Mobile phone better than my Nikon!

S

Stuart Marshall

New member
I went underground this weekend to take some pics in Reeds Cavern with a friend. I have a Nikon 1 with underwater housing. I?d set the ISO to 3200 and had a large video floodlight. The pics were quite honestly really disappointing.
Then I took out my iPhone 11 that had been in my pocket all the time. The pics it produced with the same lighting were just stunning.
I?m just a bit shocked, ana thinking of binning my digital camera! Has anyone else had a similar experience?


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JoshW

JoshW

Well-known member
Wouldn't be surprised at all, the Nikon 1's were a weird little camera at the time (when companies like Samsung were bringing out cameras the same size with 1.5x cropped sensors as opposed to a 2.7x crop on the Nikon 1).

They're pretty old now and technology has come on quite a way since then. Cameras from 8 years or so ago with sensors that size all needed a fair bit of noise reduction applied if going above ISO 800 or so, the iPhone does this straight off the bat (pun intended).
 
cap n chris

cap n chris

Well-known member
Mobile phone imaging software is so sophisticated nowadays that it is commonplace for phones to give waaaay better results than cameras in underground settings. Hugely expensive and professional rigs will always do better but for snapshot stuff it's worthwhile getting a phone that you are happy to risk taking underground rather than a camera. Software is the key to this, so I have been led to understand.
 
Rob

Rob

Well-known member
Yer i hardly take my SLR underground anymore, and certainly never a compact camera. Modern smart phones are not just the future for cave photography, they're the here and now!
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
Camera designed to take pictures in daylight, phone designed for use in artificial light ...
 
tomferry

tomferry

Well-known member
Completely agree with the above unless I am making a proper portfolio in a hard copy for the place I just get my iPhone out 5 seconds the picture is taken and it?s back in my sleeve pocket  . done quick easy it?s all just major  (y)  for the phone I believe
 
Brains

Brains

Well-known member
I only use my mobile now, pictures are better and much quicker to shoot a selection of images on the move. No need for flash or film lights, caplamps are fine
 
S

Stuart Marshall

New member
Thanks folks. It seems like it?s not just me then!
I?m going to get a rugged case and use phone now then!!


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pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
But the lens diameter on a phone is still tiny compared to any decent camera, especially a good SLR, so the level of detail captured will always be far less, no matter how good the sensor. I'm not talking pixel resolution here but captured image sharpness/clarity. There is a good reason why decent camera lenses are expensive - often above and beyond an entire smartphone. Depends what you plan to do with the photo I guess, and for web use it's fine, but most phone images I've been asked to 'improve' look decent at screen size, but I zoom in and it's just fuzz.
 
S

Stuart Marshall

New member
Here are two pics. Same lighting. Nikon 1
43396c0e4ee11a7edf085dc3c08abc57.jpg

iPhone 11
95608e898dc69c24041abe1fd8f21ce6.jpg



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pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
The Nikon picture is too small to compare really, but the iPhone photo is blurred more or less everywhere?
 
S

Stuart Marshall

New member
I?m underground again this week. I?m going to do some direct testing and compare images on laptop. Expect results later in week of proper image comparison!


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Pegasus

Pegasus

Administrator
Staff member
Treated myself to a new mobile a few weeks back. Samsung S21 - cannot believe how good the camera is.

Not taken it underground, however here are a few recent snaps I'm particularly pleaseed with:

wl


wl


...and we were at Edgbaston to see England get whupped by the Kiwis.  My brother and Badlad consoled themselves with beer  ;)

wl


wl
 
NewStuff

NewStuff

New member
Had a similar moment on Sunday. Huawei P20 Pro. Handheld shots underground is a new thing for me. While I can get much better results out of my "big" camera's, it takes a lot of effort to do so. It's nice to know though, as general record shots are important as well., not just gallery/exhibition/book material.
 
Paul Marvin

Paul Marvin

Member
Pegasus said:
Treated myself to a new mobile a few weeks back. Samsung S21 - cannot believe how good the camera is.

Not taken it underground, however here are a few recent snaps I'm particularly pleaseed with:

wl


wl


...and we were at Edgbaston to see England get whupped by the Kiwis.  My brother and Badlad consoled themselves with beer  ;)

wl


wl
Click to expand...

They do do lovely images but can fall a bit short when the lighting is not optimal , would love to see some video/images from underground when you get the chance. I recently borrowed a camera on a week away as like a plonker I forgot my Olympus. The Panasonic I borrowed ( and very grateful I was )did do some good stuff until as said pushed it a bit then it fell short .
 
Paul Marvin

Paul Marvin

Member
pwhole said:
But the lens diameter on a phone is still tiny compared to any decent camera, especially a good SLR, so the level of detail captured will always be far less, no matter how good the sensor. I'm not talking pixel resolution here but captured image sharpness/clarity. There is a good reason why decent camera lenses are expensive - often above and beyond an entire smartphone. Depends what you plan to do with the photo I guess, and for web use it's fine, but most phone images I've been asked to 'improve' look decent at screen size, but I zoom in and it's just fuzz.
Click to expand...

All true  (y) ;)
 
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