Advice for Dating. Which camera makes you more attractive online?

August 31, 2010

Be sure to tune in to Daytime on Tuesday, August 31 when I’ll be talking about Whether or not your camera might be making you less attractive to online daters

Advice for Dating: camera phone = plain jane

One of my favorite sites for interesting little dating tidbits, OKCupid.com recently analyzed about half a million pictures to find out which cameras make you look more attractive, and which ones can actually make you uglier to your fellow online daters.

What types of cameras make you less attractive?

Generally speaking, the cheaper the camera, the uglier you’ll look. Camera phones are the worst, followed by point and shoot. If you really want to look great on film, you’ll need a camera with all the bells and whistles — specifically those with a lot of cool settings and interchangeable lenses.

In terms of attractiveness, the Motorola & Windows phones were the most likely to make you look unattractive. On the flip side, the camera phones that make you look the most attractive are the iPhone and the Sidekick.

Moving on to the point and shoot variety — the Kodak Easyshare rated worse than even most camera phones, while the Leica Point N Shoot actually scored higher than most of the fancy cameras.

The best camera for making you look attractive? The Panasonic Micro 4/3s.

Why is using a flash a bad idea?

According to the study, the flash adds 7 years (softer light hides all sorts of nasty imperfections, which is why it’s always a good idea to use pink light bulbs at home if you’re bringing dates back.) According to the folks at OKCupid, “a 28-year old who used a flash is as attractive as a 35-year old who didn’t.”

Direct flash seems to be the main culprit — this does not apply where light is diffused, or lit by a professional.

How does the time of day that the photo is snapped make you more attractive?

Late afternoon is best, followed by late night. Probably the fact that late afternoon has the prettiest light.

What’s the one setting on your camera that can make you better looking?

Hell-o f stop. The best photos have a shallow depth of field, which means that the subject (you) is crisp and clear, while the background and foreground are all blurred out. The lower the f number on your camera setting, (f/1.4 for instance) the shallower the depth of field.

What did the study find out about the Apple iPhone?
I thought this was hilarious: iPhone users have more sex partners than Blackberry users and Android users — in fact, women who use iPhones tend to have twice as many sex partners as female Android users. It’s less dramatic for men, but still true. Maybe there’s some correlation between robots, Star Wars references, and less sex. Just saying.

XO,

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Need Advice for Dating? Dating Coach and Relationships Expert Lisa Daily is the bestselling author of two dating books, Stop Getting Dumped!, How to Date Like a Grownup and the totally funny novel Fifteen Minutes of Shame. You???ve seen her everywhere from Entertainment Tonight to the HITCH movie DVD.