Smartphones: Comment: I have a 8mp camera Nexus 5 smartphone and I took some landscape images with my phone, then had 2 of them enlarged to 8x10 prints, I was quite impressed with the...

Silverman Loc: Michigan

Comment:
I have a 8mp camera Nexus 5 smartphone and I took some landscape images with my phone, then had 2 of them enlarged to 8x10 prints, I was quite impressed with the image quality. Now they offer much higher mp in the newer smartphones, so any enlargements should even be more impressive.

Your Opinions please:____________________________

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

OK...your probably right.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

How's the bouquet?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My opinion? I'm a traditionalist who insisted that phones were not, are not and will never be usable cameras. It took a couple brilliant granddaughters to teach me some lessons. I'm now forcing myself to learn what my phone can do, and then take advantage of the significant and surprising benefits.

Photography has always been a collection of different disciplines and styles. Phone photography is the newest and I'm being taught to take it seriously. I have a dedicated display wall in my home where I put my current "best 8" printed to 13x19. Right now one is from my phone. A month ago that would never have happened. Phone pictures were not allowed on that wall because I was too opinionated.

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

I thought phones were for making phone calls, maybe I can make a phone call on my camera, just kidding -- The image quality is amazing for a phone, and most likely you will get better photos with a higher mp, but you will still be shooting through that itsey bitsey lens.

jmizera Loc: Austin Texas

Silverman wrote:

Comment:
I have a 8mp camera Nexus 5 smartphone and I took some landscape images with my phone, then had 2 of them enlarged to 8x10 prints, I was quite impressed with the image quality. Now they offer much higher mp in the newer smartphones, so any enlargements should even be more impressive.

Your Opinions please:____________________________

Absolutely, the increased megapixels will allow larger and sharper enlargements. More importantly in my book, is that they also deliver better dynamic range, lower noise, better focus and light metering, and faster launch. I have an iPhone 6S+, and am constantly amazed with the images. I think the OIS makes a big difference for a small handheld device. And low light performance may well be better than my DSLR.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

jmizera wrote:

Absolutely, the increased megapixels will allow larger and sharper enlargements. More importantly in my book, is that they also deliver better dynamic range, lower noise, better focus and light metering, and faster launch. I have an iPhone 6S+, and am constantly amazed with the images. I think the OIS makes a big difference for a small handheld device. And low light performance may well be better than my DSLR.

"I think the OIS makes a big difference..."

It seems the same for Android and a two year old Samsung phone. Newer versions of the phone can have a version of Lightroom and shoot RAW images.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

bsprague wrote:

My opinion? I'm a traditionalist who insisted tha... (show quote)

Despite their limited physical and feature set parameters, good cellphone cameras are capable of surprisingly good results. They are not a replacement for a good DSLR but are another tool in the photographers bag (or in this case, pocket). My Samsung Galaxy s5 with its 16mp camera is with me 24/7. My Canon 7D Mark II is not.

I just took this one with the cameras single image HDR mode. I have no clue how they do that with one image. Look at the download copy. Not a great shot, but note the amount of shadow detail under the table in this moderately low light McDonald's without completely blowing out the sky through the two windows. Focus point was beneath the table under the window.

(Download)

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Today's crop of phones can take excellent images for their size and are handy, but not a substitute for a DSLR when you get into difficult shooting situations (very low light AND low noise, fast subject motion, need for long tele, etc).

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

TriX wrote:

Today's crop of phones can take excellent images for their size and are handy, but not a substitute for a DSLR when you get into difficult shooting situations (very low light AND low noise, fast subject motion, need for long tele, etc).

True, but they are getting much better results in low light situations than a few years ago. My phone is almost 3 years old. Look at my McDonald's shot above. When you look at the download copy, the camera resolves a reasonably large amount of shadow detail around the furniture. No flash used of course. Not bad for a device where the camera is only one of dozens of functions.

Here's a quick and dirty shot I took in a large clothing store in Asheville NC in September. Again, no flash. Again, open the download copy. My phone's camera has an f/2.2 lens. Some of the newer camera's have f/2 lenses I believe..

(Download)

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

OddJobber wrote:

How's the bouquet?

You brought your sense of humor today I see.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

mwsilvers wrote:

True, but they are getting much better results in ... (show quote)

Agreed. My son just bought one of the newest generation Android devices, and some of his shots at a recent event are better than those taken by others with DSLRs (although probably a different level of expertise as well) A very impressive device!

Silverman Loc: Michigan

Smudgey wrote:

I thought phones were for making phone calls, maybe I can make a phone call on my camera, just kidding -- The image quality is amazing for a phone, and most likely you will get better photos with a higher mp, but you will still be shooting through that itsey bitsey lens.

Yes, I have a Nikon D3300 24.2 MP camera, although I have not yet enlarged any photos to 8x10 to see how they look, I am sure they would be stunning.

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

jmizera wrote:

Absolutely, the increased megapixels will allow larger and sharper enlargements. More importantly in my book, is that they also deliver better dynamic range, lower noise, better focus and light metering, and faster launch. I have an iPhone 6S+, and am constantly amazed with the images. I think the OIS makes a big difference for a small handheld device. And low light performance may well be better than my DSLR.

EddieC Loc: CT

I was doing some studio shots with a friend of a young girl with her dance costumes. Her mom showed us some pics of her dancing at a show she took with her Samsung phone. They were so good I thought about throwing away my D750! haha I saw a review of the iPhone 7+ and it has a zoom camera and the next model will have a variable zoom. Not to mention all the lens attachments that area around for phones. Nikon and Canon's camera sales have dropped about 28% for the small compact cameras because of the phones and Nikon is laying off 2,000 people. Like the saying goes: The best camera you have is the one you have with you.