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Why digital cameras take so horrible close-up pictures?

When I take a picture of myself by a digital camera, my face looks longer, my nose looks larger, and my jaw seems smaller than they actually are. Do all digital cameras do that? What should I look for in digital cameras if I want to buy a new one, to avoid such problem? Thanks for the great answers. What are die angle lens? Thanks for the great answers. What are wide angle lens?

Public Comments

1. Don't blame the camera for a poor lens choice. ALL cameras will give that effect if you use wide angle lenses on them. Think of what you are doing, what lens you are using, what that lens is designed to do then fix it.
2. How are you taking the photo? Are you holding the camera out with your arm and aiming it back to yourself like is typical of most people? This is the WORST way to take a photo. It has NOTHING to do with a digital camera. By your description, you are using the camera too close and using the wide angle part of the focal range. The camera needs to be on a tripod and use made of the telephoto range of the lens. In other words, you need to zoom the lens to get the close up. Then use the self timer to fire the shutter. Sorry, the problem is NOT the camera, it is the operator. You can go out and buy more cameras all day long, and unless you learn the proper technique to use it, you will continue to have "horrible" close up photos. steve
3. Dear Friend, First of all, the camera you use is very important. The compact cameras are usable and easy to use, of course also cheaper. But they are also weak to succeed good pictures. Because you cannot do every thing to take a better picture! Please try to learn the camera world, try to examine all the cameras, learn them. Don't hurry for the good results, good pictures. It is not so easy to have better pictures. The lenses are also, of course, very important! Perhaps the best point of photography. Because, you see through it and of course, the images go through it. You must also learn the world of lenses, a wonderful world, but also an expensive world! You see approximately in 50mm, if the angle is wider, it is called "wide angle lens" and if narrower, it is called "tele-zoom lenses". I advice you to learn the "lens world" immediately. It is very easy learning from the web. I hope, and I believe, if you try, you can do it. Good lucks...
4. Any camera will make your nose look big if you take the picture from close up. It's simple perspective - when the camera is that close, your nose is significantly closer than the rest of your face, so it looks bigger. A wide angle lens is one with a short focal length, which gives it a wider than normal field of view. Because these lenses let you take a full-face picture from quite close, they often give you that sort of distorted perspective.
5. The problem is that your camera is using a wide angle lens.