Bill Pierce
Well-known
With the introduction of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max we see the continuing upgrade of the cell phone as a camera for both stills and motion. For some time now pros have used the phone on the street, in war zones and in other places where a camera might be thought of intrusive and unwelcome. Indeed, several feature films have been made with cell phones, although mounting a cell phone on a full sized crane seems to somewhat cancel the advantages of the phone’s small size.
But for most folks that small size is a real advantage, not just a tiny camera they can slip into a pocket and always have with them, but a phone and computer too - all for more or or less a thousand dollars. I’m told that understandably sales of lower priced digital cameras, the family snapshot cameras, have really been hurt by cell phones, and understandably so.
But, for the more serious photographer does a cell phone camera make sense? Of course, the answer is “It depends.” At least, at the present, the small sensor puts a limit on the quality of large prints or prints from cropped sections of an image. Notice we are talking prints. If all your photographs, stills and motion, end up on a computer screen, you are not going to notice much difference in image quality between the phone and a camera with a larger sensor.
Even with prints, a cell phone is going to look good with 8 1/2 x11 prints - but large prints or prints cropped from a small section of the file - not so good.
That for me is one of the two reasons I stick with cameras. The walls of my home are covered with fairly large framed prints. In the living room and studio - other folks pictures… but in the hallways, offices and bedrooms - my pictures. And there are occasional prints in gallery and museum shows along with those in permanent collections at museums and with a few collectors and a lot of friends. (And prints are important for another reason, they last compared to the signals on a hard disc.) (And a lot of those prints are from cropped sections of the image.)
There is one other major reason that I prefer cameras to cell phones. I’m a viewfinder person compared to an LCD screen person. I really feel silly holding a camera at arm’s length and staring at a small screen, especially in bright daylight when I can’t even see the screen image.
There are a lot of other reasons I prefer conventional cameras to cell phones including being an old person with a lifetime with cameras and living in an area with bad cell reception. But cell phones are a viable alternative to conventional cameras in many situations. What are your thoughts - cell phone yes, cell phone no, cell phone some of the time. And, of course, most important, why?
But for most folks that small size is a real advantage, not just a tiny camera they can slip into a pocket and always have with them, but a phone and computer too - all for more or or less a thousand dollars. I’m told that understandably sales of lower priced digital cameras, the family snapshot cameras, have really been hurt by cell phones, and understandably so.
But, for the more serious photographer does a cell phone camera make sense? Of course, the answer is “It depends.” At least, at the present, the small sensor puts a limit on the quality of large prints or prints from cropped sections of an image. Notice we are talking prints. If all your photographs, stills and motion, end up on a computer screen, you are not going to notice much difference in image quality between the phone and a camera with a larger sensor.
Even with prints, a cell phone is going to look good with 8 1/2 x11 prints - but large prints or prints cropped from a small section of the file - not so good.
That for me is one of the two reasons I stick with cameras. The walls of my home are covered with fairly large framed prints. In the living room and studio - other folks pictures… but in the hallways, offices and bedrooms - my pictures. And there are occasional prints in gallery and museum shows along with those in permanent collections at museums and with a few collectors and a lot of friends. (And prints are important for another reason, they last compared to the signals on a hard disc.) (And a lot of those prints are from cropped sections of the image.)
There is one other major reason that I prefer cameras to cell phones. I’m a viewfinder person compared to an LCD screen person. I really feel silly holding a camera at arm’s length and staring at a small screen, especially in bright daylight when I can’t even see the screen image.
There are a lot of other reasons I prefer conventional cameras to cell phones including being an old person with a lifetime with cameras and living in an area with bad cell reception. But cell phones are a viable alternative to conventional cameras in many situations. What are your thoughts - cell phone yes, cell phone no, cell phone some of the time. And, of course, most important, why?
