Why are photo's always fuzzy?

[Widder, SASS #59054]

The photo of the 'suspect' in the Charlie Kirk shooting is a bad photo.

 

Why is it that when Ms.Hollywood starlet is walking on the beach in a bikini and her new beau about 200-300 away, every detail of the

couple can be clearly seen in photo's..... including any engagement ring or necklace they might be wearing.

 

BUT, suspects in killings and UFO's are always fuzzy.     Something ain't right!

 

..........Widder

 

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

cheap cameras with low quality lens.

 

[WD Farren]

There is a huge difference between a Nikon D850 (or similar) vs a cell phone in low-res jpeg mode.
Both are superior to cheap video security cameras.

 

I shoot a whole lot with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
I run it in RAW mode which bypasses the iPhone jpeg processing, plus delivers a full high-res image.
This DNG image type requires processing to bring out its full potential, but it is MUCH sharper than the default JPEG type.

Edited September 11 by WD Farren

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

28 minutes ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

cheap cameras with low quality lens.

Not to mention that security camera tend to be mounted up high out of the way of both less than observant people, (most of them), and anybody trying to damage them. 

Several years ago my former employer was broken into on a Saturday night. All caught on camera. If those HATS had ever walked in again, they'd be instantly recognizable. The faces under them, not so much. 

As for the ever damnable cell phone camera, people are great at taking selfies with them, or other posed pictures, but most can't film worth a darn. That takes work and thought, both of which which most of these people lack.

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 hour ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

cheap cameras with low quality lens.

 

 

That are never cleaned.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Pictures of bad guys were never planned ahead of time.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Kind of like photos from Mars, fourteen light-minutes from here, come out with crystal clarity ...
A bank surveillance photo, on the other hand, looks as low grade and fuzzy as Widder correctly observes.

[Rip Snorter]

7 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

That are never cleaned.

Think of the backup camera on a vehicle.  Likely cleaned more often than a security camera lens.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Just yesterday I had a pro photographer take a couple of simple pictures for a special project simply because my kerosene powered flip phone couldn't get a recognizable image.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

5 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Just yesterday I had a pro photographer take a couple of simple pictures for a special project simply because my kerosene powered flip phone couldn't get a recognizable image.

My flip phone does the same thing. I've still got a stand alone digital camera for that. 

[Texas Joker]

When is the last time the security cameras in your business were changed out? I worked at a place for 11 years that had a DVR coaxial based security camera system. I started in 07. As far as I know the bubble covers were cleaned once after we got robbed cause the picture was unusable. Never ever considered upgrading the cameras. I was one of the people who used it and it never occurred to me to suggest it.

[Rye Miles #13621]

10 hours ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

Kind of like photos from Mars, fourteen light-minutes from here, come out with crystal clarity ...
A bank surveillance photo, on the other hand, looks as low grade and fuzzy as Widder correctly observes.

The photos from Mars are taken with the best cameras we have. Surveillance cameras are cheap and like Joe said dirty and never cleaned. 

[Pat Riot]

Quite often surveillance images have been blown up or expanded thus “pixelating” them making them appear blurry. 
 

 

14 hours ago, WD Farren said:

There is a huge difference between a Nikon D850 (or similar) vs a cell phone in low-res jpeg mode.
Both are superior to cheap video security cameras.

 

I shoot a whole lot with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
I run it in RAW mode which bypasses the iPhone jpeg processing, plus delivers a full high-res image.
This DNG image type requires processing to bring out its full potential, but it is MUCH sharper than the default JPEG type.

Do RAW images take up more memory when stored?

I have the exact same phone. Evening, low light or night images just plain suck on my camera / phone. 
 

[PowderRiverCowboy]

This looks better I volunteer for the being the shooter at a firing squad  but make sure I have more than one round i wont be placing kill shots i want him to feel the blood drain from his body

 

[Cypress Sun]

1 minute ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

This looks better I volunteer for the being the shooter at a firing squad  but make sure I have more than one round i wont be placing kill shots i want him to feel the blood drain from his body

 

 

I hope that you are young right now. It'll probably be 2 years before a trial and 30 years before sentence is carried out (if ever) after appeals and such. That, of course, is only if he IS the right assassin AND he is convicted AND if he is sentenced to death AND if Conservatives still control the government.

 

Hate to be a downer, but that's the way I see it.

[Eyesa Horg]

Wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally falls out a window.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

24 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

I hope that you are young right now. It'll probably be 2 years before a trial and 30 years before sentence is carried out (if ever) after appeals and such. That, of course, is only if he IS the right assassin AND he is convicted AND if he is sentenced to death AND if Conservatives still control the government.

 

Hate to be a downer, but that's the way I see it.

 

LOL always gotta be one in the group, and I agree .

I would really hope this guy and feds have all the dots connected as far as weapon etc. and he confesses as to why. I don't have 30 years to wait (I hope) and well that's what's wrong with our justice system 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

41 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally falls out a window.

ФСБ?   (FSB?)

Edited September 12 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Stump Water]

1 hour ago, Pat Riot said:

Do RAW images take up more memory when stored?

 

Yes.  Significantly.

 

Also be aware that RAW files are not standardized, so everyone has their own "format".  

 

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/raw-vs-jpeg.html

 

[Pat Riot]

25 minutes ago, Stump Water said:

 

Yes.  Significantly.

 

Also be aware that RAW files are not standardized, so everyone has their own "format".  

