Quality of pictures taken with a smartphone

[HolyHarald]

Some folks and I had a discussion about the camera I use. It's actually a smartphone. I'm convinced that it does great pictures as well as any professional tool out there, especially when it comes to landscapes - but I'm still a little bit curious how this is seen by others who have at least some experience in photography.

Thus just a simple poll: Do you believe these pictures have a color cast and what's your opinion about the overall quality? I think the pictures show _exactly_ what I saw there.

Don't hesitate to state what you think!






Thank you for any opinion.

(A Samsung SGH F480i was used by the way)

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

How large can they be printed before the quality suffers?

 

[charlie76]

I think for a phone they look pretty friggin good.

Don't know about the phone being as good as "pro gear", though.

 

[sleist]

Cell phone cameras have improved to the point where they rival or exceed the quality many point and shoot cameras, but the statement

I'm convinced that it does great pictures as well as any professional tool out there

tells me you really don't know what professional tools are capable of. Either that or your choosing to ignore it to make a point.

 

[TheBiles]

Smartphones are good until you get in any kind of low light. Then they all turn to crap.

 

[sm4him]

^What all three of the above said.

If you are "convinced that it does great pictures as well as any professional tool out there" then you simply have NO idea what a professional photographic tool is capable of, in the right hands.
We've had this debate many, many times before and will have it many times again. But it boils down to this:
MUCH of what makes an outstanding photo is the skill of the photographer. A truly skilled photographer could take a photo with a 3 mp phone camera that would put my DSLR photos to shame. But, that same skilled photographer, with pro equipment could produce even better results.
On the other hand, someone who has no clue what they're doing will produce so-so results on a phone camera, and would do absolutely no better--in fact, worse--on "pro" equipment because they'd have no idea HOW to produce good results.

The photos you posted aren't bad; they are perfectly decent snapshots. And they may very well depict exactly what you saw there. But honestly--and I truly don't mean this to sound harsh--they just aren't that interesting. They are snapshots of what you saw, and may hold nice memories for you, but there is nothing compelling about them that would make them a great photo. And composition IS something you can learn to do just as well with a camera phone as with a DSLR.

That's MY opinion; it's worth at least half of what you paid for it.

 

[rexbobcat]

Mid-day, snapshotty landscapes and Instagramed pictures of food?

Yes, they work great.

But for professional applications? Not a chance.

Although I am a bit surprised by the iPhone's image quality.

 

[Rwsphotos]

I am not of of the elite pros nor am I just starting out. Do the cell phone cams take good pictures? Depends on the phone. Yours looks like it does a decent job, i phones tout their cams ability to the max. Even saw a craigs list ad selling their Nikon 1 because drum roll....... they were happier with their I phone. Reality is would you want to pull out an I phone at a shoot and call that professional? Not to mention what would that look like to your client. As a wedding photographer am I going to show up with a point and shoot? No I show up with the proper equipment for the job and knowledge to use it. Cell phone pics are good for quick personal use but thats about as far as they go.

 

[MLeeK]

SOME of them work as a good point and shoot. I have seen some great images from them. Is it a substitute or competition for photography in the sense that all of us pursue it? Hell no. Neither is a pocket point and shoot and you can print that to billboard size.

 

[mjhoward]

I'm convinced that it does great pictures as well as any professional tool out there, especially when it comes to landscapes

No. There are circumstances where a phone camera is adequate and you may not even be able to tell the difference between a photo taken from it and a professional body but in general a professional tool is going to allow a good photographer to take a much better photo. Professional tools have much better optics, much higher dynamic range, much higher color depth, much higher sensitivity, are much faster, and are much more ergonomic for being able to capture a good photo under circumstances that would likely be impossible or nearly impossible for a cell phone camera.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I'm convinced that it does great pictures as well as any professional tool out there, especially when it comes to landscapes

No. There are circumstances where a phone camera is adequate and you may not even be able to tell the difference between a photo taken from it and a professional body but in general a professional tool is going to allow a good photographer to take a much better photo. Professional tools have much better optics, much higher dynamic range, much higher color depth, much higher sensitivity, are much faster, and are much more ergonomic for being able to capture a good photo under circumstances that would likely be impossible or nearly impossible for a cell phone camera.

/thread

 

[Derrel]

I voted "just so-so". I have seen better phone captures, and have seen MUCH WORSE phone captures. I shot a recent crabbing/boating trip with Canon 5D 13.8MP full-frame d-slr and Canon L-series 24-105 f/4 IS-USM lens AND my iPhone 4...In good spring/summer lighting, the images from the iPhone blended RIGHT IN TO a slideshow of 50+ images shown on an Apple 30 inch Cinema DIsplay, as well as on some kind of 17 inch laptop my brother's lady has...there was NO VISIBLE, and no "telltale" drop-off in image quality...in good light, and with capable technique, a cell phone camera with a CLEAN LENS is capable of making decent images...my better iPhone 4 captures are 1.9 megabyte JPEGs...

Heck, the iPhone 4 has a 5 MP sensor and an f/2.8, multi-element lens, and shutter speeds from 1/15 second to 1/10,800 second, and an ISO range of 80 to 1,000, and backside illuminated image sensor technology...a few years ago, the iPhone 4 would have been a HIGH-resolution, $2,000 digital camera imaging system...

 

[jake337]

I voted "just so-so". I have seen better phone captures, and have seen MUCH WORSE phone captures. I shot a recent crabbing/boating trip with Canon 5D 13.8MP full-frame d-slr and Canon L-series 24-105 f/4 IS-USM lens AND my iPhone 4...In good spring/summer lighting, the images from the iPhone blended RIGHT IN TO a slideshow of 50+ images shown on an Apple 30 inch Cinema DIsplay, as well as on some kind of 17 inch laptop my brother's lady has...there was NO VISIBLE, and no "telltale" drop-off in image quality...in good light, and with capable technique, a cell phone camera with a CLEAN LENS is capable of making decent images...my better iPhone 4 captures are 1.9 megabyte JPEGs...

Heck, the iPhone 4 has a 5 MP sensor and an f/2.8, multi-element lens, and shutter speeds from 1/15 second to 1/10,800 second, and an ISO range of 80 to 1,000, and backside illuminated image sensor technology...a few years ago, the iPhone 4 would have been a HIGH-resolution, $2,000 digital camera imaging system...

I wonder what kind of spoecs my HTC One S has. I kno it has an F2 aperture lens and iso of 100-800 but I'm not sure about the shutter speeds.

Now, although the image below is pretty good out of a cell phone for me, I know for a fact I could have pulled a better quality file using my D90.


But hey it's the camera you have with you at the time that matters.