Comment by aosaigh | Hacker News Reader

Comment by aosaigh | Hacker News Reader

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These are some good examples. I'd love more on this.

I returned to amateur photography a few years ago (Fuji XT-4). I previously used a DSLR when I was younger (10+ years ago) but my camera was stolen at some point so I was left with just the phone.

I had started to think phone photography was catching up with amateur photography, as I saw friends getting great results with their phones on Instagram etc.

But I've come to the conclusion that once you start look closely there's absolutely no comparison.

One thing I've started doing is creating custom photo books from all my photos. It's really helped me focus my photography. When doing this though I've noticed how edited phone photos are, as well as how poor the quality actually is (particularly in low light).

The quality issue is understandable (it's physics). The editing issue is a bit more insidious I think.

All in all, if you just want to view phone photos on your phone, they look great. But if you're actually interested in photography and printing, you should get a dedicated camera.

I took my Fuji XT-2 and 27mm pancake lens on a recent trip, after leaving it at home the previous few. Every time, I find the Fuji takes more work and skill than I have to develop good photos after the fact. I too often blow out the sky, for example.

Unfortunately, the less I use it, the worse I get. So snagging my "nice" camera for a vacation, then spending a lot of time making sure I lug it around and use it, and then having the results be, frankly, bad, is really frustrating. In particular, I have quite a few photos that are.. either blurry, or out of focus, and it's hard to tell which. I am pretty careful to ensure I hold the camera still, and have a sufficient shutter speed, but I'm definitely messing something up.

I need to take more time to practice at home rather than capturing a thousand frames over 3 weeks and hoping they're good (like the bad old days of film!)

If you have sufficient shutter speed (also depends if you have image stabilization), then I think the issue is probably focus.

I also have a fuji camera. In manual mode, you can have focus indicator showing e.g. red dots in the in-focus areas. Another way is to use "focus check" button which is basically a quick digital zoom to check the focus yourself.

Regarding blown-out sky, I often use the HDR auto mode which effectively automatically lowers the exposure 1 stop and then raises it in post, so trading some shadows for highlights. You lose some control but it makes shooting easier. I also use the display indicator / blinkies for blown out parts so I can easily see when something is overexposed.

Yeah, I can confirm I'm getting AF on the points I want. No IBIS/lens stabilization though. I think it's camera shake but man, holding it pretty darn still at 1/600+ shutter speed, seems like it "should" be plenty. I should try zooming in on the original pic and reviewing in realtime with each shot. Ditto for the exposure work.

Carry the camera with you through your daily life.

digicams are making a huge comeback among young adults. Even a pocket digicam is a big step up from iPhone imo.

The CCD digicams that are trending aren’t known for the technical quality of their sensors of lenses or whatnot, but the CCD low dynamic range aesthetic

I have a Ricoh GIII which is astonishing for its size. That said, it’s expensive so probably not an entry level pocket camera.

The GR III? I’m curious how the autofocus is on it, I tried one out at B&H but I think the autofocus was busted

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