Adverts may fool you into thinking smartphone cameras are as good as those from dedicated DSLRs. Professional photographer Dave Stevenson shows how to look beyond the misleading specs.
Put the spec sheet of your smartphone’s camera side-by-side with that of the latest DSLRs and you may struggle to see the difference. Massively high megapixel counts, f/1.2 lenses, RAW image shooting… the similarities are striking.
Manufacturers have been quick to capitalise on rapid improvements in sensor tech, while boosts in processing power mean phones are capable of doing the sort of image editing on-the-fly that would have had Photoshop users watching the egg-timer cursor not long ago.
But just how good are smartphone cameras? If the manufacturers are tobe believed, the days of DSLRs are well and truly numbered, and the marketing blurb coming from smartphone makers is as hyperbolic as ever. We reveal why the hype doesn’t quite match the facts.
SENSORY PERCEPTION
Can you fairly compare the sensors inside phones and DSLRs? In a direct sense, yes. Camera phone sensors and DSLR sensors work the same way, splitting light into component colours (red, green and blue) and turning them into a digital signal that can be recorded as a compressed (normally a JPEG) or lossless file (RAW files).
The biggest difference between a DSLR sensor and a camera phone sensor is size. Consumer DSLRs – such as the Nikon D5600 – have APS-C sensors. The exact size varies a little by manufacturer, but an APS-C sensor is roughly 23.5 x 15.6mm. Spend more, on a camera such as the Sony A9, for example, and you’ll get a full-frame sensor. These have roughly the same dimensions as a frame of 35mm film – about 35.6mm wide and 23.8mm tall.
You just can’t fit a component of that size in a smartphone, so image sensors in phones are way, way smaller. The iPhone 8, for example, has an image sensor 50 times smaller than a full-frame DSLR sensor by area, at only 4.8 x 3.6mm.
Denne historien er fra April 2019-utgaven av PC Pro.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2019-utgaven av PC Pro.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 (AMD)
By no means the last word in excitement, but the ThinkPad E16 is a good-value choice for business users
Huawei MateBook D16
The best and biggest screen here, plus a powerful Core i9 processor, ensure the MateBook D16 stands out
Acer Aspire Go 14
It's tough to argue with this laptop's value for money or battery life, but speed lovers should look elsewhere
HP Spectre x360 16 (2024)
This sleek 2kg convertible packs everything you need, including a Core Ultra chip and optional Nvidia graphics
Five ways to get cloud computing wrong
Don't let your migration projects go up in smoke. Steve Cassidy runs through the blunders to avoid
Control your computer with your face and head -it's the future!
As if to show nothing is new in the world of technology, eye tracking and gesture control date back decades. But if Apple's on board, maybe their time has finally come, suggests Nicole Kobie
Chip off the old block
Standalone sales of the Z80 CPU have finally been discontinued after 48 years. David Crookes looks back on a chip with a staggering impact
Cloud backup 2024
Whether it's through attack or error, your business data is always at risk. Dave Mitchell explains how cloud services can add extra protection and puts four contenders to the test
Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra
A brilliant advert for resinbased 3D printing, with a host of features that make it easy to obtain great results
HP All-in-One 27 cr-0014na PC
A speedy and temptingly priced all-in-one PC with a fine 27in display-but note its 1080p resolution
