Question for the photographers about a camera

[BeachMouse1]

So as a part time local I am in the parks often. I take loads of pictures my iPhone 15. I don’t feel they come as good as some of the pictures I see taken with an SLR camera. I keep looking online and sometimes people say the iPhone is as good as many SLR cameras out there but as I said my pictures don’t seem to be as good

I am no professional photographer and don’t plan on being one but I enjoy taking pictures. So looking for opinions on this.

Also for an amateur if I decided to get an SLR camera what would you recommend?

Any insight on this iPhone vs SLR camera debate is much appreciated

 

[Joanna71985]

I have a Nikon d7500, and I love it!

 

[wabbott]

Back several lifetimes ago, I used to tote an SLR for WDW and other vacations. Used Kodak VR 1000 film to shoot the Main Street Electrical Parade, and it was a PITA to set up a tripod @ Main Street Station balcony 1 1/2 hours before the parade. But I got some decent pics.

But nowadays, my Samsung S23 takes as good a pic as I've ever seen, or need. I've framed several and display them on the wall at home. Long-distance photos sometimes have a slight blur that probably would be better with an SLR and an 800 mm lens, or some such.

But the portability, speed and handiness factor of a phone more than make up for the slight improvement in quality that you may get with an SLR.

I shot this with my phone a year ago last April. The color fidelity is accurate. To me, it's suitable for framing.

 

[fla4fun]

So as a part time local I am in the parks often. I take loads of pictures my iPhone 15. I don’t feel they come as good as some of the pictures I see taken with an SLR camera. I keep looking online and sometimes people say the iPhone is as good as many SLR cameras out there but as I said my pictures don’t seem to be as good

I am no professional photographer and don’t plan on being one but I enjoy taking pictures. So looking for opinions on this.

Also for an amateur if I decided to get an SLR camera what would you recommend?

Any insight on this iPhone vs SLR camera debate is much appreciated

It’s less about the equipment and more about the photographer. A good photographer can get excellent photos from a phone. A mediocre photographer will get poor results from the most expensive DSLR.

As with many things, the key is experience. If you want to improve your photos, practice. Learn about composition, lighting, movement, etc.

I have a Canon DSLR, my sister has a Nikon DLSR, and my BIL has an Olympus mirrorless. They are all capable of great photos, but we tend to use them primarily if we are on a once in a lifetime trip, if we want to enlarge the photo substantially, or if the conditions might challenge a phone camera. Probably 90% of the time you will see us taking photos with our phones.

Before investing money in new equipment, learn as much as you can about photography and practice with what you already have. You may find that with a little time and effort, you can get the results you are looking for. Phones have a lot of different settings but most people leave them set on the default. Change it up!

There also the category of point and shoot cameras and bridge/zoom cameras. Some of these can take excellent photos, but personally I feel that phone cameras can produce equal results. I do have a Canon bridge camera, but I use it primarily for video where I will be zooming in and out frequently (such as at an air show) since it zooms much more smoothly than my phone or DSLR for that particular purpose. If I didn’t already have it, I would not be buying one these days.

If you decide you want to get a DSLR, any of the big name brands can work well. You don’t have to buy the most expensive model (although you may not want to buy the cheapest model either). It boils down to which one is the best fit for you ergonomically. They will all have the same basic buttons but they will be in different areas, and there can be differences in size and weight. Some may feel better for a left handed person, and others for a right handed person. Perhaps compare a mirrored DSLR to a mirrorless one. You should find a store that carries the brand you are interested in and physically pick them up, even if you ultimately plan to buy online. Also consider how often you plan to use a DSLR. It will be heavier and more cumbersome than a phone. How often do you think you will want to carry the extra weight and accessories like lenses, spare batteries and memory cards? There is a big difference between pulling a phone from your pocket and carrying a DSLR plus accessories.

Have fun, whatever decision you make!

 

[wabbott]

What fla4fun said. It could be your settings, but I'm never owned an I-phone. With your phone, you may be "punching" the screen and getting some vibration there. And there may be some setting to compensate for that.

One thing I remember from my SLR days was not to punch or snap the shutter release. Gently press it, like squeezing the trigger on a rifle.

And take several shots of the same view, which is something we couldn't afford to do back when we had to buy film and pay for developing.

Of course there's the basic stuff like having the sun at your back for daytime shots, etc. I like to think my lifetime of reading Nat Geo magazines and looking at their pics have given me a little bit of knowledge.

 

[BeachMouse1]

It’s less about the equipment and more about the photographer. A good photographer can get excellent photos from a phone. A mediocre photographer will get poor results from the most expensive DSLR.

As with many things, the key is experience. If you want to improve your photos, practice. Learn about composition, lighting, movement, etc.

I have a Canon DSLR, my sister has a Nikon DLSR, and my BIL has an Olympus mirrorless. They are all capable of great photos, but we tend to use them primarily if we are on a once in a lifetime trip, if we want to enlarge the photo substantially, or if the conditions might challenge a phone camera. Probably 90% of the time you will see us taking photos with our phones.

