The Art of Smartphone Photography: Outshining Fancy Cameras

Forces behind people wanting a fancy camera are often misunderstood as being due to an optical depth of field created through glass, rather than AI. However, portrait mode is becoming increasingly impressive, making it difficult for some to distinguish between smartphone and high-end camera shots. This has led many photographers to rely on smartphones for their photography needs.

One of the main advantages of using a smartphone for photography is its convenience in terms of capture and sharing. With the ability to instantly share images with social platforms through Wi-Fi connectivity, photography enthusiasts can now upload their work directly from their device. Moreover, smartphones often have built-in filters and editing software, such as Snapseed, which allows users to enhance their photographs without needing external software.

However, one area where smartphones still lag behind high-end cameras is in terms of dynamic range and pixel-to-camera ratio. While the latest smartphone models have made significant strides in this area, there is still room for improvement. This can lead to an uneven distribution of light and highlights, which can be noticeable when viewed on a larger screen.

Despite these limitations, smartphones have become increasingly capable of delivering high-quality images. The 5T, a recent model, has demonstrated exceptional portrait mode capabilities, rivaling those of high-end cameras. Its ability to blur out reflections and hide edge imperfections makes it an ideal choice for shooting through glass or capturing close-up shots.

One notable advantage of using a smartphone is its portability and convenience. With the camera on your device, you can instantly capture life's moments without needing to offload images from a separate storage card. This feature has made smartphones an essential tool for photography enthusiasts who value ease and flexibility in their workflow.

For those who want to take their photography to the next level, shooting in RAW format provides unparalleled detail and flexibility when editing. However, this comes at the cost of increased processing power requirements and time spent on post-production. In comparison, high-end cameras offer a more seamless experience, but one that often requires significant investment and technical expertise.

Ultimately, the art of smartphone photography is about embracing its unique strengths and limitations. By understanding how to harness the capabilities of your device and using the right editing software, you can produce high-quality images that rival those taken with fancy cameras. Whether you're a seasoned photographer or just starting out, smartphones offer an accessible entry point into the world of photography.

