Camera Phones

[jabbakris]

hi guys.. just want to ask if you have any tips on how to properly use a cameraphone to produce good looking pictures.. thanks

[Fallacy]

Considering that most camera phones are less than three mega pixels I'd say you're going to have an extremely hard time getting quality photos out of them.

[Colin Southern]

I wouldn't be too worried by a low MP count (unless it's something like 0.3MP) - you can still make a good print at 6 x 4 or 9 x 6 or thereabouts.

The biggest issues are the size of the sensor and the quality of the optics (or lack thereof). Not much you can do about the optics, but the small sensor will have two main limitations that you may be able to work around; Poor low-light performance, and poor dynamic range.

So - to answer the question - in terms of lighting conditions, try to photograph in locations where there are good lighting levels (eg not night shots), and try to avoid scenes where there are large variations in lighting (eg bright lights behind your subject or visable windows etc).

At the end of the day though they're not going to compete particularly well against even an inexpensive compact camera.

Does this help?

[dan88]

At the end of the day though they're not going to compete particularly well against even an inexpensive compact camera.

So true. Camera phones are really quite shocking - especially in low light. If your camera has AF (auto-focus), I find the best shots are acheived when the subject is between 0.5m to 2m away... Further than that, and they seem to struggle with keeping everything in focus. If you have a fixed-focus camera, you're going to find almost all shots are going to be slightly out of focus and definitely not as sharp as what a compact camera could ever achieve.

Even with 5MP on a camera phone (and AF), I find it can be difficult to get a shot that's sharp and noise free. As you'll see in the example below, the lattice and the wheelbarrow in the background is out of focus and has a fair amount of noise.

(cropped)

My opinion is to sell your camera phone (if it's expensive) and purchase a mediocre phone and a compact camera if you are looking to get quality, sharp pictures as the phone will never be able to produce what a dedicated device can do. If you want to take pictures of moving subjects, camera phones (from my experience) struggle and will blur the subject.

[Colin Southern]

Still, I can see that the photo wasn't a complete cat-astrophy

[dan88]

Still, I can see that the photo wasn't a complete cat-astrophy

haha I believe you and my father would get along as you have a very similar style of humour! I was trying to illustrate though that it doesn't seem to matter what camera you get on a phone, they'll always be sub-par to a dedicated...

[Wirefox]

Everything seems compromised on a cell phone even the simple task of making and receiving calls. The nearest thing to a useful gadget I have had is my Blackberry. I have never used it as a camera but I am guessing it is pretty rubbish. Now if Canon were to bring out a phone I may be tempted. It could be fiddly changing lenses and I guess you could not have your 430 EX mounted when making a call...but hey that is what hands free was designed for.

[Bill44]

hi guys.. just want to ask if you have any tips on how to properly use a cameraphone to produce good looking pictures.. thanks

The proper use for a camera phone to take good pictures is achieved by placing it in your pocket while you use your DSLR.

[dan88]

the proper use for a camera phone to take good pictures is achieved by placing it in your pocket while you use your dslr.

haha this is gold!