In this episode, Do I Really Need A Camera In 2022? Or Will My Phone Do Instead? And also some more thoughts on the last episode, What Does The Future Of Photography Look Like?
Hi and welcome to Episode 141 of the Photography Explained podcast. I’m your host Rick, and in each episode I try to explain one photographic to you in plain English in less than 27ish minutes, but still without the irrelevant details. What I tell you is based on my lifetime of photographic experience. And not Google. No Google required for this one.
First – here is the answery bit
If you want to explore the wonderful world of photography fully, you need a camera, even in 2022. Sure, you can get great photos with a phone, but buying a camera allows you to grow your photography without limits and fully embrace and enjoy the wonderful world of photography. Buy a camera, and you open up a world of techniques, creative photo-taking possibilities and, of course, the gear to help you. In my humble opinion, you don’t get all of this with just a phone.
Having said that, if you are happy taking photos with your phone, then that’s fine; I just want you to know what you might be missing out on.
You can listen to the episode here
Or keep on reading. Or do both. Entirely up to you!
That was my answer – here is the talky bit
Well, to start with, I answered this question in episode 5, way back in October 2020. Yes, back in the very early days of my podcast, 2 years ago. And a lot has happened since then!
My answer back then was yes, you do need a camera in 2020. And that is my answer now. It does of course depend on a number of things, which I will go through now.
Ok, firstly, there is the experience of taking photos with a camera
I have said this before, and I will say this again – I love taking photos with my camera, be it my Canon 6D or my Olympus EM5. And I hate taking photos with my iPhone.
Ergonomics – that’s what I am talking about. My Canon 6D is so well designed; it fits into my hands naturally, and it feels like it belongs there, which it does. All the controls are to hand, and using the camera is intuitive and enjoyable.
My Canon 6D is such a pleasing piece of kit to use.
My Olympus EM5 is also great to use. It is not quite as good for me as the Canon 6D is, but only because it is smaller, and I have not used it anywhere near as much as I have used my Canon 6D. But it is still a great camera to use.
And then there is my iPhone. As wonderful as it is, I hate taking photos with it. Apple is far too obsessed with how things look. I am not saying that they are anything other than wonderful bits of kit because they are of course, but I hate that I have to put my phone in a case just to be able to use it without dropping it. That’s dropping it, not dripping it as the script said!
Sorry, but this completely defeats the object, doesn’t it? All that shiny roundness is hidden by the case that I have to use because it is so shiny and rounded.
And I have tried various times to use my phone without a case, none of which went well.
Whilst you can take great photos with a phone, it is still not the same as the experience of taking photos with a camera.
Image quality
In general terms, you get higher image quality taking photos with a camera than you do taking photos with a phone. I am talking here about the combination of the stuff in the camera, sensor size, lens quality, and all the other things you get when you take photos with a camera, that you just do not get taking photos with a phone.
Sensor size
Cameras have larger sensors than phones – well you would expect so. And the sensor is the bit that turns the light into digital stuff. No, I am not going to explain how sensors work in cameras – that is well beyond my capabilities. Larger sensors give the ability to capture more data than smaller sensors, giving higher quality images.
Lenses
Lenses give cameras a massive optical advantage. Again, a lens is a one-off, bespoke, specialist thing designed to do one thing only – to focus light from what the camera is pointing at into digital stuff that is captured by the camera sensor.
I know, that is as technical as I get.
This is a camera lenses sole purpose, it’s raison d’être, if you like. I know, I need to steady on here with these fancy words.
And the focal lengths that lenses offer give you much better picture taking capabilities. It is just a fact. I can’t get the photos with my iPhone that I can with my Canon 6D and Canon 17-40mm lens.
I just can’t.
And the image quality that you get with a lens is better than with a phone camera lens, which after all has been shoehorned into that shiny, rounded, slippery thing. Talking of slippery things. I have compared my iPhone with a slippery eel, in the ergonomic stakes that is…
I know, this Is not going to endear me to Apple…..
