Comment by chrisan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chrisan | Hacker News Reader

Kinda sidebar here, apologies, but a question for any DSLR/Mirrorless owners out there:

I've always been frustrated by the reach of phone cameras and finally got a mirrorless and 100-400 lens. It is an aps-c so the equivalent max focal length is 640mm which has been great for wildlife or some long views out on a hike. The sensor is 32.5MP which knocks the socks off my old iphone 12 pro, however this new 16 (or maybe it started with 15?) is 48MP.

Now I know its going to be unlikely we see a phone camera with the reach - but what about landscape photography? Would a 16 pro on a tripod be able to compete with real camera gear. I assume you can focus stack or bracket with ProRAW? This hobby is expensive and just trying to decide if I invest in a lens (my only other one is the kit lens) for landscape.

Final output would be for a 4k tv (samsung frame is nice for that) or possibly print

No. Tiny sensor, can't use grad NDs, wide angle camera even worse, relies on intense computational methods for dynamic range that will destroy the specific light and time character of landscapes.

Making prints, especially large prints, requires high technical quality images that phones can't provide.

Lenses are definitely a factor in “quality” of photos, so some situations are impossible/hard to recreate with mobile phones.

What mobile sensors will never achieve is fast shots in the dark. It’s physically not possible. While “night modes” are impressive, even with long exposures you will not get the same quality as an actual DSLR with a tripod.

Megapixels aren’t important unless you crop, zoom digitally or print.

With real camera gear that costs as much as the phone? Depends, in many situations it will probably beat real camera, because of all the computational stuff. Especially if the output is 8Mpix.

Once shooting conditions get tricky (moving trees/water, high dynamic range with glare and shadows, night sky etc), it of course will be possible to select camera gear that will beat the phone.

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