 

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/raw-vs-jpeg.html

 

Thank you

[Cypress Sun]

1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally falls out a window.

 

A transfer between prisons on an airplane with a stop in Russia?

[Utah Bob #35998]

Security cameras are seldom made by Nikon.

[Pat Riot]

I can’t believe I am saying this, but this USA Today article appears nicely done and well researched. 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/09/12/what-we-know-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect/86091474007/

 

Remember these words? “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

 

It seems this guy has issue with the Italians of the 1930’s and early 1940’s. 
He sounds typical of these “enlightened” individuals that act more like fascists than the old fascists did. 

[WD Farren]

iPhone RAW images are in the DNG file format.
RawTherapee is my freebie choice of processor.

 

Yes, they are 300 dots per inch in size, vs 72 DPI for iPhone jpg photos.

So, take up much more space.

 

I shoot hundreds of RAW when I do an event.
Typically five or more for each group shot.

 

If shot #3 is perfect except somebody has their eyes closed, I go to #4 shot and pick up their eyes with Photoshop, then paste into #3 money shot.

 

RAW images are not processed, by definition.
They look washed out and bland by themselves.
RawThereapee offers batch processing to add some life.

My Photoshop CS6EE cannot process these, so I have to convert to TIF.
I use R.T. to convert DNG to TIF.
Then use Perfectly Clear plugin in Photoshop to bring up the colors and magic.

In short, RAW is a lot of work, but necessary for events, especially of women (I retouch them all).

I also shoot RAW in my Nikon D850 which is a whole lot better image than iPhone RAW.

But the phone is SO easy to carry.
The telephoto of the three lens PRO group gets the most use.
 

Edited September 12 by WD Farren

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Phone cameras are just not that good.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

58 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Phone cameras are just not that good.

I quit using my digital camera and only use my iPhone camera now and the photos are really a lot better.

[WD Farren]

The iPhone RAW mode is acceptable for event work.  The default JPG is useful for quickie Facebook or other snapshot work.

 

Outdoors with sufficient light gives quite good results with RAW.

 

You can put iPhone on a tripod and use the Reflex app to manually improve image quality in low light by lowering the ISO which lengthens the exposure time.

[Rye Miles #13621]

4 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

I can’t believe I am saying this, but this USA Today article appears nicely done and well researched. 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/09/12/what-we-know-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect/86091474007/

 

Remember these words? “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

 

It seems this guy has issue with the Italians of the 1930’s and early 1940’s. 
He sounds typical of these “enlightened” individuals that act more like fascists than the old fascists did. 

That’s why he inscribed, Bella Ciao” on the casing. It means Goodbye beautiful!🙄

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Back in the 80's, banks and convenience stores had security cameras that recorded to VHS tape.  They usually had one tape for each day.  The Friday tape was used every Friday until it broke.  Those images were so bad that it was hard to tell the race of the person standing in front of the camera.  The digital security cameras today are light years ahead of what we had to work with in the past.  

[Eyesa Horg]

2 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

Back in the 80's, banks and convenience stores had security cameras that recorded to VHS tape.  They usually had one tape for each day.  The Friday tape was used every Friday until it broke.  Those images were so bad that it was hard to tell the race of the person standing in front of the camera.  The digital security cameras today are light years ahead of what we had to work with in the past.  

They still are! You see the video on the news all the time! " If you recognize this guy..." Always looks like they are in a  black and white snow storm!

[WD Farren]

Here in CA, we have high resolution, crystal-clear images of thieves faces and license plates.
Cops aren't interested at all.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 hours ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said:

I quit using my digital camera and only use my iPhone camera now and the photos are really a lot better.

Try printing an 8x10.

[Sedalia Dave]

14 hours ago, WD Farren said:

Here in CA, we have high resolution, crystal-clear images of thieves faces and license plates.
Cops aren't interested at all.

 Sadly, it’s not just the PRoK. 

[WD Farren]

True.
Every bad idea for America usually crawls out of the cesspools of CA or NY first.

[Pat Riot]

My last job was the latest new light rail system in Los Angeles. We had a very good video CCTV system installed in the yard and indoors at the entrance / exit doors. The system would store video for 7 days on premises before the video was transferred to an offsite server to be kept for an extended time. 
The system was installed in 2018.

By the time  left in 2022 half of the camera covers were so filthy you could not make out any details in the video. 
Between Facilities Maintenance, IT ( information technology), the Custodial Department, Radio & Telecommunications and the Amalgamated Transit Union no one would clean the damn lenses because it became an in-house fight over whose job it was or wasn’t.  
Upper Management, the weak minded d’bags that infested that organization, would not make a decision - just one of the many reasons I left 3 years ahead of my planned retirement. 
We had an intruder come o yo the property and damage equipment and steal tools and personal items. Somehow this thief managed to evade the cameras that were not inhibited by dirt and filth on the camera covers. 
There was a lot of blather and chest thumping and nothing happened, yet everyday I was questioned as to the progress of the case. 
I became very rude and belligerent on the issue and the mental midgets I had as management left me alone. Probably so I wouldn’t disrupt their rainbow-bright days. 
 

Many businesses and government agencies brag about their high tech surveillance but never fund the proper maintenance and upkeep of those things because “it should be perfect! It’s high tech!”. But all it takes to ruin a high tech system is a lack of performing the low tech job of cleaning.