Who uses a phone?

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Tjm2986

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Terry
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I hate to admit it as I am very very anti smartphone photography but my phone (google pixel 3a) absolutely trounces both my panasonic lumix tz90 and canon Ixus 185 when it comes to point and shoot capabilites. I feel like I am cheating when I use my phone does anyone else feel this way? Reason I am asking is I am thinking of ditching both my compacts and just carrying my phone and my DSLR with me from now on.
 
I find phones are only any good on a sunny day.

When ISO goes up they suffer greatly from their tiny sensor.

Plus i use manual modes on a camera even if it slows me down, i always forced myself to not point and shoot like a regular 10 year old
 
I don't use it for 'serious' photography no. More snapshots or Instagram stories & the like.

I'd certainly rather upgrade my phone to a good camera one than buy or use a compact though.

*Not that I can remember the last time I used or owned a 'compact' camera.
 
I am always pleasantly surprised that phones in general take fairly good pictures and happy to leave it like that. It's another useful tool when required.
 
Mobile phone cameras aren’t suitable for all types of photography, but the current ones are surprisingly good, especially as has been mentioned, in good light, but they’re getting better in low light as well. If you’re a pixel peeper or do massive prints on a regular basis then you might be a bit disappointed but for everyone else they’re fine.

As an aside, I have a 15x10 photograph taken on my iPhone 11 in my current exhibition, alongside images off full frame Nikon’s. At that size it’s surprisingly hard to tell the difference.

A camera on a phone is still a camera!
 
I see no problem using a mobile phone, why would you? As has been said it is still a camera.
 
A few thoughts...

I'll never understand the squeamishness around cameras that can also make a phone call, a camera is a camera is a camera, some have larger sensors and interchangeable lenses others don't.

"Phone" is a very wide ranging term, there is a huge difference between the camera on a 3 year old £150 phone and a £1000 latest model iPhone or Samsung etc. and people's use of a camera phone is likely to be influenced by what they have.

At least one person has been awarded an FRPS distinction for a panel of camera phone images.
 
I was carrying my Sony A6000 around with the 50mm lens practically glued to the front. Then I got an iPhone XS which has 52mm and 26mm lenses, so I started using that. There are a few kinds of photo that look better with the Sony, and it has a higher pixel count than the iPhone, but that phone is so much lighter!
 
Rarely, maybe because the camera on my phone isn't great even in good light, any old compact camera would annihilate it. But even the higher end camera phones never really impress me, if you look close they always have that soft/smudged look about the images, especially in lower light. The software on phones for the camera tends to be very aggressive on sharpening and NR. I have seen images shot by wedding and portrait photographers using phone cams, and they were decent because pro's will get the best out of any given gear. But couldn't help thinking the same images would be better again if they used larger sensor cameras.
 
It may be a "phone" but it is also a camera, albeit one that's integrated into a device that does a hundred other things. Cameras on higher spec mobile devices these days are pretty decent. My iPhone XR takes great pictures without me having to think overly about settings, (especially in good light as pointed out by previous poster). The advantage to me is that I always have my phone with me - it's rarely out of my reach.
Clearly doesn't stack up against the stuff many of you serious enthusiasts/professionals can do with an DSLR/mirrorless, but for quick, instantly available shots it'll do me....
 
I wouldn’t really be happy printing phone images. Fine for social media and viewing on screens, but I always shoot with the hope that the images will be worthy of printing (even if I never do). My camera is fairly old now - an iPhone 8, so not really old, but a good 3 generations older than a current smart phone. It really falls down in challenging conditions like low light or high DR. It’s good for ‘inner landscapes’ or ‘details’ type images.
 
I don’t like using my phone camera however I suspect it’s far better quality than many of the cameras used by the likes of Henri Cartier Breson et al whose images helped to define photography and will leave far more of a mark on this world than a Nikon D850 so....
 
My wife...and pretty much everyone in my family. Think only two people use an actual camera now. Most of what they take are snaps to share with friends/family directly or on some social media. The speed of real life to facebook is that much faster with a phone!

Like the cliche, the best camera is often the one you have with you, and for most of us, our phone is always with us.
 
I ordered a print a little while ago, this was for a canvas print of our dog. A relative asked me to order one of their dog also. I submitted both our photos to the printers. The printer said he could only print my photo at the dimensions that I had asked for, but the other photo belonging to a relative should be printed at a much smaller dimension, the printer said.

