This is post fails to disclose an important detail, which is that the photographer was not standing in the same spot for all photos.

For iPhone golf player shot, they were standing closer to the players and using a wide-angle lens. For the “beginner photographer” shot they were standing farther away and using a longer focal length lens. You can tell by the size of the trees in the background. This difference in positioning, not “because iPhone,” is why the player’s faces are distorted on the left.

These details might not matter to random folks grabbing snapshots. But I expect something posted to HN to actually contain useable detailed information, rather than vague “looks worse” comparisons with an obvious thumb on the scale.

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markhalonen 6 days ago | parent [-]

It is true that I was standing closer and using a wide-angle lens with the iPhone. But it wasn't on purpose to tip the scales, I was just taking an iPhone photo as I've done many times.

So it would be a fairer comparison to use a longer focal length, but it's also true that I am the Average Joe, and Average Joe took a better photo with the camera, because it guided me in that direction more than the iPhone did.

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bonoboTP 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

> But it wasn't on purpose to tip the scales, I was just taking an iPhone photo as I've done many times.

It tipped the scales and the post became overwhelmingly misleading, attributing the "distortion" to the camera, instead of the distance and zoom.

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markhalonen 6 days ago | parent [-]

Right but at the same time, Average Joe will take better photos with a digicam because they'll behave exactly like I did and make the same mistakes, so arguably it's very naive but also an accurate depiction of the average idiot who clicks a shutter

	▲	mattlutze 6 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		You posted a camera comparison blog post to a nerd site, and there's plenty of camera nerds here. You might find that it's not the audience you were looking for, if you weren't intending to be objective or rigorous in your comparison. But also, very fun to see the Copper Country featured on hacker news!
	▲	bonoboTP 6 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I don't see why they'd stand at a different distance based on phone vs digicam. You can also zoom in with phones.

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5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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indoordin0saur 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You were guided to stand where you were because of the lens on the camera. If your lens was a 23mm you would have stood in the same spot as you did with the phone.

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nehal3m 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I agree with this. The comparison is one tool versus another and the way you would naturally apply them figures into that equation. There's a million apples-to-apples pixel peeping technical tallies, this compares experiences as a whole.