DSLR vs iPhone 17 Quality

[sacred gate]

I've been trying to learn to photo my minis better. I have an old canon EOS 70D, however when I take photos with that vs my iphone 17 camera I notice the iphone has much sharper photos, does anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong? I believe I have everything set up correctly on the canon: ISO 100, high aperture, long exposure, etc.

First pic is iphone 17, second is DSLR

[carmine scarab]

The lighting seems to be coming from a different source with your dslr, did you use the same light source from both? You also seem to have your exposure much higher on the dslr and perhaps too short of a shutter speed.

I would try using same light source for both, making sure NOT to use flash on dslr or iPhone, lower exposure on dslr and decrease aperture speed too, if possible use a tripod to keep the camera stable, as the longer the aperture speed, the more important it is to keep a steady lens.

Squidmar have a decent video on photographing minis worth watching maybe?

https://youtu.be/Z84kE8J-804?si=qo3UfxeoNcpnIZQ6

As with anything, practise makes perfect, play around with settings get to know your camera, and learn from others and you'll get it sorted in no time 🙂

[sacred gate]

Thanks, I did the DSLR the next day trying to recreate the same environment but it wasn't exact. I'll try messing with the settings you recommend

[carmine scarab]

I hope it helps! I'm new to the miniature world but have some experience with photographing objects, definitely worth watching that video though if you get a chance! The main man in it used to be a videographer and photographer I believe

[sacred gate]

I will!

[verbal hull]

The dslr photo is not in focus. If you’re confident the AF is right, move the camera back 1-2cm at a time and refocus, take another photo and do that until it’s right.

Also double check the aperture settings. Sometimes called F stop. For miniatures (I’m generalising now just to help troubleshoot so don’t come after me) try to sit within the 9-13 space. Experiment to see what works better

Lastly check the shutter speed. The slower, the more risk of movement so u less you have a tripod use a quicker setting and add more light to compensate

GL

[dark osprey]

Also the iphone app might use some post treatment without telling you (probably AI driven)

[safe imp]

The iPhone camera 100% does post-processing. I did a similar experiment with my DSLR (right) vs iPhone 16 Pro (left). Whilst it wasn’t an exact 1:1 for lighting, my phone was generally less flattering, possibly due to false sharpening. (I didn’t nail the focus in either of these pictures)

[chilly spindle]

You say “high aperture” what is that?
Most lenses will introduce diffraction above f/8-f/11 so ensure you’re not too high.
Diffraction means the lens can’t render a sharp image at all, regardless of focus.

Also make sure you’re not below the minimum focus distance of your lens. Many lenses have a much longer focus distance than a phone.
Try using this trick.
Set the lens to manual focus and adjust it to its closest setting.
Turn on live view and use the display zoom to zoom all the way in on the viewer.
Move back and forth until you find the sweet spot where the image is crisp.
Now you know your minimum focus distance.

I don’t think the iPhone photo is better. It’s just sharpened to all hell, exaggerating every stroke. If you look closely, there’s not actually any more detail.

[safe imp]

Usually, the lens has the minimum focusing distance written on it, it's on the focusing ring.

[sacred gate]

Thank you this is great advice, I'm new to camera stuff so I didnt know a lot of this. I'll experiment in the morning and see how it looks

I see what you mean about sharpening, I can't figure out how to disable it