2018 SmartPhone as the 'Main' camera?
Discussion
I use to have a bag full of Cannon DSlR gear but after my much loved Cannon 17-55 f2.8 lens broke so I thought it would be a great excuse to move to a smaller kit size and move over to the Olympus system via a EM-5 II.
More recently however with a toddler to chase around I find my self almost always using my S7 to take photos.
All the reviews on the web rave about the cameras on the 2018 phones, S9/Huawei/Pixel/iPhone, but the prices of these are more than what I paid for my EM-5!!
But last week I stumbled on a S9 deal I just couldnt pass on, and with S7 2.5 years old seemed like a good time to swap.
Though the EM-5 with the kit lens is nice and compact compared to a DSLR, compared to a S9 its a monster, not forgetting the most important bit, I nearly always have my phone with me, where as the EM-5 only really comes out on holiday these days.
Whilst on holiday this week I thought I try to not default to the S9 but use the EM-5 for a few shots......The results
In bright day light the S9 captures an amazing amount of detail at full 100% crop the EM-5 with a kit lens is better but no one views photos at 100% crop apart from review website.
For depth of field even with fancy software the S9 cannot match the EM-5 with a kit lens and the software does some funny things, look at the odd black area under the yellow flower. Put on something like the 12-40 f2.8 to the EM-5 and the difference will be huge.
But when it works it works really well, and you need to look really carefully to tell the AI magic rather than lens magic....
The AI magic also allows some shots which are pretty much impossible without a change of lens on a DSLR/Mirroless. One photo is taken with a 10mm wideangle lens on my old 550D, other on the S9. Yes you can tell the difference but still amazing result from a phone.
In low light not massively off the perfomance of the EM-5. Same shot from both camera. The dynamic range is also very impressive on the S9.
Finally I tried the manual settings on the S9, found a interesting subject in very low light, to say I was pleased with the result is an understatement!!!
These shots are straight from the phone, and on 100% crop good enough for us to print and we plan to use as wall art after some processing.
Add in the next AI advances in photography on like the Google Nightsight I'm not sure how much my EM-5 is going to get used now, which is crazy since S9 has plastics lens with a microscopic sensor.
Whilst in Dubai I had a play with the Samsung A9, 4 lens with dedicated zoom and wideangle, £500ish, massive battery..... I suspect this has as so much photographic potential most owners woudlnt really push it any where near to its limits.
More recently however with a toddler to chase around I find my self almost always using my S7 to take photos.
All the reviews on the web rave about the cameras on the 2018 phones, S9/Huawei/Pixel/iPhone, but the prices of these are more than what I paid for my EM-5!!
But last week I stumbled on a S9 deal I just couldnt pass on, and with S7 2.5 years old seemed like a good time to swap.
Though the EM-5 with the kit lens is nice and compact compared to a DSLR, compared to a S9 its a monster, not forgetting the most important bit, I nearly always have my phone with me, where as the EM-5 only really comes out on holiday these days.
Whilst on holiday this week I thought I try to not default to the S9 but use the EM-5 for a few shots......The results
In bright day light the S9 captures an amazing amount of detail at full 100% crop the EM-5 with a kit lens is better but no one views photos at 100% crop apart from review website.
For depth of field even with fancy software the S9 cannot match the EM-5 with a kit lens and the software does some funny things, look at the odd black area under the yellow flower. Put on something like the 12-40 f2.8 to the EM-5 and the difference will be huge.
But when it works it works really well, and you need to look really carefully to tell the AI magic rather than lens magic....
The AI magic also allows some shots which are pretty much impossible without a change of lens on a DSLR/Mirroless. One photo is taken with a 10mm wideangle lens on my old 550D, other on the S9. Yes you can tell the difference but still amazing result from a phone.
In low light not massively off the perfomance of the EM-5. Same shot from both camera. The dynamic range is also very impressive on the S9.
Finally I tried the manual settings on the S9, found a interesting subject in very low light, to say I was pleased with the result is an understatement!!!
These shots are straight from the phone, and on 100% crop good enough for us to print and we plan to use as wall art after some processing.
Add in the next AI advances in photography on like the Google Nightsight I'm not sure how much my EM-5 is going to get used now, which is crazy since S9 has plastics lens with a microscopic sensor.
