Unfair Camera Comparison

I now have in my possession three reasonably good cameras. These are the Gopro Hero 4 Black, the Sony HX400V, and the iPhone 5S. These are completely different cameras, with completely different uses. The iPhone is great because I always have it with me, the HX400V is great because it has amazing zoom capabilities, and the Gopro is great for taking places where no other camera its price can go.

So I am making an unfair comparison of the three. I tried to take the best photo I could of several scenes with them:

First, the fairest comparison I will make. This is some flowers a few feet away from the camera:

iPhone 5s:

Sony HX400V

Gopro Hero 4 Black:

For this shot, they all performed acceptably. Had I spent enough time, any of the three could have done a nice job. The colors were a lot better in the HX400V though.

Next to a couple Macro shots:


iPhone 5S:

Sony HX400V:

Gopro Hero 4 Black :

When looking just at the bug, I am not sure the iPhone didn't do better at that shot. However the overall photo once again is nicer on the HX400V. One thing is clear though, the Gopro can't do macro shots. This theme is repeated in the next two macro attempts

iPhone 5S:

Sony HX400V:

Gopro Hero 4 Black :

iPhone 5S:

Sony HX400V:

Gopro Hero 4 Black :

This was an unscientific comparison. I count the hits, and ignore the misses. The Sony HX400V missed a lot more shots entirely than the iPhone. The ease of changing focus was just so much easier on the iPhone. However, when the focus is right, the HX400V blows the iPhone out of the water.

Now for a slightly more fair comparison, a picture of something farther away, but not zoomed in on.


iPhone 5S:

Sony HX400V:

Gopro Hero 4 Black :

Here, they all performed acceptably. What if I just cared about the palm tree though? That is what the HX400V is all about:

10X:

100X:

That was without a tripod! It doesn't always match the above series, but the image stabilization on the HX400V is fantastic.