Hacker News Reader

The issue with the camera in newer iphones is that it uses an Ai engine to smooth things and add details that aren’t there.

If you want reference tier photos for documenting family history, modern mirrorless is better. DSLR from 10-15 years ago is also still great in all but the most challenging light conditions, where you could simply use a flash.

View on HN

Especially on babies, the smoothing or noise reduction is weird. A newborn has a very specific skin with an enormous amount of details/speckles/marks. It’s very hard to capture for some reason. Couldn’t do it with my phone, only with a proper camera and shooting in raw.

Hard agree. As a new parent, I bought a modern mirrorless camera before my kid was born, and the difference is noticeable. Especially, as you say, around skin details like milia (white spots on a newborn's skin) which often get wiped out on my Pixel (I'm sure by the AI processing).

If you are considering an expensive phone upgrade based off of the camera alone, consider buying a dedicated camera first, I say. I know the best camera is the one you have on you, etc...

When you think about all the stuff you schlep around with a kid, whats a few more ounces in a camera at that point.

big discussion was had around this a month ago https://candid9.com/phone-camera/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com