As the smartphone revolution continues apace, there seem to be more and more exaggerated claims about what these things can do. There's lots of words written about the benefits of computational photography for example and the assumption is that we don't need stand alone cameras and lenses anymore, because these advanced smartphones can handle everything. I have both an iPhone and a Huawei P40 pro and yes I use them for my 'serious' photography, so have I succumbed to the notion that stand alone cameras and lenses are a thing of the past?
Well the answer to that is no. Yes Smartphones are very impressive these days and for most people who shoot snapshots and pictures for social media, they are mostly enough. Though trying to shoot in low light without flash is still a challenge. But photography, being an art form, requires more than a snapshot aesthetic. Just ask any wildlife or sports photographer whether they use a smartphone and you will realise that there are many forms of photography that smartphone cameras don't and probably never will handle the needs of many photographers.
- The sensors are still too small
- Smartphones are still very poor in low light
- The lens options are seriously limited
- A lot of the technology is 'clunky' and in many cases simply doesn't work
- Computational photography is nowhere near as good as it's claimed to be
- Some apps are simply a joke and don't do what they are supposed to do
- You really can't just add a lot of megapixels and claim you are getting more detail
- A lot of smartphone add-ons are poor quality
- Believe it or not holding a smartphone vertically with one hand doesn't produce good results
- There is way too much processing on smartphone jpgs.
And these are just some of the problems. For example Adobe have just introduced their amazing super resolution mode for creating huge blowups. I tried this on my smartphone images, thinking it might produce larger high quality images. Well it didn't. The increase in resolution just showed up the flaws in those small sensors and tiny lenses. Proving that you can't ignore physics after all.
The other thing to remember is that while smartphones are improving quickly, so are stand alone cameras. The things that some of the latest models are capable of in terms of resolution and speed are simply amazing. Lenses are getting sharper and the possibilities the new cameras offer are mind boggling. Now I've often said that sales of 'conventional' cameras are probably going to go back to film camera sales levels. It is obvious that camera companies will have to stop making cheap and cheerful compact cameras as smartphones have taken over that territory. Though I have to say, I do see a lot of people still using them. But overall the move to more upmarket pro and semi pro models is good to see. No matter what happens there will still be a market for serious photographers to keep using this kind of gear.
There is also the fact that not everyone likes using a smartphone. I like the big screens sure but I've just bought one of the 12.9" iPads and while the image on that huge screen is fantastic for composition, the whole thing is not a pleasure to use. And smartphones for me are too slippy, they keep turning themselves off to save power and even the best screens struggle in very bright sunlight. I also don't like fake bokeh. Because I can't control it. Some smartphones offer a range of 'apertures. But once you get down lower than f/2.8 they become unusable. I also don't like the idea of holding the thing out in front of me. I like viewfinders. Firstly using them close to me makes the whole thing more stable and secondly using a viewfinder helps to separate what's going on around me, which smartphones don't.
And yes, I have to say it, My stand alone cameras look cooler and are much more pleasant to use. As you know I have recently switched to Fuji cameras from Nikon and I just love the retro look and feels of them. I'm not the slightest bit bothered about the fact that smartphones are pocketable and I like carrying an aesthetic retro style camera. My Fuji X-Pro 3 is wonderful to use. I love the fact that I can hide the screen and stop 'chimping' every picture. It's a personal thing sure, but I prefer that way of working.
Finally and probably what puts me off a lot of smartphones is the results. I find my smartphone images are somewhat flat in terms of colour and contrast etc. Yes you can change the look of the photos but I always feel that smartphone makers don't seem to understand what makes an attractive image. There is also the fact that everything being in focus all the time also contributes to that flatness. I do have to process my smartphone images a lot in Photoshop to get the results I like and it seems no accident to me that a lot of social media sites, especially Instagram, have a lot of filters to change the look of an image.
I really don't have a lot against smartphones. I use them and they produce good results for me, however I like using 'proper' cameras much more. Now I've written about this before, but it does make a point. I'm often in my local Apple store and I've met a lot of keen photographers there amongst the staff. And none of the ones I talk to use iPhones. They are all DSLR users and in a couple of cases shoot on film. Now quite what that says is open to interpretation, but what I take from it is that those people who find they have developed a serious interest in photography find smartphones limiting. Now whether this is still the same in a few years time, we'll have to wait and see. But my suspicion is that things won't change that much. The only way it will is that smartphone cameras get bigger and surely that then defeats the point of them.
