My Nikon vs. Wife's Galaxy S8 Smart Phone...Gr.. First off, I will admit I haven't really studied the capabilities of my Nikon D3300. My wife and I spent 6 beautiful days on Cape Cod...

Rloren

First off, I will admit I haven't really studied the capabilities of my Nikon D3300. My wife and I spent 6 beautiful days on Cape Cod just running and gunning to capture the moment.
As I was chasing auto focus points, aperture, and light, my wife would hip check me out of the way and step to the plate with her Galaxy S8...
"Watch this, let the girls do it?...! Bang,...she pushes the button...perfect focus, depth of field, light, whoa...Lightroom, you say...Want to see my in camera HDR?
Then she rubs it in further by showing off her high speed computer and makes a phone call home to mom...ouch...I've had enough.
Ok, I know the purist will tell me to get my game on...I get it.
As I was priding myself on the nice pier photo (uncropped)...I realized my wife took that photo...err...
What's my point?...Well, I guess the technology out there is pretty amazing.....

(Download)

fourg1b2006 Loc: Long Island New York

It's getting very hard to tell the difference. To each his own i guess.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Still DSLR if you photograph wildlife the smart phones do not have the reach.

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

In the end it's an 800 dollar camera which has no zoom or other adjustments, and happens to make phone calls.
The pic turned out well but if you wanted to center or zoom in on something specific, I think the D3300 would have been a bit better.
On the good side, a phone that's with you is better than a D850 that's not.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

I too have that model of phone and can attest that the camera is superb as long as you don't zoom in or crop the image very much. The big advantage is that you always have a decent camera with you since most of us won't go anywhere without our phone nowadays.

BebuLamar

Rloren wrote:

First off, I will admit I haven't really studied t... (show quote)

For me they are perfect Nikon DSLR and Samsung S8. I don't know how to take pictures with her phone and she wouldn't want to use my Nikon Df. So they are perfect for us.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Try making a 24x36 inch print from that cell phone.
--Bob

Rloren wrote:

First off, I will admit I haven't really studied t... (show quote)

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

rmalarz wrote:

Try making a 24x36 inch print from that cell phone.
--Bob

I used to agree; but as a test, I enlarged a image taken with an Apple 7 Plus to 20" by 30". The resolution remained incredible--sharp as what I get with an 800E and the best glass.
I posted about the experience.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

"On the good side, a phone that's with you is better than a D850 that's not."

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Basically, the real difference is flexibility, and the trade off is convenience.

On the former - while the mobile phone camera is great for snapshots, (that is, point, click, go to next thing) if you envision an image that entails blurred water movement (i.e. - slow shutter speed), exaggerated foreground subject (i.e. - ultra wide angle lens with said subject inches in front of it) or freezing something distant that is moving quickly (using a telephoto lens with fast shutter speed) then with the cell phone you are SOL.

On the other hand, the cell phone cannot be beat for convenience - since you have it anyway it's the ultimate point and shoot device (what did Weegee say decades ago.... "F8 and be there"?). No need to comprehend the exposure triangle, no need (or real use for) tripods and filters, etc.

So, pick your poison.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

f8lee wrote:

Basically, the real difference is flexibility, and... (show quote)

You are selling the cell phone short. The current cell phones are more than just "convenient". They can be used to produce great, enlargeable, printable images.
I m not about to toss my DSLR's and arsenal of lenses, but the quality of the cell phone images can no longer be dismissed.

Salo Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

Kmgw9v wrote:

I used to agree; but as a test, I enlarged a image taken with an Apple 7 Plus to 20" by 30". The resolution remained incredible--sharp as what I get with an 800E and the best glass.
I posted about the experience.

I find that somewhat hard to believe but I will look for your post on this topic. Each phone's camera is unique so I'm not saying it's impossible, just unlikely.

In the case of the Cape Cod photo above, just enlarging it on my 8 inch Samsung tablet's screen immediately reveals the lack of sharpness in the image, but I also have taken some portrait shots with my older Moto X Pure Edition (24 mPx, unenlarged) that look simply stunning to my eyes.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Salo wrote:

I find that somewhat hard to believe but I will look for your post on this topic. Each phone's camera is unique so I'm not saying it's impossible, just unlikely.

In the case of the Cape Cod photo above, just enlarging it on my 8 inch Samsung tablet's screen immediately reveals the lack of sharpness in the image, but I also have taken some portrait shots with my older Moto X Pure Edition (24 mPx, unenlarged) that look simply stunning to my eyes.

The enlargement is now my avatar, taken of me at the Apple Store by the guy that sold me the phone. The resolution of the 20" by 30" enlargement was a surprise to me, but undeniable.
There are other considerations n the processing of a great image, but resolution is not a problem--at least in my personal experience with the IPhone 7plus.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Kmgw9v wrote:

You are selling the cell phone short. The current cell phones are more than just "convenient". They can be used to produce great, enlargeable, printable images.
I m not about to toss my DSLR's and arsenal of lenses, but the quality of the cell phone images can no longer be dismissed.

To the contrary - I never said anything about the cell phone not having the required image capture quality. I merely pointed out the convenience aspect; the trade off between having a "aim and push one button" and "envision an image you want to share and capture it by putting to use both the required gear and your knowledge as to how it all works" approaches. And that is not to say the former is inferior to the latter.

For many people and most uses, the cell phone camera is likely more than good enough. But if you check my website I daresay only a few, if any, of those shots would have been possible with my cell phone.

Rloren

In the end, as one poster put it,."To each his own."
These devices are all just more tools to put in your tool box. It depends on the end result you are looking for.
If I come upon a great shot, I may go to manual, slow down and bracket my shots. Of course there is always PP.
The majority of the time for me it's just have fun, record the moment and history. With minimal effort I can generally get a pretty good shot....