Latest Iphone or Sony DSC WX80. Which one takes better pictures?

Latest Iphone or Sony DSC WX80. Which one takes better pictures? - 1

Depends on the person behind them?

Considering that the camera module in the latest iPhone costs about $8, it's not capable of even competing with a real camera.

You're making a common mistake which is to only think about the "image quality" as opposed to the overall capabilities. The iPhone doesn't have a real flash, instead it has an LED which is nothing like using a real flash. The iPhone has a fixed wide-angle lens, but the WX80 has a nice zoom lens that allows you to capture a lot more different types of shots. Because you can increase the focal length, the WX80 is far better for distant subjects, and it's also superior for taking portraits of friends and family. With an iPhone's wide-angle lens, you get a lot of wide-angle distortion that makes people look ugly. Using the zoom on the WX80, you can eliminate all of that distortion. In fact, using a longer focal length flattens the facial features making people actually look more attractive than they do in real life.

With a real camera you have a lot more control than you do with a smartphone. For example, you can't adjust the ISO on an iphone. If it wants to use a high ISO and get super noisy shots, then you will have to just live with it. Digital cameras like the WX80 provide you with the ability to choose what ISO to shoot at. They have longer shutter speeds, an actual aperture, a higher-quality coat optical lens.

Using an smartphone limits what you can take and what you can do well. A real camera, even an inexpensive one like the WX80, provide much more control over the image making process.