At some point in the last ten years, you’ve probably heard someone mention it in some way: does everyone having a camera in their pocket eliminate the need for a photographer? The short answer is no…but if you’re reading this, it’s probably because you want more in-depth reasoning as to why.
It goes without saying that phone cameras have made leaps and bounds since their inception. Back in the 2000s, we thought it was so futuristic having a camera in our pocket at all times. Despite them being grainy and tiny at just 1.3 megapixels, we were enamored by the concept.
And then the iPhone came out. And then we added flashes to our phones. And then we increased their megapixel count. And added multiple lenses. And–okay, you get the idea.
Point being, as the proliferation and tech rapidly advanced in smartphones, some have argued that photographers aren’t as needed anymore. But they say a picture is worth a thousand words…so I bring you not one, but two in this post. One was taken with my professional camera and flash. The other was taken on my (one-year-old) iPhone and its flash. I think it’s safe to say that I don’t have to explicitly point out which picture was taken with which. Both were taken in the same room. The iPhone’s flash not only failed to illuminate her (it’s a bright room and not a huge flash), but also couldn’t keep up with her arm being in motion.
Without getting too technical, the sensors on phones are considerably smaller than one of a professional camera. To make up for this, they use computational photography in lieu of a single exposure from a professional camera.
Essentially, once the picture is taken, it captures multiple exposures, stacks them, runs noise reduction, boosts sharpness…the list goes on. This is all invisible to the user of course and happens within seconds. But the takeaway is that to make up for having smaller sensors (and therefore, less light), it applies a boatload of editing to the picture off the bat. Some may say it’s cheating, but the tradeoff here is that up close, details get smudged or look artificial. Especially in low-light.
A traditional camera takes a single exposure; it’s the RAW image of how it genuinely looked in real life with no preprocessing done by the camera. (If shot in RAW; JPG it will do some.) That’s what the camera saw, so that’s what it took. All editing is done by the photographer, not by millions of computations from the phone for how it thinks you want it to look.
In summary: despite their convenience and notable advancements, smartphone cameras still do not compare to the quality of a professional camera and photographer. It’s not even close. And gear aside, it still takes a trained eye and steady hand for ideal composition and timing to get the most out of your story or event. That comes from a human…not technology. Don’t let cameras being everywhere nowadays discourage you into thinking your job doesn’t matter. Keep on shooting for the stars.