The reason for this, was because the photo belonging to my relative, was taken on their phone, and our photo had been taken on a basic Canon ixus compact. Most images taken with a phone, look good on a phone. But if you tried to print a phone image a little larger, it usually looks blocky and pixelated, mushy.
 
Mine falls apart almost instantly when there's not strong light.

Obviously I do still use it, as I don't carry my camera everywhere I go, whereas my phone I do. I would suspect phone cameras have produced a far greater number of memorable images over a camera, for a general user like me, for that exact reason! More moments are captured! Whether they're good quality or not!

One thing I'd say about phone cameras is the extreme filters people put on. Bringing down the highlights so much every image with clouds look like a fantasy movie and so on. Or the fake bokeh! Urgh!
 
fujilover said:
Plus i use manual modes on a camera even if it slows me down, i always forced myself to not point and shoot like a regular 10 year old
Click to expand...

You might find your camera phone allows for manual control if you hunt it down in the settings. If not, you'll likely be able to download a different camera app which gives you the manual control. I've got one on my phone. Thought I'd mention it in case you didn't know.

Cheers
 
I have a Note 9 Samsung and it does ok in reasonable light, I prefer a camera though and my X100V gets used more for images
 
I have the Samsung Galaxy S20 plus- an amazing low light camera, however: I did not buy this phone to take photographs, I have my Sony a7Riv & Sony a7Riii for that purpose:)


Les
 
I have an iphone X S max or something, if the subject is back lit in anyway it just flares terribly and loses contrast.

My camera would have made short work of this, but the iphone shot is just poor.. maybe I just don't know how to use a phone camera, it never takes the image that I see :D

119169265_10164472596495227_35717775073781909_n.jpg

not edited, just pulled out of my photo library (it also lost some sharpness/quality going through facebook app to retrieve image)
 
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when I'm out walking the dog I never take my 750 out, just too big and cumbersome, and playing with an energetic dog with a DSLR in one hand or over your shoulder is a nightmare. But, my iPhone XS is always with me and a quick reach to my back pocket, grab phone and get the shot in a few seconds, which I just could not do with the 750, so my answer is yes I do but only in certain circumstances.
 
My galaxy s5 got me into photography a few years ago. I've currently got an s7 which I like for landscape but that's about it. It's easier to carry around when heading up mountain areas too.
 
I will only use phone if I need to pass on some information very quickly over messages; nothing for creative use. It really doesn't compete. I tried to play with Lightroom mobile DNG to just to be sure and apart from having some reasonable sharpness it totally fell apart for noise, DR and color.

I think there are some new ultra premium models with 1 inch sensor. I think Smagung and Xiaomi? These one might have a chance at reasonable daylight snap if they didn't try to pretend to one up 100MP medium backs.
 
I find my phone's camera is fine for standard type shots but no match for a good compact/bridge camera when it comes to zoom... and as for flash, it's beaten hands down by my old Sony compact and my 11 year old Fuji Finepix bridge camera (£16 from a charity shop last year!), which also has a very handy 28mm to 400mm optical zoom (35mm/FF equiv.) even if it is only 10mp.

So yes, a phone is handy and usually with you, but need a moderately powerful flash or a good optical zoom, then give me a good quality digital camera instead.
 
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I almost never make phone calls on my mobile phone. Why are they called phones? Email, yes, photos, yes, browsing news, yes, shopping, yes, and so on. Draw/paint on them, dictate to them ... . Needs a new name. they are pocket computers. Pocket rocket?
if you could make phone calls on your ‘proper’ camera (which obviously is technically possible) what you call this mobile thing?
 
sphexx said:
I almost never make phone calls on my mobile phone. Why are they called phones? Email, yes, photos, yes, browsing news, yes, shopping, yes, and so on. Draw/paint on them, dictate to them ... . Needs a new name. they are pocket computers. Pocket rocket?
if you could make phone calls on your ‘proper’ camera (which obviously is technically possible) what you call this mobile thing?
Click to expand...

