Has my smartphone ruined me as a photographer?

[jbrubaker]

I have had many successfull years with analog photography, much of the time using a view camera with 4x5 film. That was about 20 years ago. Lately, I always have my phone with me (Pixel 2) so I'm covered if a photo opportunity presents itself. This phone camera is so good, I can grab a photo in just about any kind of light and get something usable. It does some kind of auto HDR thing so the highlights are preserved and shadows are boosted. - it's really pretty amazing. Also, the image stabilization prevents motion blurring very effectively. So here's the problem - now that I'm making an effort to shoot some fim again, I find I don't have that eye for lighting that's necessary to pick a good subject. I find that I might need to have a tripod with me. If I don't watch my shutter speed closely, I will get motion blurring, etc. I need to be re-trained. Has anybody else felt this way after returning to film?

 

[Godfrey]

"Ruined" is a pretty strong word: I wouldn't worry so much. You're just out of practice shooting film, with all its limitations and issues. Get into the groove and it will be just fine.

Modern, automated, digital cameras (like your smart phone has) allow us to work without having to think about everything we need to think about when shooting film, that's all. We simply need to practice thinking in film-required ways for a little bit when we swap recording medium and it all comes back. Most film has less available dynamic range, and of course much more restrictive sensitivity: it requires you pay attention in ways that just don't matter as much with the flexibility of a digital camera.

I run into this every time I pick up a Polaroid-SX70 camera after being away from it for a bit. The first few exposures always look awful to my eyes, then I realize what I'm doing that's ridiculous given the medium, adjust my thinking to suit it, and what starts to happen then is good pictures again... 😀

 

[Ko.Fe.]

For 4x5 view camera tripod is a must. And honestly, it is much more easier to pickup something with mobile phone then with 4x5. 😀

Also, about 20 years ago almost any picture in focus, without crooked horizon, exposed correctly and developed right, plus, printed nicely was success indeed.
But now phones are so smart... 😉

 

[ptpdprinter]

Why would you blame your smartphone for your current predicament? Why do people always look to their equipment as the culprit or the savior?

 

[Gregm61]

I've never thought enough of taking pictures with my phone to be that messed up, LOL...

As a way to take a picture of my parking spot the airport so I remember where the heck I parked my car a couple of days later, that's the extent to which I use my phone to take pictures.

 

[Keith]

Smart phones are for photographing breakfast, lunch or dinner and uploading to social media. 😀

On a more serious note as convenient as they are a small compact point and shoot is a far better option in my opinion.

 

[css9450]

When I'm rusty, it makes no difference: film, digital or phone. Rusty is rusty.

 

[benlees]

Like going back to driving a standard transmission vehicle after spending time with an automatic. Different, for sure, with pros and cons for each. Doesn't ruin anything, though, provided you know how to drive a standard. 😛

 

[Godfrey]

I've never thought enough of taking pictures with my phone to be that messed up, LOL...

As a way to take a picture of my parking spot the airport so I remember where the heck I parked my car a couple of days later, that's the extent to which I use my phone to take pictures.

Smart phones are for photographing breakfast, lunch or dinner and uploading to social media. 😀

On a more serious note as convenient as they are a small compact point and shoot is a far better option in my opinion.

I dunno. I've sold a half a dozen nice prints of this photo, taken with my iPhone 6:

​

There's no accounting for taste, but I do think it's a nice photograph ... or I wouldn't have featured it on Flickr.com. 😀

G

 

[Steve M.]

I like my smart phone, but it has lots and lots of of limitations. It's mostly good for snaps, downloaded photos don't look nearly as nice as on the phone's screen, and taking selfies is pretty ugly because a wide angle lens is the absolute wrong lens for that. So it's important to understand the limitations.

As for it dumbing you down, just spend an hour or two w/ a film camera closely observing the light and it will all become clear again. This one I don't understand anyway. With digital, you actually have to pay more attention to lighting because digital has no where near the usable exposure range of film, especially B&W film. Digital will blow out the highlights and muddy the shadows in a New York Minute compared to something like Tri-X. Plus, you can do things like underexpose your film and over develop it and pull out all sorts of detail that would not even exist w/ a digital file.

Yes, I know, digital camera makers tout all manner of things about dynamic range and exposure latitude, but I am talking about actual visible detail that is clean, not numbers and zeros. That's what is so wonderful about those film cameras....they give you an ability to pull out good shots even if we badly screw up the exposures. A phone is handy, but it's digital, and it has a small sensor and a fixed lens. That's sort of the long and the short of it.

 

[Bill Clark]

I like using my iPhone for making photographs. It is in my pocket much more so than any camera I own.

It has features I sometimes use such as video and pano. It also has time-lapse and slo-mo which is fun to use.

I also like to send a photo or two using email and/or use the message app.

Same principles I use to make a photograph with any of my cameras I use with my iPhone.

Smiles and fun!

 

[Axel]

... I need to be re-trained. Has anybody else felt this way after returning to film?

Same problem occurs when you "return" to manual expose on a digital cam after using automatics for a longer time.

I shoot manual whenever it is possible.
Film or digital. No problems, continuous training 😉

 

[Richard G]

I miss my iPhone 3GS. The images from that had character. Not quite like an uncoated Elmar, but a certain something. Subsequent iPhones the camera is too good as outlined in the original post. I’ve grabbed some wonderful shots, but rarely of the cat: the phone is just too slow. With film you get less than what Apple delivers. And less is more. I’ve spent the last few weeks with a Hasselblad. Dark slide out, mirror pre-release, wind on to be able to change lenses, dark slide back in to change film backs etc etc. handheld light meter, or Sunny 16. It would be hard not to get a few images that impress you that it is all worth it. And that’s if you’ve never used film before. And many of those smart phone shots have made you an even better photographer in the meantime. Enjoy shooting some film again.

 

[kshapero]

Last year I did a fantastic Jeep trip into the Negev Desert. Was Photologing daily to friends back home. So easy to do with my iPhone that I rather forgot about my camera. Now with this dongle I can upload the camera files to my iPhone immediately. Beep, problem solved.

This a third party product. It uploads photos automatically to your phone.

 

[35photo]

Why would you blame your smartphone for your current predicament? Why do people always look to their equipment as the culprit or the savior?

EXACTLY!! Look at your vision...

 

[cz23]

Smart phones are for photographing breakfast, lunch or dinner and uploading to social media....

Tell that to Steven Soderbergh: https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/30/movies-shot-on-iphone/

 

[GulfCoastPhotog]

I tend to use cameras more, when using the IPhone means fumbling around a lot due to not using it much. the IPhone 6 makes good photos, just need to use it more. But doubt that happens.

David

 

[Richard G]

I frequently forget that I always have that camera in my pocket. Occasionally I get a gem only because of it. More often I explain that I didn’t have a camera with me, when of course I did.