Recently I have posted a few commentaries over on the Cruise Critic message boards regarding the tremendous advances in smartphone camera modules and how that has led to me using my phone for causal or even some travel photography instead of an advanced compact camera or hauling a “real” camera along. I thought I would add some real-life samples to compare.
A few weeks ago, we drove up the hill to our son’s church to see him deliver his sermon. While he was on stage, I used the phone’s 105mm equivalent optical zoom to take a few shots. The results were really quite good, considering the relatively poor lighting. Here is one of the shots straight off the phone with only resizing for web presentation done:
The photo below was taken last Sunday under identical conditions (even the same seats) with my Sony A7III also at 105mm:
Not a great deal of difference when resized and posted to a blog page. Considering that most of my photos are viewed online by friends and family, why would I ever carry a relatively bulky mirrorless camera when I can just pull out my phone and get the same result?
I said “most” and the results aren’t “the same”. That’s why. While we only print a limited number of family and travel photos, when it comes to the small details and photographic versatility, the camera trumps the phone in almost every way except convenience. (I said “photographic versatility” because the phone kicks the camera’s butt when it comes to making a call, driving directions or browsing the web.) How much trumping depends a lot on the conditions. These images were taken under way less than ideal lighting and the fact that the phone was able to capture an image with the amount of detail shown above is a testament to how far phone camera tech has come in the last few years. However, if you need to crop aggressively or are adding the motion and another 100 feet while shooting one of our grandson’s hockey games or our granddaughter’s skating routine the phone just can’t keep up. If the phone’s AI assistant was honest, it would tell you to get a better camera and do a search for examples on Amazon.
How big is the diffference?
A closer look at a crop of the original un-resized phone version shows artifacts from the AI processing of the behind-the-scenes burst of several images into the best result.
While both cropped images are softened by WordPress’ compression algorithm, the image from the Sony retains far greater detail. Add the fact that I could have switched lenses and gotten this field of view without cropping and the camera pulls even farther ahead.
Is the phone useless for anything other than snapshots destined for the web? Not at all. In good lighting and non-extreme situations, the gap between the phone and camera narrows to the point that I am comfortable using the phone to capture images for almost any end use. My decade-long Picture-A-Week project has shifted heavily to phone images in the last few years. They look great and are generally indistinguishable from “real camera” images in the annual book I make on Blurb at the end of each year. For example, the photo below was taken in good backyard light with the Pixel 6 Pro and would make an excellent 16×20 print.
My dad always said, “use the right tool for the job” and I try hard to stick to that valuable bit of advice. Using the mirrorless cameras for action, serious landscapes or portraits and the phone for casual walkabout or family gathering shots is a good rule of thumb. In real life, these types of rules tend to be pretty flexible. I have used the flat part on a pair of needle nose pliers to drive small nails, shot many a blowing out of birthday candles with a full-frame mirrorless and taken some darn good portraits and travel photos with my phone.
The bottom line: Use the right photographic tool for the job but in a pinch, the picture you take with whatever is at hand will always be better than the picture you didn’t take.