Smartphone cameras vs semi pro cameras

benoit1980

TPF Noob!
Joined
Dec 4, 2014
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Can others edit my Photos
Photos NOT OK to edit
Hello everyone,

I would like to take food and outdoor pictures for personal projects. I am now seeing more and more people on Youtube teaching very seriously students on how to take perfect pictures with high quality smartphones.

Many years ago I would have laughed at even comparing Semi PRO cameras and smartphones but when I looked today at the specs of the latest Galaxy S5, I was a bit shocked, with it's 4k resolutions, image stabilizer and so on.
I have then watched some videos on Youtube about people comparing the 2 and I cannot see an enormous difference apart that a Semi pro canon camera would blur a bit more the background when in focus on a single object.

With a budget of 600 Euro, can anyone tell me if it would be wiser to buy a semi pro camera or the latest S5 phone.

I would like to have some feedback from people who really know both sides of each technologies and perhaps give me a few proofs that one is better than the other(for the same budget).

Thank you so much!


Ben
 
Seems like a decent quality picture taken with a phone can be comparable to using a good point 'n shoot with a decent lens, but compared to a camera with interchangeable lenses it seems like it would limit you to wide angle shots without varying depth of field. Depends I guess on what you want to be able to do.
 
Do you need a phone?

Buying a phone just for the camera would be silly. You're paying for a great deal of stuff you're not going to use.
 
Since you're actually asking the question, buy a phone. The last time I talked to my camera, I got weird looks.

In all seriousness, if you're debating a typical point and shoot, then definitely phone. If you're debating DSLR's, do a quick search on this site for similar questions.
 
Hello everyone,

I would like to take food and outdoor pictures for personal projects. I am now seeing more and more people on Youtube teaching very seriously students on how to take perfect pictures with high quality smartphones.

Many years ago I would have laughed at even comparing Semi PRO cameras and smartphones but when I looked today at the specs of the latest Galaxy S5, I was a bit shocked, with it's 4k resolutions, image stabilizer and so on.
I have then watched some videos on Youtube about people comparing the 2 and I cannot see an enormous difference apart that a Semi pro canon camera would blur a bit more the background when in focus on a single object.

With a budget of 600 Euro, can anyone tell me if it would be wiser to buy a semi pro camera or the latest S5 phone.

I would like to have some feedback from people who really know both sides of each technologies and perhaps give me a few proofs that one is better than the other(for the same budget).

Thank you so much!


Ben
Oftentimes when I see "camera vs phone" comparisons the people tend to shoot the camera in such a way as to render an image as similar to the phone as possible. They are "tying the cameras hands behind it's back" to try and make the phone look better.

First, an slr or milc will have a larger sensor. Larger sensors with comparable resolution have larger pixels which will render cleaner images with less noise and more dynamic range.

Second, they have interchangeable lenses. You can use whatever focal length you want, or use a lens that allows tilt and shift movements to help control perspective and DOF placement. You can't really do that with a phone. There are some add on lenses for phones, but they are novelty items at best. Different lenses will also offer varying levels of DOF (depth of field) control, allowing you to isolate the subject from the surrounding by simply blurring the surroundings. Good luck doing that with a phone.

Third, light control. A proper camera will have at least a hot shoe, and at best a hot shoe and PCsync port. This will allow for the control of external flash lighting. Sure you can use continuous lighting with a phone, but there are a few large drawback to working with continuous lighting (unless you're willing to spend really big bucks on higher end continuous light sources).

Fourth, proper raw files and raw file support. I'm not going to get into the merits of raw vs jpeg here but if you're serious about high quality images it's a subject worth looking into.

Fifth, mount-ability and ergonomics. A proper camera was designed to be held up to the eye or mounted on a tripod. Both offer a much more stable manner of shooting than holding a camera phone out at arms length.
 
Hello everyone,

I would like to take food and outdoor pictures for personal projects. I am now seeing more and more people on Youtube teaching very seriously students on how to take perfect pictures with high quality smartphones.

Many years ago I would have laughed at even comparing Semi PRO cameras and smartphones but when I looked today at the specs of the latest Galaxy S5, I was a bit shocked, with it's 4k resolutions, image stabilizer and so on.
I have then watched some videos on Youtube about people comparing the 2 and I cannot see an enormous difference apart that a Semi pro canon camera would blur a bit more the background when in focus on a single object.

With a budget of 600 Euro, can anyone tell me if it would be wiser to buy a semi pro camera or the latest S5 phone.

I would like to have some feedback from people who really know both sides of each technologies and perhaps give me a few proofs that one is better than the other(for the same budget).

Thank you so much!


Ben
Oftentimes when I see "camera vs phone" comparisons the people tend to shoot the camera in such a way as to render an image as similar to the phone as possible. They are "tying the cameras hands behind it's back" to try and make the phone look better.

First, an slr or milc will have a larger sensor. Larger sensors with comparable resolution have larger pixels which will render cleaner images with less noise and more dynamic range.

