chippy65 Loc: Cambridge

enjoyed a series of camera phone pictures taken by my son during a recent holiday in the Mediterranean. I was impressed by the quality of the pictures

and on asking which camera he had used was surprised when he told me it was a budget priced cell phone that had cost less than one of my lenses !

Cant beat new technology ? Taking into consideration said cell phone is size limited, multi function, has a minuscule lens with a fixed focus and a tiny sensor,

how much of this performance is achieved with CPU and image processing and could this technology be advantageously applied to the expensive cumbersome

cameras we lug round with us? I am very fond of my cameras and lenses etc but I am feeling a little disillusioned and envious.

If it were not for the shortcomings of the lack of a viewfinder and the poor clarity of of the display screen in bright sunlight I could be tempted to leave my heavy stuff

at home when doing "Walk around photography"

seems to me that if traditional camera makers do not achieve better performance they will continue to see smaller sales

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Phone cameras take good captures of just about anything.

The issue with these captures is that they are made for the WEB where they shine. If you try to get good prints out of then your results will not be in par with what you get using a 'normal camera'.

'Traditional cameras' manufacturers create product that beat the crap out of low end cameras, in phones or not.

Seems to me that you are looking at the camera being the photographer... A camera how ever good it is will produce crap if the person behind does not know what to do. Same as a poor capture device will produce great captures if the person behind it is experimented*.

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* The comment about final quality applies.

Iron Sight Loc: Utah

My Iphone 7 is pretty much always with me. My "real camera" (Sony A6000) was purchased April 16 2019 (Over 15,000 shutter count) and Im having a great time with it and 4 accessory len's.

Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas

In respond to Rongnongno's comment, "If you try to get good prints out of then your results will not be in par with what you get using a 'normal camera'.

I was watching a YouTube video yesterday from Jared Polin where he is talking about the new iPhone 11 Pro. Near the end he mentions the prints he is getting from his Cannon printer are very good in fact better than what he was seeing on the iPhone screen. So as I see it things are changing our world is changing.

My kids, nearly 50 years old, only use the cell phone for a camera. My biggest concern about cell phone photos is will these younger people ever have pictures of themselves for their Grand Children. I just don't think many people are printing their photos for family history.

Jared's iPhone review...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEjF8Ny4hHg

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

I, my kids (50ish now!), and grandkids all do digital. We share easily, and have digital photo frames that continually show pix. One even lets anyone upload photos directly to it, so our family all contributes.

The photo album lives--longer and in different forms, I think.

chippy65 Loc: Cambridge

The comparison of the photos , mine with a Nikon DSLR and my son's cell phone was a fair comparison, using the same high resolution

monitor for both sets of photos. Location and quality of light might be a factor. Photographic ability....well......I have had a lot more practice !?

PhotonHog Loc: Annapolis

This subject will never die. It is a hot issue. I still feel a real camera is required for good high res high fidelity images. Bigger sensors will always with very very few exceptions perform better, sometimes MUCH better than any tiny phone camera sensors despite the number of pixels. It is just pure physics. Bigger sensor, more light (which photography is all about) means more signal, less noise hence better images. It is kind of like trying to get full rich sound and real pounding bass out of a little tiny speaker. Yes you can hear the sound and at low volume it might even sound rather good. But turn it up and then LOOK OUT!!! It just sounds horrible!!! The noise floor is going through the roof. Oh the humanity!!!

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

Oh really? Pictures only good for the web? Sorry but not true. Just printed several 11x14 images taken with my old iPhone 6s that came out spectacular.

Low Budget Dave

Generally speaking, as long as the subject is well lit, moving slowly, and as long as you don't need to throw the background out of focus, a cell phone will work as well, or even better than, a dedicated camera. The reason is that they have huge processors attached that can do color balancing, noise control and image sharpening before you ever see the picture.

(And as the cell phone processors get more powerful, this will only get better.)

In low light, cell phone pictures start to fall apart a little, because they are taking longer exposures, or multiple shots and layering them. This works for pictures of food, but not usually people.

If the subject is moving quickly, the cell phone pictures will also fall apart a little. In good light, it will use a fast shutter speed, but in indoor light, you may be shooting at 1/80 second or lower. This is not fast enough for most indoor lighting.

If you need to blur out the background, then the only way cell phones can do that is to take two separate pictures and stitch them together. This is like teaching a pig to sing. The quality is not very good, but it is still a pretty good trick.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Lots of folks don’t take photos to get the best photo possible. They’re just documenting their lives and sharing with friends. For this, cellphones excell in ease of use. In my view, they’re just another very good device to take pictures as long as you’re aware of the pros and cons.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Our 10-year-old Bose surround system with 5 tiny speakers just might change your assessment. It rivals anything you'll hear at the movie theater. In fact, we turned it up so loud one time that neighbors called the cops on us, but all we were doing was seeing its capabilities. We turned it back down and all was ok. But it did produce sound that was that sweet blend of loudness without distortion. Amazing!

chippy65 Loc: Cambridge

one has to ask if image quality is dependent on processing power why are cell phones seeming to leave traditional cameras behind ?

After all space inside the camera body is not as restricted as the cell phone nor is battery power a limitation. And the cost of a mid range camera is in the same ball park

as the cell phone................Are we being short changed ?

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Do not be "disillusioned and envious". There is a time and a place for every kind of camera. Your camera and lenses will out shoot the cellphone for most situations. Is the difference getting smaller? Yes, but smaller pixels have a hard time emulating larger pixels. Software processing can only go so far. The dynamic range, depth of field, and low light abilities are not the same and cannot be totally made up by any software. But by buying a good cellphone with a good camera, and a good camera, one is best prepared for any photographic situation. Next year, Samsung Galaxy 11 (?) will come out with a 42 or 108 pixel sensor along with a built-in 5X zoom. With those size pixels, I expect only great bright light photography. Will it match 4/3rds, APS-C, full frame, or medium format photography? Under specific conditions, it will be indistinguishable. But that would not and cannot cover all situations. That is where the standard camera will be needed. And it is "any port in the storm"; it is the camera you have with you that is the one you use. If your standard camera is not with you, then the cellphone camera has the best chance of capturing the image. That is why I buy the best camera I can afford whether it be in my phone or not. One never knows when they will need the best camera at hand.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

I’ve printed up to 12 X 16 from my iPhone 8+ and they also look great.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Comparing cell phone photos to those taken with digital cameras is like comparing apples and oranges. It's very similar to comparing photos taken with a 35mm camera and those taken with a 4x5. Yeah, they are both cameras, but each delivers a completely different quality photograph.
--Bob