Is a smartphone all that is needed to take good photos like professional photographers?

To take a great photo requires adjustments to achieve the best results and these are not available on most smartphone cameras.

To understand the differences between the DSLR camera and a smartphone camera, one must be familiar with the basic adjustments that a DSLR camera can achieve.

What is Aperture?

The Aperture is the opening in the lens of the camera. It is also referred to as the f/stop, which controls the amount of light entering into the camera.

On a smartphone, the size of the lens hole is fixed while on a DSLR the size of the opening can be adjusted.

Why is Aperture important?

Making adjustments to the Aperture can impact the depth of field, or how much of the view is in focus. It is a common method used to develop a blurry background, or Bokeh, effect.

Using a wide open aperture is a well-known technique in shooting portraits to highlight the subject and blur the background.

It is not possible to get a blurred effect without using a large lens, which means smartphone cameras would not be able to achieve this shot.

It is worth noting that the latest phone models may be able to simulate this effect with software or apps.

When it comes to landscape shots, everything in the frame must be in focus, which can be achieved with a small Aperture.

What is shutter speed?

Manually adjusting the shutter speed will affect how long the aperture is open while taking a shot.

A longer shutter speed will allow more light in while a shorter shutter speed lets in less.

This setting can only be adjusted on DSLR cameras. Smartphone cameras do not possess such a feature

Why adjust the shutter speed?

For those who enjoy taking photos of sports activities or wildlife, to get the best shot, a very fast shutter speed is needed to freeze the action.

On the other hand, to blur the motion of the vehicles on a highway, a slower shutter speed is needed.

In order to take beautiful pictures of the stars at night, a very low shutter speed with the camera on a tripod is required.

Using different lenses

A DSLR camera offers the option to use larger, higher-quality lenses.

Unlike the smartphone camera lens, which is tiny, the DSLR camera lenses can have great advantages for image stabilisation for those with shaky hands, autofocus, larger Apertures and sharper images.

Macro lens: Used for close-up shots. This lens is mostly used for taking pictures of tiny subjects that can just be centimetres away from the camera lens.

Wide-angle lens: A wide-angle lens can help fit a lot more visuals into the shot. Another variant of the wide-angle lens is a fish-eye lens, which is notably used on GoPro cameras.

Telephoto lens: Widely known as the zoom lens, with which close-up shots of subjects can be taken from a long distance. It is one of the most prominent lenses and an essential tool for wildlife photography.

Both types of cameras have their uses. A smartphone camera is perfect for point-and-shoot photographers to take pictures of the latest gathering with friends, while the DSLR camera is suitable for more sophisticated or professional photographers who are looking to catch the perfect shot.

This article first appeared in jobstore.com

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