I ditched my DSLR in favor of a phone camera. Am I going backward?
Jun 24, 2021
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Over the past year or so, my trusty Nikon D7000 has collected more dust than it has beautiful memories. Sure, the pandemic was partially the reason, but even with that on the side, I noticed that I more often grab my phone to shoot than I do my camera. It got me thinking – am I going backward as a photographer? Am I downgrading and degrading? In this article, I’d like to reflect on some of the reasons for the change and hopefully give some insights to all of you who may have made the same switch.
I was greatly inspired to write this article after reading Dmitri Popov’s How not to be a photographer. Like Dmitri, I’m also a hobbyist, and I don’t make a living from photography. It’s one of my many hobbies and one of the very few ones I stuck with. And ever since I bought my first DSLR, I connected photography strictly with it. But things have changed.
The impact of the pandemic
We all know what 2020 looked like. For me, lockdowns meant no travels (not even locally), no concerts, no festivals – and these are the places where I take photos most often. Instead, I spent the spring of 2020 at my boyfriend’s place. I was cooking, trying to draw, sitting on the roof watching sunsets… And slowly, unnoticeably sliding into a severe depressive episode. So not only did I not visit new places and events I could photograph, but I also stopped being inspired for any other kind of photography or creative work in general.
Thankfully, my depression has been under control for a while. The coronavirus situation is also getting better here in Serbia. I have been fully vaccinated, and last week I went to my first gig in nine months! My brother was playing, but I still didn’t bring my camera, which is very strange. So over the last few days, I’ve been thinking:
What has changed?
Well, a lot. Times have changed, and so have I.
Both depression and pandemic forced me to look deep inside myself, rediscover and reinvent myself, and reevaluate my habits and behaviors. I had to find alternative ways to spend time and try new activities that keep me creative and grounded at the same time. Me being me, once I got better mentally, I got interested in everything.
So, other than taking photos and writing blogs in two languages, I now also do embroidery; I’m learning two styles of calligraphy and how to draw, paint, and model air-dry clay. With my day job, social life, and keeping myself and my home in decent condition, it’s somewhat hard to find time for photography other than the occasional snaps.
Because of all those new interests, my creative energy and ideas have been redirected. I felt a little guilty at first because I left photography on the side. But as I thought more about it, I realized that it’s actually a good thing to “refresh” your creative energy a bit, to rewire your brain and come up with new ideas and new kinds of ideas. I’m really enjoying it now.
So, am I going backward?
The short answer to this would be: No, I am not. But I admit that it took me a while to realize it and understand why this is the case. So here are some of the reasons why I don’t think I’m going backward, neither as a photographer nor as a creative in general, and you feel free to let me know if you agree.
I apply my photography knowledge to other things I do
Lighting, composition, colors – I learned all this through photography. And guess how useful it is when drawing and painting. Knowing composition and color is also very helpful for embroidery work. In addition, I take photos of my finished pieces, and I know how to do it because, well, I’ve spent over ten years with the camera in my hands.
I combine photography with other media
Some of you might have read my article about transferring photos on canvas and embroidering on them. I also plan to embroider on paper prints and transfer photos to clay. So, I use my photos, only in different ways, and I love it.
I challenge myself by limiting myself
In my case, there’s no way I can compare my DSLR and phone photos. The phone camera has a wider angle than any lens I use with the Nikon, not to mention the differences in lens and sensor quality. But we grow when we limit ourselves and overcome challenges. So not only that I’m not going backward; maybe I’m even going forward by shooting with my phone. I quite like this thought.
It’s not about the gear
I know we can argue about this, but in my case – gear really doesn’t matter. Sure, I can’t expect a shallow depth of field or high image quality as I get with my DSLR and a good lens. But I can still recognize an interesting scene or good light; I know how to compose a shot or tell a story even with just a phone snapshot. So sometimes, a JPG image edited with Snapseed works quite fine for me. And when it doesn’t, we get to the next point.
I still use my DSLR when I need to
Although I’ve mainly used my phone lately, I still use my DSLR when necessary for whatever reason. For example, I took some photos for a collaborative exhibition with Christopher Larson earlier this year. I wanted them to look as neat as possible and to have plenty of wiggle room for editing, so I took RAW photos with my DSLR.