Low light performance
Larger sensors generally give better low light performance – that is why photos taken in the dark on phones can look noisy .Sure there is software that can fix this, but there is always a price to pay for any such fix.
I have taken photos in the dark with my phone where the noise was so bad I could not use the photos.
Accessories
Well, what can you attach to a phone? Only a few things. Its physical size is one of its limitations. And always will be.
Take a camera though, and you have a pretty limitless amount of gear to help you take better photos.
This for me is a difference that will never go away, the accessories that allow us to adapt our photography to challenging circumstances.
The good old, complicated photography stuff
There is a heap of old school photography stuff that I use to take photos.
- Aperture
- Shutter
- ISO
- Exposure
- Back-button focus
- Focus point
- Depth of field
- Exposure compensation
- Auto bracketing
- Camera self-timer
- 17mm focal length
Etc
I use all this good stuff when I take photos with my cameras, which I don’t think about when I am taking photos with a phone.
See the two are different. And this is another main difference.
Taking photos with a phone is more about letting the tech do all the hard work for you. Yes, there are things you can select, but there are things you cannot. I can’t change the aperture on my phone. And if I can change the shutter speed, I don’t know how to. Nor the ISO. That is exposure pretty much done by the camera, then!
Yet all these things that we learn in photography have a purpose, a reason, and are used to take better photos.
And this is why phones will never completely replace cameras.
But, if you have no interest in any of this stuff, then no, you probably don’t need a camera.
How quick do you need the photos?
I don’t need the photos immediately. Clients don’t expect them immediately. I can get photos issued after a shoot pretty quickly, often the next day, and that is more than fine. A week is still the norm and fine. – there is no need for immediacy most of the time.
And where photos are needed immediately, you can do this too with cameras – this is where other gear comes into play.
But I understand that immediacy with phones is brilliant; of course I do. It does not, however define what I do and how I work.
What are you taking photos of? What are you going to do with the photos?
If you are taking photos of your family, day-to-day stuff, your hobby, that kind of stuff – do you need a camera? Maybe, maybe not. Suppose you share photos on social media and with family and friends, same question.
You probably do not need a camera. And you might not want one.
But, if want to get serious about your photography?
Get a camera. You can’t get serious about photography with just a phone. OK you can, but it is just not the same. I am sorry, it just is not. I have explained some of the reasons why to justify this statement.
Do you want to make a living from photography?
Get the best camera that you can. And the best lenses that you can. And learn how to use the stuff, practise until you know your gear inside out, know the limitations and push them. Know your camera so well that you can pretty much use it with your eyes closed.
Or if you just want to take photos with your phone.
If you want to take photos with your phone, that is fine. You don’t have to buy a camera. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. This does not make your photography any less valid. It just means you are missing out on so much more.
Good enough
I have taken this from a previous episode. Well it applies just as much here.
How good do your photos need to be? Do you need high-quality, “professional photos”? Yes, I am using air quotes here. I know you can’t see them. It depends. Good enough now can be photos taken with a phone. And if the images you take with your phone are good enough, you are sorted.
In defence of phones
If I sound like I am anti-phones, then no, I am not. I am into photography and want everyone to know the possibilities in photography, what is available to us all, and what photography can give us all. Photography has, after all, given me so much, and I do not want you to miss out.
Phones are amazing. Phones can take amazing photos. Yet we still compare the two and almost expect phones to be as good – that is unfair. We need to give phones a break; they do so much else. Why should they also be expected to be as good as cameras, which, after all, serve one purpose only: to take photos?
I just wanted to make that point.
And yes, tech means that the limitations of taking photos with a phone reduce year on year, of course they do, but there is still a quality gap between the two.
And if I could just use a phone I would
Another thing I have said before is if I could do my work with just a phone and get rid of all my camera gear, then I would. I just would. OK, I would consider it.
But I can’t, so I don’t need to worry about this too much.
It is not that I have anything against phones or their role in photography – far from it. I cannot get the photos I need with my phone.
