Why I think mobile phone cameras are lousy.

[RogerS]

Two photos. One shot on a proper camera albeit less resolution. The other - on my Samsung. The digital artefacts added by the Samsung are unbelievable.

 

[TrimTheKing]

What do you expect mate? One is a tiny lens with a LOT of digital correction and processing, and the other is a massive lump of metal and glass! There's always going to be massive difference.

Now go and take the same photo outside in good light and the comparison will be markedly different. The 'proper' camera will still win, but not by anywhere near as much.

 

[Woodbloke]

I've given up taking a proper lump of a camera on holiday; the iPhone camera is so good these days it just isn't worth the aggravation of carting my Nikon around - Rob

 

[AJB Temple]

More to the point, who pinched the wine?

 

[Eric the Viking]

IMHO, it's sensor size and lens. It is amazing what those tiny cameras can actually do, however there's no substitute for a good lump of glass on a big sensor (on bright, sunny days):



Both the above were handheld and quite significant crops of the original frames, in two quite different locations (660 miles apart) . The camera is 24Mpx. I think I've over-sharpened the nest*, but in my defence I was having difficulty focusing as I didn't have time to get the monopod out and was leaning against a wobbly 'no parking' sign.

The adult in flight was taken with a 300 f/4, the nest with the same lens plus a 2x converter at f/9.

*there are two chicks, one right in front of the adult. I didn't have time to wait for it to stick its head up.

 

[Mike]

My daily carry bag for over seven years was 26 pounds of Nikon pro gear, a D3s, three f/2.8 zoom lenses from 14 to 200mm, SB900 speedlight, and accessories. If I needed a little more reach, I had the 300mm f/2.8, but it was nearly as cumbersome as the basic kit. After a while, I stopped using the Nikon kit and replaced it with a Sony A7II and a few prime lenses. The difference in weight was much appreciated. Now the Sony rarely sees the light of day and I use the iPhone 12.

 

[AndyP]

Oh an excuse to publish a pic.
I do not have the luxury of EV’s kit just a Panasonic Bridge but I wouldn’t be without it at home nor on holiday. I did find a tripod and monopod but can’t get used to carrying it around so this was hand held from about 50m away.

 

[akirk]

I have just ordered the iPhone 16 Pro for the cameras on it - when I bought the iPhone 12 the cameras were good enough to mean that I rarely carried my pro kit (like others - Nikon D3 family and all the lenses). The one thing I missed was the optical zoom, hence the 16Pro with 5x optical lens.

I have also recently bought a new drone - the quality on that (esp. considering the size of the lens) is phenomenal - 48Mb with ability to shoot in RAW - 4k video / etc. All of this including the drone in less than 250g of weight.

 

[Mike G]

I don't, as the Americans might say, have a dog in this fight, being as I don't have a 'phone. However, the one thing I have noticed they are really good at is for wide-angled photos inside something, such as a small room, or a boat. To get the equivalent with a camera you would need a specialist lens, Further, with the ability of some phones to see a screen on the lens side of the body, rather on the opposite side, one could hold a phone flat to the wall in the corner of a small space and therefore get the maximum amount of the subject into the frame.

 

[thetyreman]

even my old canon eos 5D mk1 is still better in my opinion than the very latest i-phone camera's, this is 19 year old technology, because I use a Zeiss Planar T* lens on it, there is no comparison, but the phones are getting better all the time.

 

[Pete Maddex]

Did some one say photos

Agapanthus by Pete Maddex, on Flickr

Spiral steps by Pete Maddex, on Flickr

One on a Iphone 12 one with a Nikon d850 and 105mm mcaro lens.

Pete

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

I have also recently bought a new drone - the quality on that (esp. considering the size of the lens) is phenomenal - 48Mb with ability to shoot in RAW - 4k video / etc. All of this including the drone in less than 250g of weight.

May I please ask which you bought? I'm thinking of buying one to possibly replace my Canon EOS.

 

[Raymedullary]

Whenever I hear the "phone cameras are as good or better than DSLR" thing My response is....
when was the last time you printed your photos and then, when was the last
time you printed them bigger than an enprint and framed them?
(or do you just look at them on a tiny backlit screen?)
I do use a phone camera as much as anyone else for quick reference.
I like to shoot in RAW with a Nikon DSLR, ok its a thing to carry but thats all part of the process.

