You don't have to have an SLR to take some awesome photos

[MikeCracknell]

I quite often look in the photography sections on this site and others. And often notice that people think that you have to have a DSLR to get decent photos.

I've got a Canon DSLR and I do weddings and other bits. But when I go on holiday, lugging the camera bag up a mountain isn't always the nicest thing to do.

But back in February last year, I discovered that the camera on my phone is quite frankly awesome!

The photos below are all taken on an HTC One X phone, and edited on the phone too. I have all of these enlarged onto canvas too. But when people put in their progress thread 'crappy photos taken on my phone', you can take decent pics on them

So, have faith in your good old phone

Some of the new Nokia ones are utterly amazing at photos are they not?

 

[Knuckles]

I agree, but it is difficult to get consistently good pictures with a phone.

I love your tree pic, I like your beach pic and think the car one is meh

I'd post some of my favourites taken and edited in iOS but I've exceeded my bandwidth

 

[Niall]

This is partially true, but a phone certainly is no competition for a DSLR in the same pair of hands.

Just an aside, don’t get caught up in all of the 40mp hype of the new Nokia phones, it’s about as indicative of it’s ability as when people who know nothing about cars brag about engine capacity.

Those are nice photos for a phone though

 

[bloke]

thing is some people will just take a crap photo, end of!! how many times have you seen a pic that someone posts and it's so out of focus and so close to the subject you wouldn't have a hope in hell of working out what it was. still beggars belief that people post pics even though they are awful, some stupid bint on a bike forum i post on is always doing it!!

this was a quick snap with my phone from a moving car

 

[hansthebear]

I am not an expert by any means, but Ive always found that the smaller the camera the more likely I am to take decent pics. Mostly because they are unplanned or impromptu. Some of my favourite pics I took on my phone for that very reason. Example:

Cat by lid_mid, on Flickr

 

[MikeCracknell]

thing is some people will just take a crap photo, end of!! how many times have you seen a pic that someone posts and it's so out of focus and so close to the subject you wouldn't have a hope in hell of working out what it was. still beggars belief that people post pics even though they are awful, some stupid bint on a bike forum i post on is always doing it!!

this was a quick snap with my phone from a moving car

Awesome picture.

You are so right there actually, I find it hard to believe that people don't look at their photos before they put them up. But then nothing surprises me at all.

At least you can see when some people genuinely try to take good, arty photos, or even just normal photos of their cars/topics. Full credit to them!

 

[bloke]

Awesome picture.

You are so right there actually, I find it hard to believe that people don't look at their photos before they put them up. But then nothing surprises me at all.

At least you can see when some people genuinely try to take good, arty photos, or even just normal photos of their cars/topics. Full credit to them!

cheers. but surely they must look at them, even if it's just a passing glance but who know eh??

another on i took that i like

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Scrooge gets annoyed as I perform better with my phone than he can with his SLR

 

[Dan...]

I agree, I have a HTC One x and the camera is (was) brilliant! Mine is now nearly two years old though and it is nowhere near as good as it was.

this was taken on a HTC One which I like

 

[Dan...]

Fail ^ :banghead:

 

[GiT]

OK, it's a good argument for phone cameras.

But now go take a phone picture AND a DSLR picture and compare them.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Sometimes you can get a good picture on the phone and edit it loads to make it better, but it still won't match a proper camera imo (if it's the same person using them)

Some people will obviously take a better picture with a camera phone than some will with a pro DSLR.

 

[Addicted]

It's less about the device but more about the shot taken by the person - but in this instance those pictures have a LOT of noise, and would look night and day if you have a DSLR taking the same photo imo.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Saw an advert for some new phone (possibly the Nokia mentioned above?) with a 43MP camera.

I'd bet the sensor is still <5mm^2 so compared to a (crop sensored) SLR's ~600mm^2 .. there's still no comparison.

This was taken on my phone (Nexus 4) but I'd not want to print it out any larger than about A4 !

Untitled by TheEvilGiraffe, on Flickr

 

[Brazo]

I'm all for bashing phone quality but lets not forget that the majoirty of the best pictures taken in the last century were on equipment that could be considered light years behind phone quality.

Tack Sharp?

 

[Knuckles]

Anyone been sad enough to try one of these?

 

[Dan...]

Anyone been sad enough to try one of these?

Lol!

 

[Knuckles]

I've actually considered them. The pics look ace. But I'd feel like a monumental t**t

 

[MikeCracknell]

The resolution on my phone pictures are 3264 x 1840 and I have them printed out 40 inches by 25 or whatever it is. They are beautifully perfect that size too!

