Do I Really Need A Camera In 2023? Or Will My Phone Do Instead?

It’s 2023. Most of us have phones. And they take amazing photos. So why do we need cameras? Come on, phones are all we need, right?

Well, it just depends. I need a camera in 2023. I still prefer taking photos with my camera rather than my phone. You cannot beat the experience of taking photos with a camera. And I cannot take the photos I need with my phone.

So, I need a camera in 2023.

Do you need a camera in 2023? Let me know.

In this episode, I tell you.

• Why I love taking photos with my camera.
• Why I need control of what is going on.
• Complicated photography stuff that I love and use!
• What if I use a phone to take photos and not a camera?
• What if I use a film camera?
• And finally, what I do.

All explained in plain English, without the irrelevant detail, in less than 27 (ish) minutes!

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• 16:08 (Cont.) Do I Really Need A Camera In 2023? Or Will My Phone Do Instead?

Transcript

Talk slowly, calmly and funnily. Ad lib at will and laugh a lot. Smile when speaking. Pause between bits. Pause for commas. Give it space and air. Give breaks for repurposing. 3000  words.

Do I Really Need A Camera In 2023? Or Will My Phone Do Instead? Hi, and a very warm welcome to Episode 165 of the Photography Explained podcast. I'm your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish), without the irrelevant details. I'm a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my podcast.

Here is the answery bit

I need a camera in 2023. I still prefer taking photos with my camera rather than my phone. My phone is used for snaps, behind-the-scenes stuff, videos, oh yes, and to make phone calls and do other stuff. Lots of other stuff, granted.

But for taking real photos, yes, I am using air quotes here; you cannot beat the experience of taking photos with a camera. And I cannot take the photos I need with my phone. I cannot get the quality of photos with my phone that I get with my camera.

So, I need a camera in 2023.

But do you need a camera in 2023? Let me know. And if your answer is no, then that is just fine. But let me know what you think. After you have listened to this episode, of course.

OK – that was the answery bit.

Here are five reasons why I need a camera in 2023. Five things for us to think about. And the counter-argument against each reason, each thing. Yes, I am going to argue against myself here. Well, I do this all the time in my head, so why not?

1 - I love taking photos with my camera

I can’t argue with this. This is just how I feel. I still love taking photos with my camera. With my camera, taking photos is a considered deliberate thing. Taking photos with my camera helps me create the best photo I can every time, whether for a client or just for little old me.

I take photos using the viewfinder (optical viewfinder, not electronic viewfinder) and the LCD screen on the back of my camera – I flick flack between the two. Is flick flack an actual word? My camera is usually mounted on a tripod. And this is how I get the best composed, most technically correct photos possible. And this saves me time when I am processing my photos.

I can’t do this with my phone. And I can’t get the image captures with my phone that I can with my camera. Not with the work that I do. I have proved this in the past.

My phone is fine for quick photos, snaps if you like, personal stuff, informal stuff, and photos of things as a reminder, which is dead handy; of course it is. But I do not like holding my phone in front of me and taking photos. I never have. My iPhone has all the ergonomics of a slippery eel.

No, the ergonomics of my phone mean I do not enjoy taking photos with my phone. I just don’t. I cannot get the best compositions for the stuff I photograph, and I do not have the control over the exposure and focus I need.

I was going to say that maybe I need to take more photos with my phone on a tripod, but that is defeating the convenience of the phone. If I do this, I might as well stick with my camera.

But having just a phone is dead handy. Just saying…..

2 - The image quality I get with my camera

My Canon 6D captures photos with excellent image quality. My iPhone captures photos with excellent image quality. But it's still not as good as with my Canon 6D, in my opinion. Not for what I need for the photos that I create.

My Canon 6D has a larger camera sensor than my phone. Well, you would expect so, right? It is not a fair comparison, is it, a camera in a phone to a camera?

My Canon 6D has a 20-megapixel sensor, and my iPhone XS has a 12-megapixel camera. But the iPhone 14 Pro has a whopping 48 megapixels. Forty-eight megapixels in a phone. Amazing.

The megapixels are only part of the story, but as you can see, the transformation in 4 years or so is remarkable. But a higher resolution does not mean a better photo.

My Canon 6D has excellent low-light image capture performance. My iPhone does not. And yes, year after year, the gap is closing, but the larger sensor and the quality of the sensor on my Canon 6D help me to capture lots of detail in the shadows with minimal noise. Low-light performance is critical to me.

