Most of the issues noted are because of the wide angle lens of the iPhone. The more expensive iPhones (the Pro models) have 3 lenses one of which can produce photos similar to a traditional camera.

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tylermw 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, the distortion noted in the article is also seen in wide angle lenses on traditional cameras.

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markhalonen 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The iPhone photo in the blog is iPhone 16 Pro which has the 3 lenses (I am the author).

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breadwinner 7 days ago | parent [-]

And which lens was used?

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markhalonen 7 days ago | parent [-]

which lens on my iPhone? Just the camera app like everyone else. For the good photo, it's a 30mm lens on Sony a6400 (45mm equivalent)

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saithier 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

There are three different lenses on the iPhone 16 Pro. Which one gets used is determined by the "zoom" level you pick. The "0.5x" picks the widest angle lens, the "1x" and "2x" use the same lens, and the "5x" uses the third lens.

If you wish to reduce optical distortion and can get farther away from the subject, you'll want to pick the "5x" zoom. Think somebody else here said it was a 105mm equivalent, which sounds about right.

Intermediate values are obviously crops... although given that the 0.5x and the 1x lens are both 48mp sensors (IIRC), and the resulting image is typically 12mp, it doesn't make as big of a quality difference as one might ordinarily think.

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breadwinner 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes, but on the camera app, you should set 3x to use the longest lens. This will avoid distortion.

	▲	Zak 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		It appears the long lens on that phone is 120mm-equivalent ("5x") and any intermediate zoom is just cropping. A 2x "zoom" (crop) would get pretty close to the field of view of the author's dedicated camera lens, but with further reduced image quality. Actually using the iPhone telephoto for a group photo like the one shown in the article would require the photographer to stand a considerable distance from the subjects, and then we might start noticing a little perspective distortion from the 45mm-equivalent lens on the Sony.

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relaxing 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

	▲	throwawaybob420 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		What’s with this overtly hostile attitude.

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datadrivenangel 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

For mid to long ranges, a dedicated camera with A Big Lens is still the way to go, but for wide angle and landscapes the better iphone cameras are very competitive.

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sturza 7 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Similar to what? IQ? Amount of light capture? The first is a function of the second.

	▲	kaonwarb 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		Longer effective focal length, reducing wide-angle distortion.

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_fw 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

This is exactly it. A lot of the author's comments about skin tone and 'flat' colour are spot on though.

To your point, take six steps back and use the 5x zoom on an iPhone Pro and you'll get a much better effect.

As they say, the best camera is the one you have in your pocket. Physics means it can never replace a large sensor with a large lens...

... But Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, The Beach, Trainspotting, 127 Hours) was quite happy to film 28 Years Later entirely on the iPhone 15 Pro Max [1].

[1] https://www.wired.com/story/28-years-later-danny-boyles-new-...

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tylermw 7 days ago | parent [-]

For 28 Years Later, note that while the iPhone sensor did in fact ultimately collect the photons for the movie, they attached substantial professional-grade glass to the front to augment the phone camera.

	▲	tehnub 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		My understanding is that all that extra gear is mainly to enable more ergonomic manual control for things like focus. The matte box and ND filter are probably the biggest boosts to image and motion quality, and there are affordable ways to get those on your phone.