LG G5 Camera Review Part II: Trip To Mt. Rushmore

This past weekend my family and I traveled to Mt Rushmore – I brought the LG G5 along for the trip to shoot some photos. What you're about to see is a set of photos captured with the LG G5's primary camera as well as its wide-angle-lens camera, both using the LG G5's standard camera app. Note that these photos were not captured with any LG Friends accessories, just the basic camera. Also keep an eye out for the photos captured not by me, but by a 4-year-old, inexperienced photographer. You'll find the results interesting, I assure you.

The first could of photos you're going to see here show the environment we were in and the lighting conditions we had. They were both spectacular. When it comes to taking nice photos outdoors, the weather conditions are a massive bit of the battle – so keep that in mind. If our goal was to take naturally good-looking photos, we had a bit of an advantage.

You should be able to fairly easily tell the difference between the standard LG G5 camera lens and the wide-angle lens in the photos above and below. Most of the time we used the standard lens, but occasionally a grand scene provided opportunity for the LG G5 to flex its unique set of muscles.

Flags along the path to the landmark viewing spot at Mount Rushmore represent the 50 United States. Here we've photographed North Dakota.

To the left is the full-frame photo. To the right is a cropped bit of the full photo.

As it is in the hero image of this article, this photo shows the flags on the path to the viewing spot, and the carvings of four American presidents on the mountain.

Next you'll see a fire hydrant amongst a bit of grass and rocks. This is how a lot of South Dakota is – mostly wildlife with the occasional bit of safety precaution for human beings.

This is Mount Rushmore in all its glory. The landmark viewing platform is granite, and this photo was taken right at the edge with the LG G5's wide-angle lens.

The photo you see below was taken at full zoom. Here you'll start to see why you might want to be using a DSLR camera on one hand, if you're going to be printing at full-size.

On the other hand, a photo you'll take with your phone won't generally be shared anywhere other than a social network – at this size, on a smartphone, a photo like this, above, looks pretty great.

The following five photos were captured in the tiny town you'll find along the road to the monument.

This town has a collection of signs painted in colors so distracting, you'll scarcely be able to keep your eyes on the very precarious path you're on up the mountain.

It's madness.

The photo you see above was captured by a 4-year-old. The gallery below also contains photos captured by a 4-year-old. Concentrate not on the content of the photos, but on how sharp they all are. This isn't the work of a person who carries or even operates a camera or smartphone on a regular basis.

If a 4-year-old can capture photos this sharp, so can your mom or dad.

Next we headed to Deadwood. It's a tiny town in which many an ol' West gunman was shot down. We're here in the off-season, so you'll not see too many people milling about. This is great for us, since we just wanted to capture the town's bones anyway.

Deadwood sits in a valley with very high sides.

The sky was blue.

The trees were dead. Some of the trees were dead. Mostly the trees closer to the floor of the valley. All the evergreens were fine.

Behold the deep tones we're able to capture even in the least friendly of lighting situations. Inside a soda shop with the bright sun shining.

On our way back to our home in North Dakota, we happened upon a rather curious sculpture on a hill.

Below is a zoom of the same photo you see above.

It's a visual pun. Buffalo Chip.

Also a campground near Sturgis.

We also saw an abundance of cows. We stopped to say hello to a heard, and this friendly ma'am stopped chewing on grass just long enough to stick her tongue out at us.

Above is the standard LG G5 camera view, and below is the wide-angle lens view.

We also stopped by a church to let the dog out along the way. This was an abandoned establishment – but not especially old.

Bathed in maximum sunlight as we traveled home in the afternoon it made an OK subject to snap.

Again we're showing the difference between the standard camera and the wide-angle lens on this device. First is the church's sign up close, with the standard lens.

Then the same view, this time with the camera angled up JUST a bit with the wide-angle lens. That's the whole church instead of just half of it.

Finally we've got the border between South Dakota and North Dakota. Notice the strange blur going on in the upper bit of the photo – we weren't going over the speed limit. Promise!

Focus was just (accidentally) set on the dash of the car instead of the road change ahead. Oh well!

Stick around SlashGear's LG G5 tag portal for more information on the device as our extended REVIEW process continues!

SEE: LG G5 Camera Review Part I: VS Galaxy S7!