My phone doesn’t capture the same detail in the shadows to the same level as my camera.

But on the latest phones? The question for me is how much work the tech is doing. More on that in a bit.

3 - Why I need control of what is going on.

The tech I use in my Canon 6D is built into the camera; it helps me take the best images I can. I set the camera up to take the best photos I can. I use the tools within the camera to get the best images I can.

And then, I do all the processing in Lightroom to the RAW, unedited files.

With a phone, the tech is all about doing this work for you. It does all the image capture stuff, and sure, it gives you great results, but you are getting what you are given: what the phone and the tech determine is best for every photo.

And I do not want this. One reason is that I want to produce images with the same look, feel and quality. For that, I need to decide what the camera is doing.

Image processing

As I just said, I do all the processing of all my images. I take photos in RAW and edit the RAW files in Lightroom.

With a phone, all that stuff is done for you, much like if you take photos using the JPEG format.

I want control of what I capture and how it is processed. I need consistency with my images.

4 – Camera gear that I need and use

I have the lenses and the gear that I need for my photography. It is not a lot of gear, but sure, it is more gear than just a phone, of course it is.

And this is stuff I use and need for my work, plain and simple. I need the 17mm focal length; I need a lovely sharp f/8. I need the depth of field that this lens gives me.

I need my tripod with a geared head. I need my grey card. I need my magic Arm. I need my Canon batteries with their excellent battery life. And I need my DSLR and micro four thirds cameras.

And I need my camera and all that comes with it.

I have a holder for my phone so I can put it on a tripod, and that is it. Oh yes, and mics for recording. But that is it.

5 - Complicated photography stuff that I love and use

There is a heap of old-school photography stuff that I still need and use to take photos.

• aperture
• shutter speed
• ISO
• exposure triangle
• white balance
• back-button focus
• depth of field
• exposure compensation
• auto exposure bracketing
• RAW files
• memory cards
• dslr cameras
• zoom lens
• interchangeable lenses
• telephoto lenses
• wide angle lenses
• camera batteries
• Etc

I could go on. Don’t worry, I won’t.

Complicated photography stuff - I love this. Well, it is not complicated for me after all these years. It is just the stuff that I use. And I am going to talk about this in the next episode. Well, why not, eh?

This is what I love talking about, and this is what I am going to do.

But if you use a phone to take photos, do you worry about this lot? No, well, you don’t have to. Some of these things are available to you, and some are not. And this is a big difference. If you have only ever used a phone to take photos, do you care about this complicated stuff? Do you even know about this complicated photography stuff?

If all you have ever used to take photos is a phone, and you use the apps that come with your phone and take photos, is that a good or bad thing?

One to think about: what do you think, dear listener?

Here is the talky bit

I like taking photos with my camera. I don’t really like taking photos with my phone. That is the bottom line. This is how I do my photography work. And I can’t get the photos with my phone that I get with my camera. That is the bottom line.

And this is the thing about cameras vs. phones for photography. It depends on what you are going to do with the photos.

I said that I wanted control of what my camera is doing, how I am taking photos, and how I am processing my photos. See, I still enjoy doing this stuff and don’t enjoy taking photos with my phone as much.

I am just being old-fashioned; is this need for control just old school? Or is it a perfectly valid need even in 2023? See, I don’t like the thought of all the decisions when I take photos being made by my phone; I want to do that.

And the fewer of us who are using our cameras to take photos, the better as far as I am concerned, as the fewer of us there are, the more exclusive we will be, and the more our photos will stand out because of what we have put into the taking of every photo.

Or do I have this wrong? Am I a dinosaur in denial while tech evolution takes over, making my need for a camera extinct?

First use of the word dinosaur, by the way!

The more I think about this, the more I want to stick with my camera so I can decide how my photos are taken.

A word on immediacy.

When I take photos with my Canon 6D, I have to go back to my office, import them into Lightroom and then edit the RAW files, as RAW files look rubbish straight out of the camera.

When I take photos with my phone, I can view, edit, and share them instantly. How amazing is that?

Well, I am not bothered, to be honest with you – doing it my way is immediate enough for me and the people I work with and for. I am not busting a gut to get my photos onto social media.

Good enough

I have written blog posts about this. Here is a link to a blog post on this very subject - well why not eh? Why We Photographers Have To Be Better Than Good Enough To Survive! What is good enough? Only you, as the photographer, can decide that. If the photos you can create with your phone are good enough, that is just fine. They are not for me and what I need.

