What Separates DSLR Photos from Smartphone Photos

[rpcrowe]

I virtually never use my smartphone as a camera. If I need a small highly transportable camera, I use my wife's P&S which will give me a zoom lens as well as ISO and other controls...

[Mike Buckley]

I virtually never use my smartphone as a camera.

I wonder if there are so few cellphone users who don't use smartphones that most of them forget that cellphones took photos long before smartphones became available. I've owned two cellphones in my life, both since 2005, and one of them is my current cellphone. Both models take photos. I've never owned a smartphone. If I did, I wouldn't be a smart user, so it has never made any sense for me to own one.

I can't believe smartphone is one word, not two. That doesn't seem to be very smart to me. Dumb phone isn't one word. That does seem very smart to me.

[mknittle]

I wonder if there are so few cellphone users who don't use smartphones that most of them forget that cellphones took photos long before smartphones became available. I've owned two cellphones in my life, both since 2005, and one of them is my current cellphone. Both models take photos. I've never owned a smartphone. If I did, I wouldn't be a smart user, so it has never made any sense for me to own one. .

I too still use a stupid phone. and have no reason to switch. My wife has a smart phone and the only thing it doesn't do very well is be a telephone.
I can't believe smartphone is one word, not two. That doesn't seem to be very smart to me. Dumb phone isn't one word. That does seem very smart to me

[tclune]

What inexpensive (costs about $10 or less), small device remotely releases the shutter on a smart phone. I ask because I don't use a smart phone and have never heard of such a device.

It was intended as a joke, but I meant it the other way -- that a smart phone can be used as an inexpensive small remote for your camera. There are various such apps available, although I have never used any of them.

[marlunn]

Cost in equipment to get the shot

[Dr Bob]

I thought the "smart" part of a smart phone referred to the user. So in that case, all my phones are dumb phones.

I think it is interesting that marketing has diverted our attention away from the communication qualities of a phone to how well it takes photos or the fact it can find you a place to eat. Based on the cell phones I have had, there is plenty of room for improvement in the communication qualities of these phones. "Your smart phone takes some great photos, but how come I have trouble understanding you when you call me on it?"

Dr Bob

[Shadowman]

This company offers a printing service for smartphones.

http://www.cameracompany.com/blog/ho...iphone-photos/

[xpatUSA]

With no phone at hand I would never have got these shots, best viewed full size:

http://kronometric.org/phot/manor/cactusFlower.jpg

http://kronometric.org/phot/manor/ca...ear%20orig.jpg

I've used links because some images seem to suffer from CiC's re-sampling.

[mikesan]

My smartphone is 8MB and my current favorite DSLR (Sigma SD9) is 3.4MP. So, on that basis only, my smartphone wins

MB vs. MP Surely that's an apples to oranges comparison.. Or is it just a typo?

[tao2]

I wonder if there are so few cellphone users who don't use smartphones that most of them forget that cellphones took photos long before smartphones became available. I've owned two cellphones in my life, both since 2005, and one of them is my current cellphone. Both models take photos. I've never owned a smartphone. If I did, I wouldn't be a smart user, so it has never made any sense for me to own one.

I can't believe smartphone is one word, not two. That doesn't seem to be very smart to me. Dumb phone isn't one word. That does seem very smart to me.

Hi Mike,
if yev had a mobile (what I call mine) since 2005, then ye have a "smartphone"...

[xpatUSA]

MB vs. MP Surely that's an apples to oranges comparison.. Or is it just a typo?

Oops, yes, 8MP vs 3.4MP.

Thanks for the heads-up . .

[Mike Buckley]

Hi Mike,
if yev had a mobile (what I call mine) since 2005, then ye have a "smartphone"...

Gotta love it!

[jcuknz]

When I got my first cellphone with its 0.5Mp capability my wife was suprised that a 'photographer' would bother with it until I showed what a cellphone with reasonably good PP could be like ...I now have a 3.1Mp cellphone which impressed me when I first got it and I took photos with it resting on the table but now perhaps after two or three years of its lens being unprotected in my pocket with other stuff I doubt if it remains of any value except to make phone calls. My main beef is the impossible trigger.
But then I am not interested in a DSLR as such, though I value the features of a DSLR in my MFT GH2.

Cellphones share with other digital cameras the ability to take photos in poor conditions that I would have left my film camera in its case ... which I remember was one of the joys I found with my original 480x280 pixel Coolicam despite having fewer features than the traditional Box Brownie ... no I or T .... just I

Actually it did have T but in its chip and one needed to hold the the camera steady while it made [T]ime exposures and before that as it worked out the exposure.

[Black Pearl]

What Separates DSLR Photos from Smartphone Photos

The person using them.

There is a snobbishness in many DSLR users that stops them believing a great photograph can be taken with any camera. That is not to say all photographs can be taken with all cameras but it is possible to take a jaw dropping image with a smart phone so long as you have an open mind. Many 'enthusiasts' and a great many 'professionals' have a hell bent belief that the only possible way of taking a good picture (by that they often mean pixel level sharp - which by the way has very little to do with the image being great) is with a DSLR and that shooting with anything else is below them. This almost religious mania doesn't even stop at mobile phones but will often include mirrorless systems, compacts and any other camera that isn't a DSLR.

