Smartphone photography

UKmitch86

UKmitch86

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Mitch
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I realise this rubs some people up the wrong way, but my habits are changing and I'm considering pursuing photography via smartphone as a primary device.

I won't pretend having a 'proper' camera with me all the time is strenuous, or heavy, etc, I simply just don't remember to take it out. When I want to capture something, I get a halfway decent onscreen result from my smartphone, which is always on me. I know there's scope for improvement from the device.

I intend to capture RAW and process using Lightroom, but don't have any idea of the RAW output quality of any common devices. I already use a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 more than my Fuji XPro2, but it's not RAW capable, and the JPEG compression artifacts are dreadful.

Does anyone have any experience of 'good' results from a smartphone?
 
Yet to know of a smartphone that shoots raw???

So watching to learn something new :)
 
I think it's a great idea - I have spent the bulk of this year using my iPhone 6s as my main camera (only just bought a Fuji recently) after selling all of my DSLR kit last year.

I really enjoy the immediacy of using my phone for photography - you can take, edit and publish all from one device, which I love.

Always have it with me, so it's my most frequently used camera - looking forward to upgrading to an 8 plus in a few months as the camera is even better.

I use SnapSeed for processing my stuff and recommend it - haven't used Lightroom Mobile myself but will give it a go one day.

In terms of good results, I will let you be the judge but I am pleased with this continuing series around London I am working on..

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/london-by-phone.646695/

Good luck and look forward to seeing what you can do with the phone...
 
Interesting Gary, thanks for the perspective. Maybe you could post a few images here?

To be honest, I'm pretty keen on sticking with Android, so I won't ask about getting RAW files off an iPhone, but I was wondering how, if you wanted to, do you do colour accurate editing?
 
Happy to post some here - if this is too many, let me know and I will remove some...

Untitled by Gary Smith, on Flickr

Metro by Gary Smith, on Flickr

Invader by Gary Smith, on Flickr

Chronicle by Gary Smith, on Flickr

Untitled by Gary Smith, on Flickr

Untitled by Gary Smith, on Flickr

In terms of editing, have only ever used jpg so far, so cant really answer that one - that said, once I upgrade my phone, I will be taking smartphone photography more seriously, so it's something I will be looking into...
 
iPhones from 6s on do RAW. Maybe look at dpreview for phone camera comparative reviews since they only review the camera part.
 
One big advantage of the camera phones is that almost nobody will bother you - unless you are using a tripod ; -)
 
Lightroom mobile will shoot in dng and my Samsung s7 will shoot in RAW.
 
UKmitch86 said:
Any chance you could link to the shots Andy? Maybe upload a couple of RAWs?
Click to expand...

I didn't take raw's on the day, just jpeg's. Galleries are here:

http://www.theviewfromthenorth.org/london-road-fire-station-samsung

http://www.theviewfromthenorth.org/crossness-pumping-station

https://blog.mechanicallandscapes.c...laxy-s7-shoot-caroline-gardens-chapel-london/

The images weren't processed on the phone (it was a pre-release model so had no apps on) so these were all processed on my PC using Nik Colour Efex Pro as they wanted them to have a slightly grungy look. Truth be told, they looked great on the S7's screen, but somewhat flat on my monitor, so they needed tweaking.
 
One of my pet hates is when people say ‘not bad for a phone pic’ or indeed when the photographer promotes their work as ‘taken with a phone’. A crap image but taken with a phone suddenly doesn’t become acceptable or vice verse.

Camera phones are better than many regular cameras we were all happily using 10-15 years ago and an image should be considered on its merits alone and not given any concession for the tool of choice used.

They still have massive limitations for some genres of photography like fast action and low light and Bokeh but these will be offset somewhat by future technology.
 
Brazo said:
One of my pet hates is when people say ‘not bad for a phone pic’ or indeed when the photographer promotes their work as ‘taken with a phone’. A crap image but taken with a phone suddenly doesn’t become acceptable or vice verse.

Camera phones are better than many regular cameras we were all happily using 10-15 years ago and an image should be considered on its merits alone and not given any concession for the tool of choice used.

They still have massive limitations for some genres of photography like fast action and low light and Bokeh but these will be offset somewhat by future technology.
Click to expand...

Good summary :)

This thread was posted a couple of years ago. Click the link in the first post that compares images on an iPhone 6S taken side by side with a Nikon D800.
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/iphone-6s-vs-nikon-d800.605640/
 
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HoppyUK said:
Good summary :)

This thread was posted a couple of years ago. Click the link in the first post that compares images on an iPhone 6S taken side by side with a Nikon D800.
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/iphone-6s-vs-nikon-d800.605640/
Click to expand...

Thanks, hadn't seen that thread before posting. Things have obviously changed since then, and you can see a lot of compression artifacts in the iPhone shots there. Wonder whether the OP worked from RAW or SOOC (or should I say SOOP?!)
 
own a HTC 10 pro and that has raw settings, not tried but it has them
 
Ive thought about just using my ipad pro but might feel a prat but the results from the garden satisfy me
 
SsSsSsSsSnake said:
Ive thought about just using my ipad pro but might feel a prat but the results from the garden satisfy me
Click to expand...
Get a tripod and a black cloth and you’ll be fine :)
 
What camera app are you all using on Android, if not the default app? I've been playing with Open Camera recently, which offers a lot more control than the standard app that came with my phone, including switching on DNG support (if the phone supports it).
 
Retune said:
What camera app are you all using on Android, if not the default app? I've been playing with Open Camera recently, which offers a lot more control than the standard app that came with my phone, including switching on DNG support (if the phone supports it).
Click to expand...

Interesting, never heard of that all.........the ref to Camera2 API was something it would be good to locate in the phone info/settings.
 
I recently got an LG G6 and it can use DNG files. It's quite nice using a phone, I think it allows a bit more freedom and it's quite good fun using the Snapseed app. I'm maybe a bit more creative with the Snapseed app than some would care for ;)

https://www.flickr.com/gp/aveyardphotography/KB6K8S
 
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