Do cameras give the true image or are they distorted?

When you take a picture and that picture (one the iPhone anyway) is flipped I that how you actually look or is it a false/inverted image?

Cameras can give you a true representation of what you see, but phones can't.

Smartphones have wide angle lenses. Wide angle lenses cause wide angle distortion. If you hand hold the phone camera too close to your face then the distortion will be worse.

Most real cameras on the other hand have optical zoom (unlike an iPhone), which means you can zoom in to frame a shot, so you are not limited to using a wide angle lenses which distort faces. The subject must be at least 2 metres or more from the subject.

Whether your phone is one of those which flips the image after it has been taken is irrelevant. It's easy to flip the image the right way round using an photo editing app, or image editing software on a computer. The most current iOS version automatically flips the photo to the correct orientation with the self facing camera. Here's a little trick you can do. Take a selfie with your hand over your right eye. Before you take the picture note where your hand is located. Then after the picture realize that your hand is now located on the other side. Now look at a mirror and face your iPhone screen with your photo facing the mirror. Now place your hand on your right eye again and see how the image corresponds. They give a true representation within the laws of optics. The laws of optics say that if you use a camera with a wide-angle lens, such as in a compact or a phone camera, and you hold the camera close to the face, you will get an enormous nose and a strange-looking face. For good portraits you need to use a slightly long lens zoom setting, about 70mm to 90mm "equivalent".

What you see in a mirror is indeed "flipped" compared with how a camera or another person sees you. Cameras never depict the exact image as it is that is why the very best photographers strive to make the photographs look better than real life.

If you're still into cameras vs. Mirrors, flipped, inverted or not, and all about how you look, just outgrow it fast. There's too much to do to waste your time on this nonsense.

The most current iOS version automatically flips the photo to the correct orientation with the self facing camera. Here's a little trick you can do. Take a selfie with your hand over your right eye. Before you take the picture note where your hand is located. Then after the picture realize that your hand is now located on the other side. Now look at a mirror and face your iPhone screen with your photo facing the mirror. Now place your hand on your right eye again and see how the image corresponds.

They give a true representation within the laws of optics. The laws of optics say that if you use a camera with a wide-angle lens, such as in a compact or a phone camera, and you hold the camera close to the face, you will get an enormous nose and a strange-looking face. For good portraits you need to use a slightly long lens zoom setting, about 70mm to 90mm "equivalent".

What you see in a mirror is indeed "flipped" compared with how a camera or another person sees you.

Cameras never depict the exact image as it is that is why the very best photographers strive to make the photographs look better than real life.

If you're still into cameras vs. Mirrors, flipped, inverted or not, and all about how you look, just outgrow it fast. There's too much to do to waste your time on this nonsense.