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Can iPhone XR take better photos than a $5,000 full-frame Canon?

Oct 30, 2018 by Dunja Djudjic 17 Comments

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We are witnessing the rapid improvement of smartphone cameras (and more of them being added to each new phone that gets launched). But have we come to the point where smartphone cameras can take better photos than full-frame DSLRs? Tyler Stalman tested the iPhone XR against the Canon 5D Mark IV. And when it comes to dynamic range – the smartphone sure does a pretty impressive job!

Smartphones and DSLRs have been compared numerous times, and they’re evidently getting better. For example, Jolyon Ralph was pretty impressed by Huawei P20 Pro smartphone compared to the Canon 5DSR. In Tyler’s video above, you can see how Smart HDR in the iPhone XS and XR performs. According to Tyler, it’s “doing crazy things with dynamic range.” And indeed, photos straight out of camera preserve a lot of detail in smartphone photos when Smart HDR is on.

On the other hand, there are some situations when the Smart HDS feature overdoes it. It ends up creating the end result that looks rather unrealistic. Still, in most cases of Tyler’s test, the smartphone SOOC shots are pretty impressive when it comes to dynamic range.

There’s no doubt that computational photography is on the rise, developing incredibly fast. But still, I believe that dedicated cameras are still optically better than smartphones, and will continue to be. Allen Murabayashi discusses this in one of his articles, and you can read it here. Still, when it comes to the dynamic range, do you think that the iPhone XR has outperformed the Canon 5D Mark IV?

[Why is my iPhone XR Taking Better Photos Than a $5,000 Canon? via ISO 1200]

 

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Related posts:

Pentax To Release A Full Frame DSLR And Two Full Frame Zoom Lenses Full frame vs. crop sensor: is it really worth switching to full frame? Why are Full Frame cameras called “Full Frame”? The history behind the terminology Can you tell the difference between $5,500 full frame vs iPhone XS photos?

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Dynamic Range, Fake HDR, hdr, high dynamic range, iPhone, iPhone XR, smartphone camera, smartphone photography

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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