it just lifts the shadows. And you don’t always want the shadows to be lifted if you want it to look like a real picture.”

Answers

Two stone mountain huts with red-trimmed windows stand on a rocky path, with a dramatic, snowy jagged peak rising sharply in the background under a clear blue sky.
iPhone
Snow-covered mountain peaks rise above clouds under a clear blue sky. The sunlight highlights the rugged, rocky summits, while mist and snow blanket the lower slopes, creating a dramatic and serene winter landscape.
Leica
Split-view image showing a clear mountain lake in the foreground with snow-covered peaks and blue sky in the background. The left and right sides display slightly different perspectives of the same scenic landscape.
Leica is on the left, iPhone on the right
A stone cairn stands on a snowy mountain trail, surrounded by rocks and patches of ice, with rugged, snow-covered peaks rising sharply under a clear blue sky.
iPhone
Snow-capped mountains rise behind a clear blue alpine lake surrounded by rocky terrain and patches of sparse vegetation under a bright, cloudless sky.
iPhone
A clear blue alpine lake surrounded by rocky terrain and high snow-covered mountains under a bright blue sky.
Leica
Snow-capped mountains are illuminated by the golden light of sunrise or sunset, with a green valley and small village below. Wispy clouds partially cover the peaks under a clear sky.
iPhone
A snow-covered mountain is reflected in a calm lake under a clear blue sky, with a person standing on the shore in the distance. Wisps of clouds partially cover the mountain's base.
iPhone
A snow-covered mountain peak rises above a dark, forested valley at dusk. Rocky slopes and pine trees line the foreground, with a winding path leading toward the majestic mountain under a clear sky.
Leica

Imel says of the experiment: “The point of this was to show you that while I still prefer traditional cameras for the shooting experience, you too can take pretty cool pictures just with your phone.”

As they say, the best camera is the one you have with you.

Image credits: Photographs by David Imel


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