 

[RogerS]

Whenever I hear the "phone cameras are as good or better than DSLR" thing My response is....
when was the last time you printed your photos and then, when was the last
time you printed them bigger than an enprint and framed them?
(or do you just look at them on a tiny backlit screen?)
I do use a phone camera as much as anyone else for quick reference.
I like to shoot in RAW with a Nikon DSLR, ok its a thing to carry but thats all part of the process.

I've never printed any of my photos - camera or phone !

 

[Lons]

I have a very humble Canon 450D with several lenses but rarely used these days. It's not so long ago I used to haul it around on holidays and I blended in with the hundreds of other tourists with similar sized SLRs around their necks. These days those carying a large camera are scarce enough to be notable.

 

[Eric the Viking]

I love the extra stability of a monopod, but to be honest the huge lumps of glass of the dedicated wildlife photographers are way too much for my pocket. My 300 is a good compromise, and since a 2x works with the body I have, that must be sufficient.

I recently changed out said camera body for mirrorless, and I'm struggling to get used to a raft of extra complexity.

I only have four lenses now: a 300 f/4 prime (old Canon EF), a 24-105mm f/4 (standard range zoom), an 85 f/1.8 (old Canon EF), and a quirky Laowa 15mm f/2 fully manual lens, which I really enjoy using but is a bit of a PITA for 360VR panoramas: it might well be their claimed "zero distortion" but it has a lot of chromatic aberration (and only a 5-bladed diaphragm, grrr!). Still, it makes me smile when I get nice results from it.

Very occasionally I use an ancient Pentax 50mm f/4 macro lens, which I guess will now be Pentax K --> EF, and then EF --> to RF! Otherwise it's an extension tube on the 24-105, which works, as long as you remember to keep fingers well away from the zoom ring.

I've also recently gone back to using one of these:

As Canon's very clever but rather over-complex metering in the camera has been rather annoying. Ditto the autofocus system, although there's no easy fix for that one!

P.S.That Sekonic Studio Deluxe is still available new. I bought mine around 1982. Looking for a pic of it online, I found the current Amazon page and was delighted to discover that, "customers like the long battery life." Indeed! Mine has never, ever needed a battery change in all that time...

 

[akirk]

May I please ask which you bought? I'm thinking of buying one to possibly replace my Canon EOS.

DJI Mini Pro 4 - seems to be the pinnacle of sub 250g (makes a huge difference to being able to fly it) / reasonable cost (sub £1,000 v. well over) / good features and quality... You can buy drones with Hassleblads attached, but the cost is prohibitive...

Not entirely sure though that I would see it as a replacement for a DSLR - aerial perspectives give a very different view, but it is not ideal for photographing other than that...

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

DJI Mini Pro 4 Not entirely sure though that I would see it as a replacement for a DSLR - aerial perspectives give a very different view, but it is not ideal for photographing other than that...

Thanks Alasdair. I - with age and a wonky knee - find hiking with heavy gear increasingly troublesome, especially on descents. I was considering a lightweight drone to enable me to reach better viewpoints on ridges etc. I subsequently realised this was indeed not a replacement for my Canon, as my other 'vice' is macrophotography, but perhaps an augmentation? That DJI family has a good history and Huge Toob is well provided with commentary on them; thanks again. Sam.

 

[akirk]

Thanks Alasdair. I - with age and a wonky knee - find hiking with heavy gear increasingly troublesome, especially on descents. I was considering a lightweight drone to enable me to reach better viewpoints on ridges etc. I subsequently realised this was indeed not a replacement for my Canon, as my other 'vice' is macrophotography, but perhaps an augmentation? That DJI family has a good history and Huge Toob is well provided with commentary on them; thanks again. Sam.

Try this forum for good advice - there may be someone near you who will show you / let you try it first...

Grey Arrows Drone Club UK

Grey Arrows Drone Club is a dedicated flying association for drone enthusiasts. Join our thriving community, expand your skills, and fly with peace of mind covered by our £5,000,000 Public Liability Insurance.

greyarro.ws

There is a lot of legislation around drones, but be sensible and they are awesome...

 

[RogerS]

.....
There is a lot of legislation around drones, ...

How true! We are close to an RAF base and when the photographer came to take the photos and drone shots for the estate agent brochure, when he powered up the drone it gave him a stern warning !

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Thats a great resource; thanks Alaisdair.