Things you can't do with a mobile phone

This is the MV James R Barker, a 306-meter (1,004-foot) bulk carrier steaming south on Lake Michigan:

I took that photo about 10 minutes ago from my bedroom window after noticing the ship on the horizon and wondering how big it was*. The ship was at 41.9871°N, 87.2382°W, which is 34.2 km (21.4 mi) away bearing 085°:

I forgot just how amazing my Canon 70-300 f/4.5 L-IS lens is. Physics is physics; you can't digitally enhance the image from even the best phone camera because a 5 mm lens is still a 5 mm lens and can only acquire so much data. As Tom May explains, "if you jump up from 48MP to 60MP, but the phone has the same size lens, all you're really doing is dividing the same picture into a few million more pieces."

Also, by pure coincidence, the Baker was launched 50 years ago Friday. Happy birthday, you old lug!

• Fun fact: The Barker is so big that it's one of 14 ships currently sailing the Great Lakes that won't fit into the Welland Canal, so it will never leave Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie.