Cell Phones are NOT cameras

PEOPLE,

Cameras on cell phones are not real cameras. They are add ons that cell phone companies have included to make you phone more appealing. They squeeze a tiny camera chip in there, originally as an after though, so they can make your phone have another selling feature. They are marginally good at taking a pic from between say 3-5 feet to about 10-12 feet unless you're into landscapes. I have seen so many photos of close up objects that are blurry posted by people who think they are good pics. Here's a bit of advice, you're camera's images are tuned to look good on your phone's screen.

Even a tourist point and shoot is far better then the camera on the phone... Why ? well lets start with the electronics. An actual camera has an entire body of electronics in its housing designed specifically to help you take a good picture. The full auto settings along with scene select, Macro and other special settings allow you a wide range of flexibility to control not only how it takes the picture, but helps you to take a better picture.

Then there is the lens, I do not believe that people understand just how important the lens is in taking pictures. Camera phones have little to nothing in this area which limits its focal length and image definition greatly. Then there is the Zoom feature. Digital zoom will never be as good as actual zoom lenses. Digital zoom uses software to magnify the image, but this GREATLY reduces the image quality, to the point where any viewing beyond your phone's screen will be unsatisfying at best. A zoom lens optically brings the scene closer to the imager thereby giving a far better image for capture.

Next comes the imager, the device that actually captures the image. Digital cameras no mater who makes them or where they are used have only two options for imagers. CCD and CMOS. CCD is more commonly used in dedicated digital cameras. CCD can capture more definition ( IE better pixel definition ) with less noise and more uniformity of image quality. However its trade off is that they generally use more power and require a larger processor size due to how the image is captured and transferred to digital. CMOS imagers use some less power and require smaller processors, but sacrifice image quality, noise and consistency. You can see why CMOS is used heavily in cell phones. Less power and space required in a device that has other purposes that just the camera.

I could go on and on about this, but my advice is  if you want to take pictures ... buy an actual camera. I know having a camera on your phone is realy neat and convenient and allows for spontaneity, but if the picture realy maters your doing yourself a disservice  using your phone to take it.

I am an amature photographer by nature of never having pursued it as a vocation. I have formal training in the print film days and know my way around a darkroom in both B&W and color. I'm also conversant in digital and computer and know how to make a digital camera act like a print film camera. The truth is that a firm basis in the print film days makes me a much better user of digital cameras.