 

[Red Cup]

Landscape shots on an overcast day are about the least technically challenging subject for a phone (or any cheap) camera. The set focal length and aperture are pretty much what you'd have a DSLR set to, and the light isn't a problem so that negates any high ISO advantage.

When it comes to motion, low light or shallow DOF then it's a different story.

I'm all for bashing phone quality but lets not forget that the majoirty of the best pictures taken in the last century were on equipment that could be considered light years behind phone quality.

Tack Sharp?View attachment 107860

This just proves that subject matter trumps everything. When it's an unrepeatable moment in time, or something most of us will never see with our own eyes then all technical criticism is largely irrelevant.

 

[welshname]

Is that a photo of a man being shot in the head and the starts of his brain flying out?

 

[...]

Sometimes its just whats in your pocket at the right moment

Would i have rather had my dslr ...yeah .... but in reality i was glad i had my phone as my intention wasnt to go out shooting photos that day

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Is that a photo of a man being shot in the head and the starts of his brain flying out?

Apparently (according to wiki) it's staged, but many thought it was real. Still a powerful picture though.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Soldier

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

The person I work with has just got the Nokia Lumia 1020 41mp phone on Friday. Camera does looks really good to be fair.

The thing I've noticed with phone cameras is they're better/clearer on closer objects.

This is with my phone camera.

Beading by Thomas Brentnall, on Flickr


However this is a really good long range photo taken with a iphone (was in the iphone pics thread, but can't remember who posted it)

 

[JJ!]

I agree that you can get fantastic shots out of smart phones these days. I have often captured fantastic printable shots because your phone is always with you, and thats what photography can be about a lot of the time. Right place, right time.

A camera phone however, is not a patch on my DLSR. What it does with DOF and low light is something a camera phone just cant match.

 

[Brazo]

Apparently (according to wiki) it's staged, but many thought it was real. Still a powerful picture though.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Soldier

No it wasn't staged that's just the conspiracy theorists, Robert Capa was one of the most famous photographers and covered the Spanish civil war, a recent tape uncovered after his death explained the high angle of the shot.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

No it wasn't staged that's just the conspiracy theorists, Robert Capa was one of the most famous photographers and covered the Spanish civil war, a recent tape uncovered after his death explained the high angle of the shot.

Ah right. I only know from what I quickly read over on Wiki (I know its not the best for accuracy)

Back OT. This was taken with a Google Nexus using photosphere and edited in Snapseed.

This is from my DSLR. No comparison in IQ.

Cwm Idwal reflections by A_Cro, on Flickr

 

[Brazo]

On my iphone they look identical iq, am sure they aren't but given a lot of people view on phones...

 

[Addicted]

On my iphone they look identical iq, am sure they aren't but given a lot of people view on phones...

You should go specsavers then

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

There is some proper lol in this thread.

Yes camera phones these days can take some brilliant photos, but they are not comparable to a 'proper' camera.

 

[Mr Burns]

My phone is 8MP and my SLR is 6MP!

Still much prefer the SLR, even though it was made before photography was invented.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

My phone is 8MP and my SLR is 6MP!

Yes .. however:

Saw an advert for some new phone (possibly the Nokia mentioned above?) with a 43MP camera.

I'd bet the sensor is still <5mm^2 so compared to a (crop sensored) SLR's ~600mm^2 .. there's still no comparison.

 

[Dan...]

I've actually considered them. The pics look ace. But I'd feel like a monumental tw*t

Do they genuinely work then?

edit, and how much are they? Lol

 

[Mr Burns]

I know I know, I was just saying lol.

 

[Brazo]

You should go specsavers then

What I meant when viewed at less than an inch big they all look the same!

 

[Brazo]

My phone is 8MP and my SLR is 6MP!

Still much prefer the SLR, even though it was made before photography was invented.

its also about how many of those megapixels a lens can resolve. I suspect the phone lens won't be able to resolve a million pixels where you should find many lens that can out resolve a six meg sensor.
dont forget colour depth and dynamic range too both if which a phone sensor is lacking.

 

[Niall]

Lets be honest here, there’s no real comparison between a DSLR and a mobile phone, otherwise why would we all own DSLRs?

Phones may be good for the odd snapshot, but I’m pretty sure it’d only be because you didn’t have your DSLR with you.

 

[Mr Burns]

I agree that convenience is the only power the phone has over a proper camera... Plus a phone doesn't take as long to set up for the shot, but that's because phones have many more limitations regarding the types of photos you can take with them.

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

I don't think there ever has been a comparison between phone and SLR, and there never will be.

It's more about the fact that you can capture a half decent photo on a phone these days.

 

[Knuckles]

Do they genuinely work then?

edit, and how much are they? Lol

small, cheap ones are £2ish on eBay, and they work like a treat from what I've found. The one I posted is about £35