And there are consequences of this view
I know some people will call me out for saying this stuff; people are making money from photography using just phones. I know that, and good luck to them. This is what I think though.
What is the point of a camera in 2022?
Well, I have said this more than once, and I am sure that I will repeat this. The point of cameras in 2022 is to get into photography properly and take advantage of all the skills, techniques and previous experience of photographers now and in the past. All this good stuff combines to help you and me take better photos.
That is the important thing – to help you and me take better photos.
Do you want a camera?
If you want a camera, that is fine. Nothing wrong with that – they are great bits of kit. And if you don’t want a camera equally fine.
Having a camera or not having a camera is making a conscious decision of where you are going with your photography. It defines the journey that you may embark on.
Either road is fine, that is down to you.
But,
A camera is the start of taking photography seriously; it is the start of the journey into photographic wonder. I have been doing this photography thing for 40 years, and I am still learning and finding new ways to do things.
And I am still loving photography after all these years.
Do you want to learn photography
Do you? Then get a camera. If you don’t, it might not be worthwhile, as phones have excellent picture-taking capabilities these days.
But to get into photography, you need a camera. Others will disagree, which is fine too – I don’t own this subject, but I do have my own views on it.
Get a camera, and you open up possibilities and opportunities that you just do not get with a phone.
This is the fundamental thing for me – if you want to get into photography or not.
Right – talky bit over
What if I only use a phone?
Well, if you only use a phone, you probably don’t care about everything that I have gone through. And that is fine. If I only ever took photos with a phone, I might not be interested in any of this other, complicated photography stuff.
So if you are happy just using a phone to take photos, good for you – that is all well and good. I want you to know what you might be missing out on, ok?
Some thoughts from the last episode, “What Does The Future Of Photography Look Like?”
Well, I enjoyed this episode. And I sounded a bit like a doom merchant, saying that the demand for professional photos will reduce over time as the gap between pro and amateur photography closes with technological advances.
But this episode has redressed the balance somewhat.
The future of photography has cameras in it – I have convinced myself of that again in writing this episode – and I feel much better. I was beginning to get worried……. It is good that these things all relate and connect.
I do not see a future of photography without cameras – I don’t see it. Sure, they might change from their physical form of today, but the fundamentals will stand. These include
- The taking photos experience
- Handling/ ergonomics
- That complicated photography stuff
- Lenses
- Gear
What do I do?
I take photos with a camera. I have never issued a client a photo taken with my phone. I use my phone to erm, make calls, send messages, and a million and one other things.
I take personal photos with my phone. I take behind-the-scenes pictures with my phone. I shoot videos with my phone.
But I take photos with my camera.
My camera is a full-frame DSLR. My lens of choice has a focal length of 17-40mm. I shoot in RAW on a tripod or other fixed thing. I auto-bracket and merge photos in Lightroom.
That is what I do. I need to do this to get the photos I create and issue to clients.
Next episode
I Only Take Photos With My Phone – What Photography Stuff Am I Missing Out On? It makes sense to follow up this episode by telling you what you are missing out on if you do not have a camera.
I am looking forward to writing this episode.
And talking of future episodes – my survey is still out there
My Photography Explained Podcast survey is still on the podcast website – just a few questions that should take less than a minute to answer – just head over to Photography Explained Podcast.com/survey. And thanks for your help.
Got a photography question you want me to answer in plain English, in less than 10 minutes (ish), oh ok, less than 30 minutes (ish), without the irrelevant details. You do? Great – just head over to PhotographyExplainedPodcast.com/start. And yes, I will come up with something snappier.
This episode was brought to you, for a change, by a cheese and pickle sandwich, bag of home crisps, ready salted today, all washed down with a Diet Pepsi as I sit here in my home-made, 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 between 20 and 30 (ish) minutes of your valuable time. There you go, I have stopped saying 10ish minutes finally.
Take care, stay safe
Cheers from me Rick
OK – that was the podcast episode.
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Thank you
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Cheers from me Rick