When you see adverts for new phones, the first thing they mention is how good they are for taking photos. There is no mention of how good the phone signal is, or how good they are for making phone calls. It is though the primary function of a phone, is to be used as a camera.
 
jonbeeza said:
I ordered a print a little while ago, this was for a canvas print of our dog. A relative asked me to order one of their dog also. I submitted both our photos to the printers. The printer said he could only print my photo at the dimensions that I had asked for, but the other photo belonging to a relative should be printed at a much smaller dimension, the printer said.

The reason for this, was because the photo belonging to my relative, was taken on their phone, and our photo had been taken on a basic Canon ixus compact. Most images taken with a phone, look good on a phone. But if you tried to print a phone image a little larger, it usually looks blocky and pixelated, mushy.
Click to expand...
For some people they only ever look at photos on a phone so that is not a problem. They can't wait 50 seconds to turn on a PC.
 
jonbeeza said:
When you see adverts for new phones, the first thing they mention is how good they are for taking photos. There is no mention of how good the phone signal is, or how good they are for making phone calls. It is though the primary function of a phone, is to be used as a camera.
Click to expand...
So maybe call them pocket cams, though most people seem to walk around holding them ... handycams ? :), they are ‘handy’ in various senses :).

Edit to say : I see Sony got there first :(.
 
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Ahhyes said:
My wife...and pretty much everyone in my family. Think only two people use an actual camera now. Most of what they take are snaps to share with friends/family directly or on some social media. The speed of real life to facebook is that much faster with a phone!

Like the cliche, the best camera is often the one you have with you, and for most of us, our phone is always with us.
Click to expand...
That is a big point. I was once asked to take a photo with my phone because someone else's was dead. I said "I would rather use my camera" - the answer was "I want to send it ASAP on whatsapp".
Annoyingly my phone had a low battery and this killed it, so I had to use my camera.
I gave this person the photo a week later but it was too late - a week is too long to wait.
 
sphexx said:
I almost never make phone calls on my mobile phone. Why are they called phones?
Click to expand...

In the days before smartphones, we used to call these things Pocket PCs. And they could only do a tiny proportion of what today's pocket supercomputers can do. And with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, you can get a 108MP sensor with an f/1.8 lens, or a 48MP image with its 5x optical zoom, which puts it in the supercamera range too.
 
At a Samsung price of close to £1,200, the S20 Ultra is hardly a budget option!

I use my phone for (shock! horror!) making calls and sending texts. Occasionally for looking at e-mails and even more occasionally looking at the web. Very rarely use it for photos.
 
Tom30 said:
My galaxy s5 got me into photography a few years ago. I've currently got an s7 which I like for landscape but that's about it. It's easier to carry around when heading up mountain areas too.
Click to expand...


You should see the Galaxy s20 plus- its amazing and even makes and receives phone calls too :)
 
Tom30 said:
haha i usually just buy whatever is 150 ish new at the time every few years. Although I am considering getting a contract to get something better.
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I see :) I bought this handset and just a a sim contract with O2 - I always change my mobile every 12 months
 
Thing is, the number of people who care about such things as dynamic range, image quality, printing, fast AF, viewing on a 24” screen ie the likes of those of us who use this forum, are infinitesimally small compared to those who don’t.

For most people, most of the time, a camera on their phone - for all its technical inadequacies (perceived or otherwise) - is the only camera they will ever need because they are not putting it into demanding situations nor are they subjecting the image to intense scrutiny. Heck, the overwhelming majority of photos taken on phones are only ever viewed on phones.

For me, I’ve taken some great photos on phones. Sure they aren’t a patch on my full frame Nikon’s when viewed at 100%, and 15x10 is the limit of what I’d print them, but that doesn’t matter. They’re great images because they were taken using the only camera I had on me at the time, and that was on my phone.
 
camera phone images can admittedly look OK on the small phone screens for messaging or instagram thing if done with a bit of thought. That's all they care about most of the time. It is quite a coincidence they only use up to the effective 2MP resolution of their advertised 48-100MP output, which completely falls apart at any meaningful magnification.
 
Looking at friends photos, phones seem to really struggle with low light and /or subjects which are moving.
What do others think?
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Low ISO and shutter speed is too slow; high ISO and it has noise all over place. You just can't win no matter what.
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Not sure about shutter speed, I remember seeing specs for incredibly short exposure times on some (iPhones?). Not sure how they are using them, my guess would be multiple exposures of some kind.
 
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