Before investing money in new equipment, learn as much as you can about photography and practice with what you already have. You may find that with a little time and effort, you can get the results you are looking for. Phones have a lot of different settings but most people leave them set on the default. Change it up!

There also the category of point and shoot cameras and bridge/zoom cameras. Some of these can take excellent photos, but personally I feel that phone cameras can produce equal results. I do have a Canon bridge camera, but I use it primarily for video where I will be zooming in and out frequently (such as at an air show) since it zooms much more smoothly than my phone or DSLR for that particular purpose. If I didn’t already have it, I would not be buying one these days.

If you decide you want to get a DSLR, any of the big name brands can work well. You don’t have to buy the most expensive model (although you may not want to buy the cheapest model either). It boils down to which one is the best fit for you ergonomically. They will all have the same basic buttons but they will be in different areas, and there can be differences in size and weight. Some may feel better for a left handed person, and others for a right handed person. Perhaps compare a mirrored DSLR to a mirrorless one. You should find a store that carries the brand you are interested in and physically pick them up, even if you ultimately plan to buy online. Also consider how often you plan to use a DSLR. It will be heavier and more cumbersome than a phone. How often do you think you will want to carry the extra weight and accessories like lenses, spare batteries and memory cards? There is a big difference between pulling a phone from your pocket and carrying a DSLR plus accessories.

Have fun, whatever decision you make!

Thank you. This is much appreciated. I am going to start watching videos on iPhone photography and do what I can to learn about photography. I was hesitant about making a big investment in a camera and not getting anything better quality

 

[Rayyan]

iPhones (especially the 15) are really good these days, but there's still something about the depth, control, and versatility you get with a real SLR—especially in tricky lighting or if you want that creamy background blur. xx

If you're just getting started, maybe look into a used Canon EOS Rebel or Nikon D3500—they’re beginner-friendly and won’t break the bank.. at the end of the day, though, it’s more about how you shoot than what you shoot with. xx Keep snapping!

Recommended: What’s the best unlocked phone with good storage and camera for Wi-Fi use?

 

[seashoreCM]

... {I} was hesitant about making a big investment in a camera and not getting anything better quality ...

You can practice framing the picture and doing composition using any camera or phone. Then if/when you feel you are expert enough to compose the shot as you want it, you can think about investing in a "better" camera.

It might not be that easy to critique the picture subject matter using the tiny screen on the back of a camera (or a phone's own screen) but spending time examining it closely should work out fine..

Try not to make a habit of standing back much more and taking a very wide angle view expecting to crop a picture to size for framing when you get back home;. The result will be less resolution (less sharpness) of the final picture. But some cropping can't be avoided especially when the finished framed picture will have a different shape (aspect ratio) from what was taken.

 

[jec6613]

First thing's first: up your compositional skill first, then get a camera once you see how your phone is holding you back creatively. Second, if you can afford it, get one of the latest generation mirrorless cameras, as there's been a leap in automation and autofocus performance in the current generation. As of today, the lowest priced cameras with the new processors are the Nikon Z50II, Sony A6700, and Nikon Z5II.

A dedicated camera is capable of giving much better results - and the simple explanation is the physics of optics. With today's phones and cameras, the limiting factors in quality are how many photons hit the sensor, and how big the lens opening (called aperture) is.

When you have fewer photons, and the random nature of photons takes over and creates noisy images - not a big deal in bright sunlight, but it becomes a problem in lower light. Phones try to make up for this by taking a short video (yes, the sensor goes into video mode for this trick) and then using the individual video frames to composite a lower light image together, but this is a poor substitute for a bigger sensor. And even in bright light, the larger sensor can see substantially more detail in shadows and bright sections of the frame than your phone can.

The second part is the size of the lens aperture. Basically, the bigger the opening, the less you're impacted by optics issues, and the more you can blur your background or foreground.

So, two instructive images to show the difference. These were both taken with an APS-C sized sensor camera using a basic zoom lens. Interestingly, all illustrate something you could even do with a film camera that you can't with your phone.

The first is a simple photo, but two callouts: first, the light was low enough that my Galaxy S22 could not take a sharp image, and this was just in heavy overcast. Second, if you look carefully, you will notice how the trees in the background are slightly blurred, almost looking like they were taken on a cell phone, while the sign itself (especially the letter L) is very sharp. On a big screen or print, this much more apparent, Disboards really cuts down the resolution.


This second image takes depth of field to much farther (using an APS-C camera and zoom lens, anyway) - the ability to blur the foreground and focus on Thaddeus Toad.



And, just for fun, if you get really into it as a hobby and want to really push it, and are willing to carry the gear, you can do something like this. No, I don't carry an over 2 pound lens attached to a similar sized camera into Disney parks usually.