Is a any phone good enough for amazing photos?

[Anonymous]

I'm currently looking into buying a new phone. My debate is whether it is worth paying extra money to have a good camera on the phone, or whether it is better to get a phone with an OK camera and invest the additional money in a proper camera. I have the iPhone 12 pro which I bought for the camera but the photo quality (especially when it comes to nature photos which at times require zooming in on a speeding or small animal) is still lower than a good digital camera. It could also be that I haven't found the right settings or the right phone yet. Any advice?

[Mahoojie · Accepted solution]

I would play with your phone a bit more, people have been managing to get stunning images from models much older than yours.

Go online and have a look at tutorial online, YouTube had some great material, beyond the standard lens you have a telephoto and a decent ultra wide lens controlled by some of the best software and processing hardware in the mobile market. You have some pretty decent tools already, I would persevere before slapping the cash down on dedicated camera system. Full disclosure, I shoot video and capture images on a Lumix G micro four thirds system and DJI drone, but I'm not above taking video and stills with my phone and I don't carry my gear I go, it's a cheesy phrase, but the best tool is the one you have with you!

Some good examples of all the lenses in various scenarios, the low light is particularly impressive. 

[I_am_mr_ryan]

it would depend what kind of photography you want, for point and shoot iPhones can get amazing results, but for stuff like wildlife and landscapes you probably cant beat a decent DSLR

[Goblin59]

I shot a pouched gofer in its burrow 3 metres away in a force 6 gale using 5 times optical zoom on a chinese made phone, I shot long horn sheep in a severe weather warning reduced visiblity sandstorm so bad, I have to wrap my shirt over my mouth.  I carry both a system camera and my phone on my travels and when I have the wrong lens on my camera, I can grab the phone ina second and grab that shot that otherwise would have been a missed opportunity. My phone also fits in a waterproof wallet and go in the water with me in caves and tide pools

[sc1999]

Judging by the celeb pictures that appear in social media I think it's you ability with filters that is more important than the quality of the camera.

[Karlington]

With the abundance of high quality apps around these days I've found even a basic camera on a smartphone can be elevated to very high standard photography. Several of the Samsung Galaxy A Series already have excellent cameras and together with a few apps can be tailored to provide photography of anything from the microscale to the macro.

[Goblin59]

Images are created in the eye and the mind of the author, once a device has enough resolution to get the pixels in line without blow out and the galss remains sharp enough to focus the light on the image capture sensor then all is good. Ansell Adams got fantastic images of moving trains using monochrome camera's triggered by mechnical releases and with banks of singke fire strope flashes. yes my Huawei phone is more than up to the task of producing the images that my mind creates. I have been an amateur photograper for 50 years and carry my MFT camera and lenses with me most times I am setting out to take or creat shots, but the huawei is always in my pocket and it can capture wide scenes, panormas and pretty much anything with its full manual overide and RAW capture capability.

[Goblin59]

Image quality pretty much depends on the nut behind the lens...........technique not technology

[JazzN-92]

The S22 has an amazing quality cameras and has the 100x zoom... It has many features... Definitely worth going into store and seeing for yourself. 

[Cameramad]

Well, I've just found your post, years later. I'm a trained photographer. I have top of the range camera & lenses, but can still take rubbish images. I've seen people take out of focus images with a £12,000 bit of kit. When I was at my school of photography in my teens we were given very basic gear and taught about composition, light, framing etc. 

My advice is to get some tutorials, you tube is a good place to start. There are 100s of photographers giving free training Web sites.

A new i phone will do it all except choose your subject, composition and light. That's all down to you. You can spend as much as you like on gear, but you need to think and be creative. I started with an old fim camera my dad brought back from World War 2. Enjoy yourself, find out what you like to capture, wildlife, people, sports, landscapes and go for it. They say you will pick perhaps half a dozen  shots from 200 or more on a days shoot. Find somewhere to share your work like Instagram or Ficker and go for it.