{"id":7695,"date":"2021-05-21T02:35:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T02:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/?p=7695"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:26:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T18:26:40","slug":"smartphone-or-proper-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2021\/05\/21\/smartphone-or-proper-camera\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a smartphone a substitute for a proper camera?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Is a smartphone a substitute for a proper camera?&#8221; was an interesting question, posed on a photographic forum to which I belong . It certainly got me thinking&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, I think there is a certain element of &#8220;<em>using the right tool for the job<\/em>&#8221; here. An analogy if I may: one can (un)do most screws with a pen knife. There are even knives with moderately good screwdrivers built-into them. I have several and I would not hesitate to use one if I were in a &#8220;<em>get me home<\/em>&#8221; type situation.<\/p>\n<p>However, if I were undertaking a <em>planned<\/em> job, on my workbench, then I would ensure that I firstly assembled all the correct tools for the job. This would include a freshly-charged power driver and all the correct bits. None of that ramming a #1 Phillips driver on a #2 Pozidrive head malarkey! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>Off course, some of today&#8217;s smartphones are astonishingly good. Even my cheap and somewhat suboptimal Ukefone 3W &#8220;ruggedised&#8221; device never ceases to amaze me &#8211; especially with the addition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opencamera.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OpenCamera<\/a>. This gives one far greater control over the smartphone&#8217;s camera module than the stock camera app. It actually controls the hardware properly, rather than merely offering a selection of stupid software filters as most camera apps do.<\/p>\n<h2>A few snaps taken with my Ulefone Armor 3w<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/gallery\/20210300-installing-weather-station-external-sensor-cluster\/IMG_20210329_145049Z_weather_station_shed.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><em>Our freshly-installed weather station sensor cluster, atop our fairly freshly-varnished shed<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/gallery\/20210400-garden-house-and-weather-station\/IMG_20210404_155143Z_Easter_chicks.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><em>Singing chicks from my wife&#8217;s more-bonkers-than-usual Easter display<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/gallery\/20210400-garden-house-and-weather-station\/picture_2021_4_2_21_45_6_196_broken_mauns_resized.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><em>The recent sad demise of my faithful old Maun 160mm cantilever cutters &#8211; with enough image detail to see the crystalline structure of the fracture<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>I have been using my smartphone as a camera quite a lot during lock-down. It&#8217;s always with me and it enables me to capture shots that I would never have captured with a proper camera. It&#8217;s become a really useful bit of kit &#8211; my &#8220;<em>photographic Swiss Amy knife<\/em>&#8221; in a sense.<\/p>\n<p>However if I were being <em>paid<\/em> to photograph an event, I would assemble the correct kit for the job &#8211; cameras, lighting, lenses, freshly charged batteries etc. Whilst I would still have my phone in my pocket, just in case my main and backup cameras <em>both<\/em> suffered catastrophic failure, I certainly would not <em>plan<\/em> use my smartphone as the main camera for the job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Is a smartphone a substitute for a proper camera?&#8221; was an interesting question, posed on a photographic forum to which I belong . It certainly got me thinking&#8230; Firstly, I think there is a certain element of &#8220;using the right tool for the job&#8221; here. An analogy if I may: one can (un)do most screws&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1623,1630,12,19,6,680,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-photography","category-photographic-equipment","category-faq","category-general","category-journal","category-photography","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is a smartphone a substitute for a proper camera? - GarfNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2021\/05\/21\/smartphone-or-proper-camera\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is a smartphone a substitute for a proper camera? - GarfNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;Is a smartphone a substitute for a proper camera?&#8221; was an interesting question, posed on a photographic forum to which I belong . 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