WHAT’S IN A SMARTPHONE CAMERA?

martphone cameras have come a long way since the 2-megapixel days, when even ample sunlight wasn’t sufficient to ensure a shot that wasn’t grainy and barely distinguishable from that of a cheap webcam.

Today, multiple megapixels are the norm, and despite numerous technical limitations, mostly to do with size and the challenges of miniaturization, smartphones today sport better image sensors and much better lenses (in some case, glass) than ever before. We’ve explored the idea of a smartphone as a credible digital compact camera replacement before, but until devices like the iPhone 4S (and now the iPhone 5/5S), as well as Nokia’s 41-megapixel wonder (okay, okay, 38 megapixels, actually), digital compacts still worked better, and were ultimately far more practical.

Just like every self-respecting new parent, I’ve found that when it comes to snagging that elusive moment of my little ones in digital form, I’ve whipped out my smartphone (previously the iPhone 4S) far more times than I can count, as I’m more likely to have it on my as compared to my trusty Canon EOS 550D digital SLR, which has spent the past 18 months sitting inside a dry cabinet. And in those past 18 months, I’ve managed to fill up my iPhone’s 32GB of storage multiple times (thank you, Dropbox, for the auto-upload function). The images from my smartphone, admittedly, don’t come quite close to what my DSLR can achieve, but they’re more than good enough for sharing with friends and family over Whatsapp, or Facebook.

I’ve since upgraded to the Nokia Lumia 1020, in the hopes that the ability to reframe my shots after the fact can help me frame my memories better. Of course, while convenient, I will admit that devices like my Sony RX100 compact camera still take better pictures, but ultimately, during my regular day, I’m more likely to be carrying my smartphone around, than a standalone camera. Now, where’s that portable battery pack? DO YOU PREFER A SMARTPHONE, OR A DIGITAL CAMERA, FOR CASUAL SNAPSHOTS?