Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR II

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Clearly at the macro level (Close Up) there is a massive difference in what a simple lensed camerephone and a DSLR with a specialist marco lens captures. Its probably not a fair comparison. Beginning with the exposure, the depth of field, and colour fidelity everything is better in the top row, yet you can still recognize what has been photographed by the phone.

Comparing Cameraphone & DSLR autostitches

These were taken at different times of the day, so the lighting may account for much of the differences in exposure and colour saturation. However in terms of clarity it is hard to see a distinct difference between the resulting photos after being autostitched.

Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR IV

One reason for using a camera is the concept of an “aide mémoire”, but I always carry a sketchpad as well as a camera. I actually prefer “en plein air” painting and sketching to copying photos, but having said that it is always nice to have photographic reference material when completing any at work. So how do the camerphones images compare with my sketchbook. Is that even a fair comparison?

Using the viewfinder helps frame the image and set some boundaries of what I might put on the page. It helps convert the complex 2D world I see into the perspective of a 2D plane. Compared with my tonal pencil sketch above it does provide colour reference, yet there is a range of colour intensity between the photos. So as a painter, I feel that a camera phone will be a perfectly acceptable way to collect photo reference. One advantage of the DSLR is I can zoom in and get a bit more detail on a specific part of my subject. However I still believe a sketchbook is a much better way for an artist to really get a sense of the place.

As an interesting side note I have been trying out a few photographic apps for my android phone. I like the idea of being able to try out a free version, before having to buy the “Pro” version. One such app is called Camera Fun and it simply provides a set of in camera filters. I like this one called simply Sketch. There are lots of such filters in Photoshop and other photo packages and I have tended to avoid using them.  Ok they are very gimmicky, but Camera Fun is immediate and fun 

Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR III

2.0 mega pixel	5.0 mega pixel	14.6 mega pixel
Nokia 6120 classic	HTC Wildfire	Pentax 20d DLSR

My research into what differences between cameraphones continue in this series, and now there is a new smartphone (an HTC wildfire) with a 5 mega pixel camera in the middle. I was looking for a suspected colour bias and saturation, and the tendency to overexpose. All three issues are present to some extent in the cameraphone images and at the same time those photos are adequate as records. In other words having a cameraphone is way better than no photo at all. If you want a really good photo use a Digital SLR. If you just want a record a cameraphone is fine, and they are improving a lot.

Comparing a Cameraphone & DSLR I

vs
Which is which?