rangel28

Personally I enjoy taking photos of birds in flight, (or birds just sitting around), the moon, landscapes,, and wildlife. Because of the limited zoom of camera phones, it's hard (for me) to get good quality of shots, even facial expressions or good close-ups of animals in a zoo, or craters on the moon. A point and shoot camera like the Nikon A1000 (which is relatively small) has a optical zoom of 840mm and does a much better job than a cell phone for closeups at the zoo or of a bird in a distant tree. Additionally, from an ergonomic standpoint, a cell phone is awkward to use, perhaps because they are so thin. This, for me, is especially true in sunlight, when it's harder to see the screen and change things like shutter speeds for aperture. Also, if you want to take a photo of a lake/ocean/river or running water and blur the water, I would think this is much harder to accomplish with a cell phone camera. And DSLRs still perform better in low light situations.

Also, to my eye, photos from a DSLR camera look better. To me, there is more depth, more detail, more resolution, and a better overall look to photos from a DSLR or mirrorless camera. Of course, if you are actually going to print and especially blow up an image for framing, a crop frame or full frame sensor will produce better results. For casual photography that you are going to share on Facebook or Instagram cell phones are fine, but for anything that requires much a zoom or deeper rendering of colors I still would prefer to use a DSLR or, if I can't carry a DSLR, a compact camera like the Nikon A1000.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Why do we see so many of these stupid comments about phone cameras? (The lazy persons dedicated camera)

Angel Star Photography Loc: Tacoma, WA

The typical use cases for a cell phone camera for me are as follows:

1. If I don't have my DSLR with me and I want to capture an image which I know will not be present again; e.g. sunsets, sunrises, a lone flower in a field, etc. In such cases, I will use Pro mode either via the camera itself or through the Lightroom CC app. Additionally, with Pro mode, I set it save the raw file along with the JPEG. Cell phone cameras do make acceptable macros.

2. There is a fleeting moment, I don't have my DSLR, and I want to take some quick shots before the moment is gone; e.g. birthday parties, family gatherings, a concert, etc.

3. Sometimes I will use the cell phone camera when I have a concept of how I want to compose and develop a composition but still undecided on various aspects such as angle, lighting, and more. For such cases, I will take a few shots with my cell phone, study them, and then return to the same location with my DSLR and with a full plan in mind of what I want to do. With geo-tagging, I don't need to take notes about specific locations.

4. Similar to item 3 above, I will use the cell phone camera for concept development or experimentation and then repeat the process with my DSLR.

For me, the cell phone camera is used when I have no other camera, but also, it is used to develop ideas to which I will expand with my DSLR. However, I will also add that it is rare that I do not have my DSLR, a set of lenses, flash, and filters with me.

As for low light photography, the cell phone camera is okay but not preferable---too much noise in the image.

Bazbo Loc: Lisboa, Portugal

I love phone cameras. They have made photography accessible to millions of people who would not otherwise be able to join the elite circle of professionals and well off people who can afford the gear.

This is very similar to when PCs started making data accessible to everyone and took the power away from the high priests of information behind the glass walls of the IT department.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Not lazy at all. Nor do you see any pompous a$$ statements from cell phone users. That seems to be reserved for ...I don't know. who do you see in the mirror??

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Part of the problem is your fear of going past ISO 6400. I don't have a D7100 so I don't know how high one can go above iso 6400 and still get good images, I believe it expands to iso 25600, but I do have a D7200 and I have used it in very low light conditions at fairly high ISO'S, well above 6400, and have gotten perfectly usable images. Keep in mind the image sensor in your DSLR is much, much larger than the one in the iPhone. In fact, the iPhone cameras use some of the smallest image sensors made. Now how do you think the iPhone photos were better than the D7100 photos? The iPhone selected a much higher iso than you did and it applied noise reduction to the image; nothing that you couldn't have done with your D7100. Had you shot at ISO 12800, half the D7100'S expanded ceiling, your photos may very well had been as good or better than the iPhone. Don't be afraid to use higher ISO'S when the ambient light requires it. Today's post processing software is amazing.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Harrumph harrumph. How about "DSLR, the unimaginative photographer's dedicated camera"? I think that fits pretty well too. 😜😜

It’s just another tool in the tool box.

Paul J. Svetlik Loc: Colorado

We carry a tiny telephone and a ton of regrets.

Bill_de Loc: US

I never noticed too many comments like that, but they may be true to some degree.

I wonder how many folks walking out the door think to themselves, I don't want to drag my dslr along, besides I have my cell phone.

I am not guilty of this at all since I never carry a phone. But I sometimes think, I have that Panasonic pocket camera in the console.

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LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

What makes them lazy? Has it occurred to you that most people using cellphone cameras have no interest in photography as either a hobby or a profession and most certainly have no interest in lugging around a "real" camera when a cellphone provides them with the results they want. For the most part that means a photo they can share with friends who will view it on devices with small screens where having a DSLR with a gazillion megapixel sensor offers no advantage. Years ago I gave my wife an older bridge camera I still had for her to use at work. She often has to take photos for various reasons. She kept refusing the company's offer of a cellphone. Didn't want to be connected 24/7. About 5 yrs ago she finally agreed to the phone. Guess what she discovered: Her IPhone gives her the photos she wants and she can immediately send them to project managers, suppliers, installers, anyone who needs them. No more having to go back to her office to download and e-mail. My wife wouldn't know an f/stop from a bus stop. She has no interest in photography except those times when it serves her purposes. She doesn't go out looking for photo ops and yet there is not a lazy bone in her body. What she does have an interest in is increased productivity and that is exactly what her camera phone gives her.
In case you are wondering, I don't take cellphone photos. Gave up my company smart phone when I retired. I now have a dumb phone, which I rarely turn on. It has a lens on it, so I assume it takes photos but I have never used it for that.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Did you ever bother to reference the manual or, forbid the thought, ask your wife, how to effectively use her Galaxy S8?
It's easier with your camera mainly because you know how to use your camera. I can change the aperture and shutter speed on several of my dedicated cameras with my eyes closed. Getting the settings correct is totally different because with my eyes closed, I couldn't see what I was setting them to.

Hsch39 Loc: Northbrook, Illinois

What would you say to a Photographer you hired for your daughters wedding, showing only up with a smart phone taking the photos?

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

[quote=Hsch39]What would you say to a Photographer you hired for your daughters wedding, showing only up with a smart phone taking the photos?[/quote

I’d say it’s up to the person doing the hiring.

maranatha

Phone camera not bad inside to me better than normal camerbbbabbus but to zoom better with normal camera

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Very good traderjohn, I don't know...who do you see in the mirror?...You and other people don't catch my drift, I'm talking about dedicated cell phone users who don't care about learning the settings for a great looking exposure or about how a camera actually works. When I don't have my camera, I also use my cell phone, so I guess you can also consider this a pompous statement from a (sometime) cell phone user. Every once in a while these post's come up from dunderheads who don't think, like photographers have to be on their guard because cell phone users are on the rise.

Granted, there are young people who get their first cell phone and do get interested in photography and will buy a dedicated camera to learn how to get a good exposure. I doubt there are any dedicated camera users who will go back to just using a cell phone.