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iPhoneography

Vietnamese farmer

iPhoneography


These days, pretty much everyone is packing a pocket rocket camera in the shape of their smartphone. But does it let you take great pictures?

Can you tell which of these was taken on the iPhone?

Can you tell which of these was taken on the iPhone, and which on the full frame DSLR? Here’s a clue: the iPhone came out on top.

  • Using the iPhone is much less intimidating for people, which can lead to more spontaneous and natural images. After all, everyone has a phone and they’re very used to being snapped by their family and friends.  
  • The quickfire shooting/ editing/sharing thing is lots of fun –  Snapseed and Instagram can throw up some really interesting results.
  • The small size of Instagram images means that it’s only too easy (and very enjoyable) to edit the images just a little bit too far. I also really enjoy adding texture using Snapseed. Here, it’s the top image that’s created using iPhoneography.

comparison between iPhone and SLR camera

In darker situations, the limitations of the iPhone are revealed.

With a high ISO, you get a lot of noise! (If anyone has found a noise reduction option on Snapseed, let me know!  

These images show just how much a high ISO affects iPhoneography quality:

comparison between iPhone and SLR camera

iPhoneography images almost always need editing.

  • Editing and extra contrast to make them punchier.
  • Shallow DOF just isn’t going to happen with iPhoneography. This is a style that I love, so I’ve learned to get close to the foreground of the image to add some blurring. As you can see in the images below, it’s obvious where I’ve created a shallow DOF using a wide aperture on a full frame camera.

comparison between iPhone and SLR camera

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’ve really enjoyed being an iPhoneographer and taking Pics of Asia on my iPhone. I can’t wait to see what images I can get with it in northern Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos later this year.

I’m not going to abandon my full frame DSLR, but iPhoneography adds a great new dimension – plus I get to play the game of making you try to guess which of these photos were shot using the iPhone and which ones using the full frame camera.

iPhone or full-frame DSLR?

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Etienne

Founder of Pics of Asia, Etienne is a teacher with a photography habit.

2 Comments

  1. Patrick O'Connor on May 23, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    I’m not trying to be a jerk (it comes naturally!?) but I’ve seen this game many times. For a lot of compositions and lighting situations, there’s not a great difference. You don’t need a FF dSLR for all shots but you DO need it for some shots. Very little in life is all or nothing.

    • Etienne on May 24, 2017 at 9:30 am

      Like I said, the expensive camera will make the difference in more tricky situations.

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