Whilst in Dubai I had a play with the Samsung A9, 4 lens with dedicated zoom and wideangle, £500ish, massive battery..... I suspect this has as so much photographic potential most owners woudlnt really push it any where near to its limits.
Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 24th November 20:46
After my son was born I fell into the trap of using my iPhone for pretty much all my photography. I got some great results. However, on the rare occasions that my full frame DSLR came out the difference in quality was immediately noticeable.
I ended up switching to a Fuji X-T2 and for me that is the sweetspot between portability and image quality.
I ended up switching to a Fuji X-T2 and for me that is the sweetspot between portability and image quality.
As I mentioned on another thread, it's the REALLY tiny sensor in phones that will constrain.
Along with the shutter lag, lack of proper glass, dof control, choice of interchangeable lenses, low light ability, file size... I could go on.
Phone pics are still really good mind. Use them myself. However, they are not in the same room as proper cameras... yet!
My current camera creates +/- 90 mb tiff files which will allow big prints at decent res. My phone takes phone calls and texts, and can put good quality images on the web.
I guess it's want you want.
Along with the shutter lag, lack of proper glass, dof control, choice of interchangeable lenses, low light ability, file size... I could go on.
Phone pics are still really good mind. Use them myself. However, they are not in the same room as proper cameras... yet!
My current camera creates +/- 90 mb tiff files which will allow big prints at decent res. My phone takes phone calls and texts, and can put good quality images on the web.
I guess it's want you want.
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 27th November 18:13
GetCarter said:
As I mentioned on another thread, it's the REALLY tiny sensor in phones that will constrain.
Along with the shutter lag, lack of proper glass, dof control, choice of interchangeable lenses, low light ability, file size... I could go on.
Phone pics are still really good mind. Use them myself. However, they are not in the same room as proper cameras... yet!
My current camera creates +/- 90 mb tiff files which will allow big prints at decent res. My phone takes phone calls and texts, and can put good quality images on the web.
I guess it's want you want.
That reminds of the iPhone advert currently on TV that proudly proclaims it can produce "studio quality portraits". Phones have come a long a way, but no phone is producing what most here would consider studio quality.Along with the shutter lag, lack of proper glass, dof control, choice of interchangeable lenses, low light ability, file size... I could go on.
Phone pics are still really good mind. Use them myself. However, they are not in the same room as proper cameras... yet!
My current camera creates +/- 90 mb tiff files which will allow big prints at decent res. My phone takes phone calls and texts, and can put good quality images on the web.
I guess it's want you want.
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 27th November 18:13
I occasionally think about contributing to the thread for phone pics but I almost invariably find that what looks decent on the phone screen looks p1sh on my laptop if I look a bit closer so I don't bother! For quick snaps in good light they're fine but still not in the league of a decent camera IMHO 
GetCarter said:
As I mentioned on another thread, it's the REALLY tiny sensor in phones that will constrain.
Along with the shutter lag, lack of proper glass, dof control, choice of interchangeable lenses, low light ability, file size... I could go on.
Phone pics are still really good mind. Use them myself. However, they are not in the same room as proper cameras... yet!
Phones will never be as good as a 'proper' camera, but how many people actually need the quality of a proper camera?Along with the shutter lag, lack of proper glass, dof control, choice of interchangeable lenses, low light ability, file size... I could go on.
Phone pics are still really good mind. Use them myself. However, they are not in the same room as proper cameras... yet!
The most quality I need is if its good enough for prints for the house. So far all the pictures printed are from my old DSLR and current EM 5. This xmas will print some photos from the S9 and see whats it like.
The software side is really interesting, as our own eyes are actually only capable of producing some really rubbish, very limited focal/FOV images, its the brain which turns the rubbish image into what we perceive as vision.
Combine the optical lens quality of a big camera/sensor with the AI processing Google and likes is now doing and I suspect cameras will pretty soon produce some beyond images our eyes just cannot see. HDR is already a basic example of this.
Edited by gangzoom on Friday 30th November 11:07
RBS Bob said:
What was the deal on the S9 you got?
Looking to get one myself.
Ta.
£230 for £15/month. Some better deals appeared on Black Friday, one was £0 upfront and than £16/month - slight catch was this required cash to be 'claimed back' every quater.Looking to get one myself.
Ta.
No way is the S9 worth the intial £700 launch price to me. Current deals are much palatable.
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