Is My DSLR an Obsolete Dinosaur or an Irreplaceable Friend?

With the increased quality of your phone’s camera, is there less of a need for DSLRs and other common cameras?

The camera on the iPhone 6S is a whopping 12 megapixels and 4K video, however, the sensor is not first rate. The new Nikon D500 is around $2000 and has the same 4K video, and it is just 20.9 megapixels (megapixels identify the size of the image; for more information, click here), and it has a great sensor (23.5 mm x 15.7 mm).

Sensors are what makes the image using light; for more information about that, click here. For a camera that costs more than $1000, is bulkier, and is inconvenient to carry around, one would think a DSLR camera might not be worth the expense and inconvenience.

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The major drawback to using your phone as a camera is the limitations in less than optimal lighting. For example, if you were taking a photo to post on social media, you might be disappointed with the results, as restaurants usually have poor lighting. Even with a flash, the light might be overbearing. Unfortunately, a DSLR is not as user-friendly as a phone. It takes some time to learn how to use all the settings such as aperture control, ISO, and shutter speed. These settings are crucial if you’re looking to take expert quality pictures.

Another drawback of the phone is ‘zoom’. When you zoom using the camera on the phone, the image gets very pixellated. Along with getting pixellated, the photo is not as sharp. With a DSLR, you will almost always get crisp photos with the zoom. This can be a major problem for smartphone photos. Taking pictures at the zoo, the animals are not always close to where the viewing area is, forcing you to zoom.The phone camera is good for straight-on shots that do not need zooming and are mainly for recreational purposes and not really professionally.

If you are willing to spend more than 1000 dollars on a camera and want to take the time to learn about it, then it might be worth getting a DSLR. If you are not willing to spend that kind of money, and you are just enjoying photography recreationally, then it might not be worth it. Even though the megapixels might be similar, with a little ingenuity and patience the DSLR will get superior pictures.

This photo was taken with a DSLR through glass with zoom in good light.

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This photo was taken with an iPhone 6 in good light with not much zoom.

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