Is the Best Smartphone Camera Better Than a DSLR?

 

Is a Smartphone Camera Good Enough?

Photography, as we know it, is in a very interesting place right now. The technological advances that have been made by smartphone makers have many people wondering if their smartphone is as good as a dedicated camera like a DSLR. Serious photographers know that it’s not. However, for an increasing number of people, the quality that you get from a smartphone camera is good enough. Herein lies the challenge for the future of photography. Is good enough the new normal?

The Rise of Smartphone Photography

Every time that Google, Apple, or Samsung releases a new flagship smartphone, they go to great pains to highlight the improvements that have been made to the camera. They dazzle us with the latest tech specs, show us their new capture modes, and wow us with sample images that look like they couldn’t possibly come from a smartphone. Why? Because the quality of the camera in a smartphone is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, factor that drives consumers to upgrade their phones.

All the top smartphone manufacturers want you to know that they have a camera that is worthy of your money. Apple encourages iPhone users to share their best photos on Instagram with the hashtag #ShotOniPhone and will often share the best of these images in TV ads for the iPhone. Google recently partnered with John Legend to film a music video that was shot entirely on the Google Pixel 2, and Samsung struck a deal with the International Olympics Committee to give every athlete the chance to record and share their best memories on a Galaxy Note 8 at the 2018 Olympics. Smartphone cameras are good for business.

Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

Can a Smartphone Replace a DSLR Camera?

So, is it marketing hype or are the best smartphone cameras actually capable of being a good replacement for a DSLR from Nikon and Canon, or a mirrorless camera from Sony or Olympus? From the perspective of a professional photographer, with high-end gear, the answer is clearly no. You will not see professional photographers using smartphones as their main camera at weddings and sporting events. But what about amateur photographers? What about parents, teens, and everyone else? Could an average person with little or no formal training really take better pictures with a DSLR than with a modern smartphone? That’s a little less clear.