Diana Probst, Cambridge Artist

Comparing Cameras

Here is a question for you: how much does your camera matter in photography? I hope these results benefit you.

I use my iPhone for recording my work in progress. It fits into my pocket, meshes well with my computer, and it plays music when I want it to. It also has a tiny camera with a couple of scratches over the lens cover. This post is largely for my own benefit, but I thought it was interesting enough to share it. It is pictures of my current Self-Portrait in progress, taken with different cameras under the same conditions.

Here in order are the iPhone, point-and-shoot, and a small digital camera with a decent lens. They may take a moment to resize:

Facial area of self-portrait taken with an iphone. Smooth and cold-looking.Picture of facial area of self-portrait, with slightly cool, bluish toneFacial area of self-portrait, warm tones, solid moulding

Because of the problem of uploading the central picture, it is being resized on the fly, and so it is grainy. However, its colours are accurately represented. It made the picture look cold.

For value for money, an iPhone that I bought without thinking of using the camera at all comes in way ahead of the field. For colour matching, the bigger, better camera comes in top. The point-and-shoot is behind on everything. You cannot bracket with most of them, and it does not upload photos without being opened up.

The result that I have reached is that I will use the iPhone for Work in Progress shots throughout the day, and at the end of every project, and possibly the end of every day, I will use the bigger camera to take a photo closer to true colour. What might other people do?