Originally Posted By: K447
The zoomed in clock face seems to have a 'wavy' appearance. Is that the way it looks in real life?
No.

That is an artifact introduced because the clock was photographed through a kilometer of hot, unstable air (temperature ~90F), plus additional distortion was introduced by using 4x digital zoom on top of the 24x optical zoom, so only three of the 12 megapixels of the sensor are actually used.

There is no doubt that a good DSLR with a 2400mm lens screwed onto the front of it would do better, but you'd still have to deal with the distortion in the air, and you'd have to find someplace to park the wheelbarrow you used to carry all those lenses. smile

BTW, it's surprising how much the zoomed image can be improved by a very quick (~30 second) edit with additional contrast and just a touch more color saturation. (see below) The atmospheric distortion remains, however.

Remember, that clock face is a full kilometer away, and is almost invisible to the unaided eye.

tanstaafl.


Attachments
ZoomEdited-W1200.jpg

Description: Low-resolution zoom, edited


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