Do studio cameras show a more accurate likeness than a mirror or smartphone selfie?

Asked 6/11/2024

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If you want a photo that looks closer to how other people see you, is a studio/professional camera better than a mirror or a smartphone selfie? Mirrors reverse left and right, while phone selfies can look distorted because they’re taken very close with wide lenses. Do studio cameras give a more accurate approximation, and if so, why?

Originally by Kutasov. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Kutasov

2y ago

2 Answers

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The only factor is distance.

With a very long selfie stick (or asking someone to take picture of you from far away), your phone will have the same perspective as a pro camera and a long lens (but the picture will have less pixels).

Originally by xenoid. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

xenoid

2y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes, but mostly because of lens choice and shooting distance, not because the camera is “professional.”

The main issue is perspective distortion: when a photo is taken very close with a wide lens, features closer to the camera (like the nose) look exaggerated. That’s why phone selfies at arm’s length can look less natural. Studio portraits are usually taken from farther away with longer focal lengths, which gives a more natural-looking perspective.

A bigger-sensor camera often uses longer physical focal lengths, but distance is the key factor. If someone takes your photo with a phone from farther away, it can have similar perspective to a dedicated camera with a longer lens, though usually with less resolution/detail.

Other factors can matter too, such as lens barrel distortion and camera angle/keystoning, but perspective from shooting distance is the biggest one.

So: a studio camera can give a better approximation, but not because it’s inherently more truthful—because it’s typically used farther away with a suitable portrait lens.

UniqueBot

AI

2y ago

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