As photographers, we all become very comfortable with the control we have with our big and bulky cameras. But when you go on vacation, carrying around a full sized body and a few lenses can really weigh you down. Do we even need to carry those around any more, or have cell phones advanced to the point where we can leave the bulky cameras at home?
I recently returned from a trip to Disneyland with my 4 year old son. When I was packing, I considered this same question. Is the quality, control, and buttery smooth bokeh of my 22.3MP full frame (36mm x 24mm) sensor Canon 5D3 worth hauling it around the parks and on rides, or should I try getting away solely with the camera in my 8MP 1/3.2" (4.536mm x 3.416mm) sensor Nexus 5?
Well, I decided to try leaving the behemoth at home, and went light. Here are my observations.
Convenience
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO400, f/2.4 |
Without any surprise, only carrying around a phone is by far the most convenient option. It fits in your pocket, and is very quick to pull out when you need it. In fact, many phones these days don't even need to be unlocked to use; they will let you launch the camera directly from the lock screen. Not only is the phone always on you, but you never have to worry about taking it on rides, or leaving it behind in a stroller while you stand in line. This means you are never worried about your expensive gear getting damaged or stolen! Peace of mind alone is a huge benefit!
Quality
Okay, here is the thing about quality. When you are comparing a multi-purpose device that costs somewhere between $500-$800, and a dedicated device costing up to 4 times that price (or more), of course there are going to be some trade-offs.
Quality - Lens Aberrations
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| Both images captured with Nexus 5 @ ISO100, f/2.4 |
The first thing I noticed is that you need to be far more mindful of aberrations like lens flares. Expensive lenses have coatings to help combat this problem, and many also have lens hoods to keep out unwanted light. Although photographers are always concious of where the sun is, it becomes even more important with camera phones.
Quality - Low Light
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO410, f/2.4 |
Low available light is where phone cameras really suffer. The amount of light that can be registered on the camera's sensor is limited by the size of each individual pixel on the sensor. Assuming that my math is right, the pixels on the full frame sensor of the 5D3 is a whole 20 times larger than the pixels on the Nexus 5's sensor, which means 20 times more light is collected at the same settings. This means that the phone will need to either 1) amplify the signal a lot more, leading to a much noisier photo, or 2) use a much slower shutter speed potentially leading to motion blur. And in reality, it will probably do both. So in low light, the phone will present you with a noisy, blurry, soft image. But with the right preparation, and a prior understanding of why this happens, this can be combated. There are also easy ways to remove noise in post, but since noise reduction is technically the opposite of sharpening, this will again lead to a softer image.
Quality - LED Flash Colorcast
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO1079, f/2.4 |
LED light is
very blue. When the flash is the only dominant light source, this usually isn't a problem, as it can be correct quickly using the white balance slider in pretty much any software, including those that come pre-installed on the phone. But that only works if it is the only dominant light source. Unfortunately, other light sources in the scene will have a different color balance, and will most likely look very orange. High power capacitor based flashes are typically much better in terms of color temperature (among many other things), which reduces the blue cast that you will get in pictures taken at night.
Speed
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO190, f/2.4 |
There is no question that a DSLR is going to be faster. The shutter release lag on the Canon 5D3 is roughly 59ms, so you can be sure that what you see when you press the shutter release is exactly how the picture will be captured. The delay on phones varies greatly depending on lighting conditions and pre-focusing, but it can be as high as a couple seconds. This can lead to a lot of missed opportunities, especially with kids who have a very short attention span.
Artistic Shots
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO180, f/2.4 |
Trying to take artistic shots with a camera phone is difficult. Without having complete control over the exposure values (and a tripod!) your ability to get anything that looks like more than just a simple snapshot is very limited, but still possible.
Is There a Happy Medium?
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO180, f/2.4 |
This post is not meant to discuss other middle-of-the-road options, such as the Sony NEX or Olympus OM-D series cameras, both are compact and offer an excellent list of features and quality. So if you aren't prepared to rely on your phone, but don't want to haul around a bulky DSLR, consider looking into a mirrorless or micro 4/3 format camera.
Conclusion
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| Nexus 5 @ ISO417, f/2.4 |
If the purpose of your trip is primarily about playing with your kids, the compactness and convenience of a phone camera will likely outweigh the benefits of the DSLR. In fact, the memories captured will be just as memorable regardless of the quality of the pictures you get. A prime example of this is Disneyland!
However, if the quality of the pictures is your primary concern, and you are willing to haul it around, a DSLR in the right hands will still get superior quality pictures. So if you are going on a cruise, or on a tour through a rainforest, this may still be your best choice.