In conclusion, while smartphone cameras may not yet match the capabilities of high-end cameras in every aspect, they have made significant strides in recent years. By understanding their strengths and limitations, photographers can unlock new creative possibilities and produce exceptional work without needing a fancy camera.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso you don't need a fancy camera inorder to entice your creativity forvideo or photography all you need is therealization that working with whatyou've gotwell actually get you to the resultbetter in terms of being satisfied withyour photography or anything capture andso today's video is about smartphonephotography versus a real cameraphotography and why I would say to justavoid you know the fancy stuff and justkeep shooting with your smartphone nowwith my most recent trip to Brazil allthe pictures you're about to see werecaptured with the oneplus 5 with some creativeediting too but still I was blown awayat what this phone was able to captureand it's not about the oneplus 5 camerait's about any camera that is on yoursmartphone so start shooting and don'tbe thinking about having this aroundyour neck just don't be missing out ofhardware when you have fantastic toolsat your disposal alreadyall right so I hope you enjoyed thosepictures but now it's time to see if youcan tell the difference between me oneplus 5t portrait note vs. something that isequivalent in focal length and apertureon the photography side of things so letme show you some pictures right afterthis so it was kind of a love at firstsight you know there's really nothinglike this exterior I love the metalliccolor the tinted glass panel the RGBfans at the front it's basically asee-through case and who doesn't lovethat your graphics card can go verticalthe top is radiator friendly and theright side is so unique when exposedthanks to these cable covers so you canshow off everything you've got with theaged 500 P white Coolermaster check itout in description below alright solet's quickly talk about the gear forthe smartphone I'm using the 1 plus 5tsandstone white edition because it hasthis new coating that this far lessslippery versus the aluminum bodies onearly models making it easier to handlewhile I'm taking pictures withoutneeding incase but it's not as texturedas the actual stands don't case and bythe way who doesn't love an accent Iabsolutely love this red alert sliderthat I'm sure many will appreciate nowfor the camera hardware like mostsmartphones today we have a dual shooterso a 16 megapixel and 20 megapixelsensor and they work together to createthe depth mapping and that whole blureffect and it's a 27 millimeter lenswith an F 1.7 aperture while for thefancy camera I decided to go with a FujiXT20 because it's super compact it'sgot a fantastic sensor interchangeablelenses and the image quality and thecolor out it's Fuji is fantastic and forthe lens I have the 23 millimeter F 2.0lens which is a 35 mm water equivalentin full-frame and so the Fuji isslightly more zoomed in versus thesmartphone but I accommodate by steppingback a little bit to acquire an almostidentical composition so now let's gooutside and take some shotsnow obviously portability is kind ofimportant so with the fancyyou have to keep around your neck youcannot stuff it in your pants pocket andyou just have to be cautious when usingthis thing on the street when this is alot more discreet you put it in yourpants pocket forget about it take it outwhen you take a shot now the beauty ofsmartphone photography is the wholepoint and truth approach everything issimplified your exposure is automatictap to focus and all the pictures arethere for you to share immediately solet's put the fancy camera on automaticso all the settings are handled by thecamera and they're taken out from theusers experience to see what the JPEGversus smartphone quality looks like solet's start with a shot of the sky soboth of them acquire proper exposure butthe Fuji has different character intheir colour rendition while thesmartphone has those nice vibrant bluesof the sky both of them are good veryready for social media sharing for thisnext shot I use the portrait mode on the5T and it does a really good job ofmaking sure that I'm cut out and thatsubject isolation and blurring out thebackground properlyhowever the dynamic range is better onthe Fuji and the fine detail is a lotbetter on the larger sensor so that iskind of the the advantage if you want toreally zoom in or like punchingdigitally to expand your footage andmaneuver your composition whereas withthe 5T it really falls apart in thefine details when you try to get reallyclose to the image for this next shotI'm still using the portrait mode on the5T and it does a really good job againand isolating that camera from thebackground with little hiccups here andthere so you can you can definitely seethose artifacting around the edges butif you're sharing this on social mediamost likely people are gonna be zoomingin and so you can't really tell thedifference between the two shots asidefrom better dynamic range and detail ofthe few G for this next shot on my feetthe color and vibrancy is a bit higheron the 5T and it's because I'm usingthe classic chrome color preset on thefew G because I think it has a lot morecharacter but as you can see here withthis like boring composition the 5Twins for this next shot of the tree barkthe detail is amazing in both but youcan tell which one is the fancy camerabecause of that additional depth offield and character versus the you knowthe 5T just feels like a standardpoint-and-shoot although I will say thatthe depth of field it creates behind thetree is very nice and natural this isnot in the portrait modeand so this is standard lens and becauseI'm close to the subject it allows me toisolate it from the background for thisnext shot of the breakfast plate you cansee the Fuji has a lot more colordefinition and contrast within its shotversus the 5T looks a bit you know kindof washed out but it's an easy fix witha little contrast curve now the onething that really impressed me was howis similar the auto white balance