Second, they have interchangeable lenses. You can use whatever focal length you want, or use a lens that allows tilt and shift movements to help control perspective and DOF placement. You can't really do that with a phone. There are some add on lenses for phones, but they are novelty items at best. Different lenses will also offer varying levels of DOF (depth of field) control, allowing you to isolate the subject from the surrounding by simply blurring the surroundings. Good luck doing that with a phone.

Third, light control. A proper camera will have at least a hot shoe, and at best a hot shoe and PCsync port. This will allow for the control of external flash lighting. Sure you can use continuous lighting with a phone, but there are a few large drawback to working with continuous lighting (unless you're willing to spend really big bucks on higher end continuous light sources).

Fourth, proper raw files and raw file support. I'm not going to get into the merits of raw vs jpeg here but if you're serious about high quality images it's a subject worth looking into.

Fifth, mount-ability and ergonomics. A proper camera was designed to be held up to the eye or mounted on a tripod. Both offer a much more stable manner of shooting than holding a camera phone out at arms length.
I wish I could rate this as like, agree, and informative all at the same time...
 
Oftentimes when I see "camera vs phone" comparisons the people tend to shoot the camera in such a way as to render an image as similar to the phone as possible. They are "tying the cameras hands behind it's back" to try and make the phone look better.

First, an slr or milc will have a larger sensor. Larger sensors with comparable resolution have larger pixels which will render cleaner images with less noise and more dynamic range.

Second, they have interchangeable lenses. You can use whatever focal length you want, or use a lens that allows tilt and shift movements to help control perspective and DOF placement. You can't really do that with a phone. There are some add on lenses for phones, but they are novelty items at best. Different lenses will also offer varying levels of DOF (depth of field) control, allowing you to isolate the subject from the surrounding by simply blurring the surroundings. Good luck doing that with a phone.

Third, light control. A proper camera will have at least a hot shoe, and at best a hot shoe and PCsync port. This will allow for the control of external flash lighting. Sure you can use continuous lighting with a phone, but there are a few large drawback to working with continuous lighting (unless you're willing to spend really big bucks on higher end continuous light sources).

Fourth, proper raw files and raw file support. I'm not going to get into the merits of raw vs jpeg here but if you're serious about high quality images it's a subject worth looking into.

Fifth, mount-ability and ergonomics. A proper camera was designed to be held up to the eye or mounted on a tripod. Both offer a much more stable manner of shooting than holding a camera phone out at arms length.

I thought we were comparing. this is contrasting.


comparing smartphones vs. semi-pro cameras: they both takes pictures.
 
I wish I could rate this as like, agree, and informative all at the same time...
FUNNY that you should say that because I LIKED his post as well, and I AGREE that it was both INFORMATIVE and USEFUL, so since I could not DISAGREE with anything he wrote, I hereby nominate it as the WINNER.
 
Oftentimes when I see "camera vs phone" comparisons the people tend to shoot the camera in such a way as to render an image as similar to the phone as possible. They are "tying the cameras hands behind it's back" to try and make the phone look better.

First, an slr or milc will have a larger sensor. Larger sensors with comparable resolution have larger pixels which will render cleaner images with less noise and more dynamic range.

Second, they have interchangeable lenses. You can use whatever focal length you want, or use a lens that allows tilt and shift movements to help control perspective and DOF placement. You can't really do that with a phone. There are some add on lenses for phones, but they are novelty items at best. Different lenses will also offer varying levels of DOF (depth of field) control, allowing you to isolate the subject from the surrounding by simply blurring the surroundings. Good luck doing that with a phone.

Third, light control. A proper camera will have at least a hot shoe, and at best a hot shoe and PCsync port. This will allow for the control of external flash lighting. Sure you can use continuous lighting with a phone, but there are a few large drawback to working with continuous lighting (unless you're willing to spend really big bucks on higher end continuous light sources).

Fourth, proper raw files and raw file support. I'm not going to get into the merits of raw vs jpeg here but if you're serious about high quality images it's a subject worth looking into.

Fifth, mount-ability and ergonomics. A proper camera was designed to be held up to the eye or mounted on a tripod. Both offer a much more stable manner of shooting than holding a camera phone out at arms length.

I thought we were comparing. this is contrasting.


comparing smartphones vs. semi-pro cameras: they both takes pictures.
Contrasting is part of comparing. ;)
verb (used with object), compared, comparing.
1. to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences:
While they may both take pictures, only one has Instagram built in! :)
 
To everyone,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my thread. I am glad to see from a point of view that the latest smart phones are getting better and better but at the same time, due to their limited physical size, they will never really equal a real optical zoom. Also, having different lenses for different jobs is another good point that Scatterbrained explained.
I also understand that lighting is extremely important part of the job during any kind of photoshoot sessions, especially on food. At least this thread gave me a better understanding of both technologies.

Thanks again to everyone,

Ben
 

Most reactions

Back
Top