Every so often this topic pops up again. You’ll read a review on the latest smartphone from Samsung, Apple, Motorola or whoever, and the reviewer will say something like “You longer need a dSLR (or mirrorless) as the camera in this phone is as good as anything I have ever used”.
Blah. Blah.
Well no.
This is not to say the cameras in the current crop of smartphones is bad as they are not. Just that they are not up to the standards of a proper camera. And here’s why.
Sensor
A camera from Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Fujifilm etc capture images with large sensors and excellent optics. I’ll cover the optics in a second, but the sensor size is extremely important. The sensor is the brains behind the whole deal, and a bigger sensor means more detail is captured, there is a larger dynamic range, better colour depth, less “noise” and of course, much better low light performance.
To give you an idea of the difference in sizes, the sensor in something like a Canon R5 is 25 times the size of the sensor in the latest iPhone. And that makes a huge difference.
The Glass
With a camera, you are also using lenses with superior glass optics, and these are used to get the sharpest image with excellent detail and bright colours. They also allow changing of aperture for managing depth of field, and proper optical zoom.
Smartphones by comparison use algorithms to artificially sharpen images and otherwise make them look good. You are also stuck with a fixed aperture and digital zoom, plus of course you don’t have the option to change lenses to suit different circumstances.
The there is the ergonomics. There is no comparison between the ergonomics of a smartphone as a camera, and a real camera, especially if shooting sport, events or over a long period of time.
Ask yourself why a much, much larger percentage of photographers and videographers use dedicated cameras and camcorders than use a smartphone. It’s to get the best possible image they can, and recent data coming out of Canon and Panasonic tells me that people are starting to realise that, with the latest compact cameras now the biggest sellers.
So in short, if you want control over your images, use a proper camera.