And this is the thing about the world that we are in – what are we using the photos for? This will determine what good enough is.

And that means that you do not automatically need a professional camera. Sure, buy the best camera you can, but there are different quality levels, of course. Buy the best mirrorless camera or the best DSLR camera that you can. The right camera for you. And then get out there and use it. 

But I started my digital photography thing with a Canon EOS350D and kit lens. Yes, my first camera was the entry-level Canon camera at the time. And I am using a Canon 6D still, an older model for sure but still a great camera.

And the fact that I am debating these things more and more, year on year, and the fact that the gap is closing year on year is a testament to the fantastic work done by all the phone manufacturers, all the clever techy and software folks.

Phones are, quite frankly, amazing; I am not denying that for one second. Smartphone cameras are amazing. But I still need a camera in 2023. I have a phone too, of course….

Right - talky bit over.

What if I use a phone to take photos and not a camera?

Erm that is your choice if you use a phone and not a camera. And you may have never used a camera. So, a lot of what I have said you might not care about. You can get away with a lot of photography stuff without knowing all that complicated stuff.

But it depends on where you want to go with your photography. If you want to improve your photography, I still believe that in 2023, you can do this better with a camera than you can with a phone. I genuinely believe that.

But I also get that many people are happy with their camera phone, the one device they already have, and that is fine.

It is down to personal choice, what you want to do, and where you want to go with your photography.

And if the photos that you take are good enough for your needs.

I am sure professional photographers are out there taking photos with phones only, but I am not one of them.

What if I use a film camera?

Erm, that sort of answers itself.

And I have started looking at film cameras, yes I am going to buy one, which will make this section a bit fuller in the future. And I can’t wait! A new camera. Well, a new camera to me! It has been a long time since I bought myself a new camera, and this will be the cheapest one I have bought too.

Writing this has reminded me that photography is not an exercise in using the latest AI to get the most amazing photos. Photography is an art form. Photography is drawing with light. Photography is a human thing, unique and individual to every one of us.

What do I do?

I use a full frame Canon DSLR with L-Series lenses. It has a full-frame sensor. But I started with an entry-level dslr. I take all my photos with my camera on a tripod, which helps my composure and takes away any problems with low light. I use auto bracketing to capture the dynamic range that I need to capture. And I do this for my architectural, construction and landscape photography work.

I also use a micro four thirds Olympus camera for my travel stuff. Is it the best travel camera I have ever owned. It might have a smaller image sensor but it takes great photos. And no I am not being paid to say these things. I wish....

I have never issued a client a photo taken with my phone. Never.

This is what I do.

And this is what I am going to do!

I am going to do a controlled experiment. I am going to get a new phone, and I hope that it will be an iPhone 14 or 15 Pro.

And this is what I have been thinking of doing – when I go out taking photos, I will stick my phone on top of my camera; I have something I can do this with, I think, and if not, I will go and get one. Sorry. You didn’t need to know that.

I will attach my new iPhone on top of my Canon 6D, take photos of the same thing I am taking with my Canon 6D, and see what happens. To be fair to me, I need some time to do this, so I have scheduled an episode in Feb 2024 to see how this goes.

Some thoughts from the last episode

Photography Explained Podcast Episode 164 - Understanding Histograms In Photography

A histogram is a graph showing you the different brightness levels from black to white in a photo. It also shows you if a photo is underexposed or overexposed.

Does that make more sense? I think I got a bit stuck in how I described it. But it’s OK.

Next episode

How much of this complicated photography stuff do I really need to worry about? It came up in this episode, and I want to explore it. What a good idea! I want to expand on that little list and see where it takes me.

Ask me a question.

If you have a question you would like me to answer, head over to the podcast website - photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start, where you can find out what to do. And feel free just to say hi. It would be lovely to hear from you.

I am done.

This episode was brought to you by, erm, a cheese and pickle sandwich and a bag of cheese and onion crisps for a change, washed down with an ice-cold Diet Pepsi before I settled in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium.

I've been Rick McEvoy; thanks again very much for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast (it says here) and for giving me 27 ish minutes of your valuable time. I reckon this episode will be about 25 minutes long after I have edited out the mistakes and other bad stuff.

Take care, and stay safe.

Cheers from me, Rick