Are camera phones as good as digital cameras?

[Coupon92123]

Hello everyone,
With the development of technology today, phones are made and integrating a lot of technologies. Nowadays, there are phones coming out with three or four cameras. That makes the quality of photos taken from the phones also very good. But are phone pictures as good as digital camera pictures
Thanks everyone.

 

[limr]

A phone camera is a digital camera.

Why do you want to know?

 

[Ysarex]

But are phone pictures as good as digital camera pictures

By what standard of measurement?

 

[Soocom1]

Capability to take a clean picture.
yes.
Ability to be blown up to 24x36 with a clean image..
not so much.

 

[The Barbarian]

I'm really impressed with my new Samsung S21 Ultra.

 

[Jeff15]

No would be the short answer...

 

[TexOkie]

Hello everyone,
With the development of technology today, phones are made and integrating a lot of technologies. Nowadays, there are phones coming out with three or four cameras. That makes the quality of photos taken from the phones also very good. But are phone pictures as good as digital camera pictures
Thanks everyone.

I keep remembering the old saying, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Who doesn’t always have their smartphone?

 

[petrochemist]

Todays mobile phones take much better pictures than my first few digital cameras, but there are circumstances where even a 10 year old DSLR will out perform any camera phone. as the cameras become newer the number of circumstances where the phone can't compete increases dramatically.

I keep remembering the old saying, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Who doesn’t always have their smartphone?

I only carry one occasionally, probably carry it less than 1 day a week. On average there's more chance of me carrying a proper camera than a phone.
I do tend to carry the phone when our camera club is meeting on location (when I'll have a camera with me too) & sometimes I'll have the phone when out shopping with the family.

 

[Jeff15]

I keep my camera lens immaculately clean. My problem with cameras in phones is how do you maintain such high standards ??

 

[webestang64]

IMO......From someone who prints photos all day from phones, DSLR's and PnS digital cameras, NO, camera phones do not match the image quality of the latter two.

 

[jeffashman]

Not entirely sure it's a valid comparison. Were Kodak 110 instamatics as good as a Canon SLR back in the day? No, but they filled a niche. Today's cell phone cameras have the instamatics of the last century beat, hands down, but they don't match up to a DSLR. That said, they still take incredibly good photos given the right conditions. Here are a couple of examples taken with a Droid X flip-phone about 10 years ago.
Hibiscus01 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr
GrasshopperOnHibiscus03 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr
Note: The photos were post-processed using Adobe and Topaz products.

 

[Strodav]

The reason they include 3 or 4 cameras in a smartphone is because they can't build a wide zoom range lens that small so many smartphones include ultra-wide, wide, and zoom cameras, each around 12mp with 2x to 5x optical zooms and then up to 10x digital zooms. The cameras are getting very good at landscapes including panoramas, family shots, and general photography. The PP they do in camera is amazing, especially for portraiture. Their video capability is getting very good. The most recent smartphones even allow you access to the raw image file. Their connectivity, ability to post pictures to social media immediately, is unparalleled. There are many award winning photos out there taken with a smartphone camera. They are not good when long focal lengths are required like for sports, wildlife / birding or large prints. They can't compete with the detail that dslrs/milc cameras with good quality glass are capable of and they are not at the dynamic range and tonal range capabilities of a modern dslr or at the fps rate of a modern dslr. I'm not getting rid of my dslrs any time soon, but am taking, processing, and posting more photos from my smartphone cameras. I just consider a smartphone another tool in my toolkit. One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Denman: "It's not enough to just own a camera. Everyone owns a camera. To be a photographer, you must understand, appreciate, and harness the power you hold!"

 

[Original katomi]

Really depends what you want to do
Right for the job

 

[Gavin@VUTSA]

NO, because Camera phones do not have a big sensor and resolution as digital camera.

 

[lanceslens]

Depends what you are trying to accomplish. If you don't plan on printing your work and just taking general snapshots down the street you may not notice the difference if viewing on your monitor, if lighting is good in both scenes. Phones take great pics when you have the correct lighting. If you make a living shooting wildlife, product photography, sports, or need large prints for a client, camera phones will not cut it.