Would I turn up to a wedding being paid as the photographer and shoot everything on my iPhone - no.
Would I use it throughout the day to capture some lighter hearted images and supply them as part of my work - yes.
Have weddings been successfully shot entirely with an iPhone - yes - Google it.

Would I go to a sporting event and hope to capture all the action with my iPhone - no.
Would I use it along side my DSLR to take fun shots and think outside the box shots - yes.
Have sporting events been shot entirely on an iPhone - yes - the London Olympics, Google it.


Every second of every day my eye is virtually snapping images, looking for shots while a part of my brain is always ticking along looking for a photograph - I don't always have a DSLR when the processes come together and see an image but 99.999999 times out of 100 I will have my iPhone in my pocket and I wouldn't think twice about using it to take a picture. Crucially I don't ever believe I can't take it, regardless of what I've seen, I will just have a go. Sometimes it works and sometimes I do need a DSLR to get it right but I will still have a go.

What Separates DSLR Photos from Smartphone Photos

The person using them.

[Wayland]

The most important part of any camera is the ten inches behind the viewfinder.

Unfortunately most smartphones are used at arms length...

[Krawuntzel]

I am not interested in the "hammer" I use to nail a pin: I want to see the picture. (and yes: I am aware that certain pictures can not be done with a cell phone).
Erwin

[Mike Buckley]

I am aware that certain pictures can not be done with a cell phone

Keep in mind that a cell phone can make certain pictures that can't be made with a DSLR.

[flashback]

I've never owned a smartphone. If I did, I wouldn't be a smart user, so it has never made any sense for me to own one.

Funny, I said the same thing. Then my phone died and that model was no longer available. Turns out I could get a smartphone for less than what it would cost me to get something else not 'smart.' With 2GB of data use monthly, unlimited calls and texts I now pay less than half of what I paid before. Plus I have GPS/maps, can check anything anytime and, if I wasn't into photography I wouldn't have my DSLR nor would I really/rarely even need a computer.

I can't believe smartphone is one word, not two. That doesn't seem to be very smart to me. Dumb phone isn't one word. That does seem very smart to me.

Here is a page of very common compound words, like handlebar, basketball, corndog and many others.
Nope, smartphone is not on that list but, it's usage is relatively recent. In a couple of online dictionaries both smartphone and smart phone are acceptable. Funny, work boots are not a compound word, but workshop, worktable, workbench, workroom, workout, all are. Hmmmm

From Wiki
In June 1999, Qualcomm released a "CDMA Digital PCS Smartphone" with integrated Palm PDA and Internet connectivity, known as the "pdQ Smartphone".[12]

In early 2000, the Ericsson R380 was released by Ericsson Mobile Communications,[13] and was the first device marketed as a "smartphone".[14] It combined the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA), supported limited web browsing with a resistive touchscreen utilizing a stylus.[15]

So I guess a smartphone is a *type* of cell phone that combines telephony with other computer-like functions. The term dumb phone is descriptive, like blue phone, small phone, etc.

I think all the points have been made regarding cellphone (acceptable also as cell phone) vs. DSLR. To me the biggest distinction is convenience. I ALWAYS have my cellphone (technically my smartphone) with me. So irrespective of how much better an image I may get with my DSLR, I don't always/mostly/usually/hardly ever have it with me. So rather than NOT take the image, I do the best I can, then see what I can do in PP to make it worthwhile.

Out of the Camera


With some PP


Enlarged and cropped

That was a dog being held in the arms of its owner, both got out safe.

[Mike Buckley]

With 2GB of data use monthly, unlimited calls and texts I now pay less than half of what I paid before.

As I mentioned, I'm not smart. I'll check into that.

[Shadowman]

Funny, I said the same thing. Then my phone died and that model was no longer available. Turns out I could get a smartphone for less than what it would cost me to get something else not 'smart.' With 2GB of data use monthly, unlimited calls and texts I now pay less than half of what I paid before. Plus I have GPS/maps, can check anything anytime and, if I wasn't into photography I wouldn't have my DSLR nor would I really/rarely even need a computer.



Here is a page of very common compound words, like handlebar, basketball, corndog and many others.
Nope, smartphone is not on that list but, it's usage is relatively recent. In a couple of online dictionaries both smartphone and smart phone are acceptable. Funny, work boots are not a compound word, but workshop, worktable, workbench, workroom, workout, all are. Hmmmm

From Wiki
In June 1999, Qualcomm released a "CDMA Digital PCS Smartphone" with integrated Palm PDA and Internet connectivity, known as the "pdQ Smartphone".[12]

In early 2000, the Ericsson R380 was released by Ericsson Mobile Communications,[13] and was the first device marketed as a "smartphone".[14] It combined the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA), supported limited web browsing with a resistive touchscreen utilizing a stylus.[15]

So I guess a smartphone is a *type* of cell phone that combines telephony with other computer-like functions. The term dumb phone is descriptive, like blue phone, small phone, etc.

I think all the points have been made regarding cellphone (acceptable also as cell phone) vs. DSLR. To me the biggest distinction is convenience. I ALWAYS have my cellphone (technically my smartphone) with me. So irrespective of how much better an image I may get with my DSLR, I don't always/mostly/usually/hardly ever have it with me. So rather than NOT take the image, I do the best I can, then see what I can do in PP to make it worthwhile.

Out of the Camera


With some PP


Enlarged and cropped

That was a dog being held in the arms of its owner, both got out safe.

Jack,

Nice examples.