Face-off! Smartphones Vs Cameras
In the last 18 months, the compact camera industry worldwide has taken a big knock. The advent of Smartphones seems to have affected the lower end of the compact camera market, and in certain countries, virtually destroyed it. At first appearance, it seems that the camera manufacturers have no answers to the Smartphones’ onslaught. The marketing budgets of Smartphone companies like Apple and Samsung are huge, and can throw the camera manufacturers out of the market. It is also a little strange that Smartphone manufacturers are going out of the way to emphasise the imaging capability of their Smartphones. Are the cameras in Smartphones really that good? SP sought to answer this question by comparing the Apple iPhone 5, HTC One, Nokia Lumia 920, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z with two mid-priced compact cameras – the Canon IXUS 140 and the Panasonic Lumix TZ 40.
The Smartphones
You don’t buy a Smartphone only for the camera it features, but it is very important to know the overall features of the device to help you make an informed decision. Below are the most important specifications of the Smartphones we compared. Some manufacturers do not provide the specifications or price on their websites, and hence in a couple of cases, we had to resort to some reputed online sources to obtain this data. The iPhone 5, HTC One, and Samsung Galaxy
Both the S4 and the Xperia Z feature 13 megapixel cameras, while the iPhone and the Lumia 920 sport 8-megapixel cameras. The HTC One features a ‘modest’ 4 megapixel camera, but what gives it the confidence to take on the competition is a larger 1/3-inch Type sensor. The combination of lower megapixels and a larger sensor should ideally provide ‘cleaner’ images, with lower noise in low-light situations. This makes much more sense in mobile photography in a social media perspective, where the size of images becomes insignificant beyond a certain limit. All the devices except the Xperia Z offer free cloud storage. While this is very useful for photography enthusiasts, this has a deceptive element in it. For example, Dropbox offers up to 18 GB of free space (depending on your referrals) for ordinary users, but if you need additional space, you can buy a Pro plan starting with 100 GB space at a yearly charge of $99 (approximately Rs.5,800). Purchasing a Galaxy S4 entitles you to a free storage of 50 GB on Dropbox. But if you change your phone, Dropbox will start billing you for the extra space consumed.
The Cameras
The IXUS 140 is a 16.0-megapixel point-andshoot camera featuring Wi-Fi and retailing at Rs.12,495. The Panasonic DMC TZ40 is an 18.1-megapixel camera retailing at Rs.25,990. It features Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication (NFC) and GPS support. For detailed features, please refer to the Smart Photography review of the TZ40 in the June 2013 issue.
The Test
The cameras were equipped with advanced manual features, while the Smartphones were not. Hence we decided to use both the cameras and Smartphones only in Auto mode to make the test fair for all. We chose a fixed subject with fine details, which could be uniformly lit in a studio. The comparison comprised of three tests—Sharpness, Reproduction of Detail, and Noise Control in low light. In this test, we have taken into account only the basic parameters which are comparable on fair grounds. There are other factors, such as ease of operation, convenience, overall utility, and so on, but these would make it an unfair comparison, since Smartphones and cameras fit into two very distinct roles.