was onboth cameras sure we had more contrastand more detail in a few G but the 5Tperformed very well in its own right inboth portrait mode and standard detailstuff now obviously the advantage withthe larger sensor is being able tocreate that depth of field and subjectisolation especially with the fast lineslike an f2 howevercamera is becoming so good in developingtheir own portrait mode and usingsoftware to determine what's in focusand what's in the backgroundhowever the fancy camera wins in dynamicrange preserving a lot more informationin those bright areas but of course thisis a tough shot for the smartphonesensor because I'm in the shade and thebackground is super bright so it'strying to compensate to make sure thatthe whole scene is balanced again herewe get more dynamic range and detailfrom the fancy camera but it is backlitwith the harsh sunlight and the 5T doesan okay job with those blur edges whilepreserving excellent color for the skinand the environment now for this nextshot I'm super impressed by the edgedetection on the smartphone around thefurry hood and which is much moreaccurate than before and comparing theside-by-side made me realize just hownatural this artificial blur is on asmartphone with an appropriateout-of-focus gradient so it doesn'tsimply cut out the subject and blureverything behind it but we have a morerealistic blurriness with the distanceand I think one of the driving forcesbehind people wanting a fancy camera isbecause of that optical depth of fieldwhich is created through the glass andnot through AI but portrait mode isbecoming so good that I love shootingpeople with it but even shooting isstill subject it turns out to be just asgood so for example in this shot thephotos almost look identical and the 5Tactually renders those light reflectionsbeautifully to really sell the effectyou probably cannot tell which is whichif I posted them without telling you butyou have to be careful with reflectionssince they're not recognized by thedistance and you can tell this is aportrait mode photo from the smartphonebut shooting through glass deliversawesome results because reflections getblurred out and help to hide any edgeimperfections in portrait mode alsoworks really well for close-ups actuallybetter than my fancy camera andcompatible end results in the controlledenvironment in terms of color andexposure when that occasional hiccuparound more complicated areas now thefloor on this one is very similarbetween the two but you can tell whichone is the smartphone because of theblow now at highlights so that seems tobe the major disadvantage the dynamicrange needs to improve to really sellthe effect and the pixel to camera rightnow has done this right but with moreaggressive edge detection which is lessnatural but we get that beautifuldynamic range and here are some moreexamples of the 5T in portrait mode Ithink this is an outstanding directionto encourage smartphone photography youdon't need a fancy camera to have a goodtime now what about the convenience ofcapture - sharing with the smartphone isinstantaneous all your images are hereand all your social platforms are onthere - you want to apply some Instagramfilter be my guest but with the camerayou have to offload the images from theSD card maybe process them in some waychoose your best one and only thenupload it however majority of camerasnow also have Wi-Fi capability allowingyou to connect the smartphone to thecamera and then instantaneously get allyour photos directly on your smartphonewhich makes the whole process from thefancy camera of capturing and sharing alot easier now what if you want totinker with all your settings manuallyso majority of smartphones have that aspro mode and of course it's a bit easierto handle on the fancy camera becauseyou don't have to it's not softwarebased it's all just like little dialsand buttons on the body itself and ifyou want to take your photography to thenext level you can always edit yourphotos I use Snapseed it's free and it'spowerful I generally just do brighten itup bring out some color with thevibrancy and contrast sliders I warm itup so it's a three easy step to reallygive your photos a little extra pop andfor people who want to take their fancycamera photography to the next levelalways shooting raw obviously allows youto capture so much more information andthen edit that in post-production so forexample in these shots I reallyoverexposedI seen just to see how much I can pushthe raw files and the amount of detail Iwas able to recover is just incredibleso that gives you a little indication onhow raw workflow is so much morepowerful but that workflow in Photoshopor Lightroom or any other software isintensive on your on your computer andit's also time consuminghere's a fun fact a single photo out ofthis is 50 megabytes in RAW so imagine Itake 20 pictures that's one gigabyte ofstorage on my computer and so you caneither shoot in like a smart way whereyou delete things you're not going to beusing and so for like everyday lifeyou're using your smart phone to captureyour stuff and then when you want tocapture like wallpaper printing materialthen the fancy camera it might come outnow if you are going the fancy cameraaround I will give you one advice andthat is to buy one lens that means youlearn the body you learn thecharacteristics of your lens and how faryou have to be away from your subjectand Composition details and all thatstuff that way you can have a good timeand move your feet in order to likecapture your shot kind of like you dowith a smartphone because most of themhave a single camera only then youcoarser avoid pro gaming headset iscomfortable stylish in different colorsdelivers fantastic wireless performanceeven for competitive gaming with anall-new microphone for clearcommunications check out the void ProWireless or wired in the descriptionbelow alright so I would love to seeyour favorite smartphone captures sharethem on Twitter @hardwarecanucks I'mDmitry you don't need a fancy cameratake good pictures and enjoy doing sohopefully this has been the messageacross this video thanks so much forwatching we'll see you in the next video\n"