A few days ago, I took some portraits of my boyfriend. He is competing in Balkan F1 Esports League, so I wanted to make an “official portrait” for him. I was so into it that I even used OCF. :)
The bottom line
While my smartphone won’t be the first choice for photos I want to exhibit or for any type of portraiture, I still think it serves its purpose. It helps me capture some everyday moments I find interesting or important. At the same time, it unburdens me from carrying a heavy camera everywhere I go (which is something I used to do). Like Dmitri mentioned in his article, it lets me be a tourist and look around me. I can just wander around and enjoy my city in a little different way (and still capture interesting moments when I spot them). Finally, when there’s a need for more serious gear, I will still use it. After all, it’s like riding a bike. So, as long as I’m paying attention, using my knowledge, and taking photos, at least with my phone – I think I’m cool. What do you think?
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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29 responses to “I ditched my DSLR in favor of a phone camera. Am I going backward?”
Almost like ditching your SLR for a Kodak Instamatic.
Cool comparison. :) I hope you read the article, I still occasionally use my DSLR when I need to, but on a daily basis and for occasional snaps and photo walks, I spontaneously switched to my phone. ? – Dunja
The less of us that are doing photography with a dedicated camera, the more our cameras seem to stick out and draw unwanted attention. I know that I am more camera conscious than I ever used to be, both as a photographer and member of the public. It is increasingly the line of least resistance to be more discreet by just carrying your phone for incidental photography. And there’s that old chestnut – the best camera is…
Could now be the time to review your camera and ask yourself if you had a small Fujifilm or Olympus, would you be more inclined to be carrying it with you? An X-E2 plus a small prime lens works well for me when I want to be discreet.
Thanks for the article. The title is a bit misleading. It sounds like you are just more open to leaving your DSLR at home and, if you do, you are more willing to use your phone instead. That is hard to argue with.
When you go out, you make a choice, perhaps implicitly, about what gear to bring along. Do you take your camera body? (If you have more than one, which one?) if you have more than one lens, which do you take? Flash? Tripod? Polarizer? GND? It’s a totally valid choice to skip the weight/bulk and just bring a phone (or a point-n-shoot or a GoPro). The more cognizant you are that you are making a choice here, the better off you will be.
When you see something you want to capture, how you do it is limited by the gear choice you made. But, especially with today’s phones, you are still in a pretty good position if you have just a phone.
The bigger thing, at least for me, is that I see different opportunities depending on the gear I picked. If I am carrying a DSLR with a 200mm lens, I see the world differently than if I have a 30mm lens. And, if the camera I am carrying is a phone in my pocket, I might not see the shot at all.
During a Lecture by the Photographer Arnold Newman,
I wouldn’t say backward. It’s more of a twirling motion
https://youtu.be/HqjhHVUzl8o
I have the same situation. I have a Sony a7ii and I use it for important/planned family photos and astrophotography but it rarely leaves the house otherwise. My Note 10+ takes excellent photos (on par with the d7000 I also have), and I don’t feel the need to lug a full sized camera around anymore.
I would be hard press to call a APS-C camera to be on par with the microscopic sensor of a phone. I just don’t like how much faking required from the camera. If I want to work on art, my art, I want to be the only artist and not let my phone try to take over.
You say that but you don’t have my phone and you don’t know how good a shot it can take. The D7000 is ancient in comparison to modern image sensors. You can say it’s all fakery but the pics phrom my phone look like what I was looking at with my eyes. The only advantages the d7000 has over my phone is the interchangeable lenses and the better depth of field, but as far as raw image quality goes they are pretty much the equal.
Modern phones cannot compete with modern cameras. And from the looks of it, the price point is about the same lol
The d7000 is not a modern camera. And yes my a7ii blows my Note 10+ out of the water in terms of performance and quality, but I can’t put it in my pocket. I can’t tuck it away when I don’t need it. Its a high performance tool with a laser exact purpose, but my phone wins 99% of the time when deciding what to bring to a family gathering, or a small road trip, because of its extreme portability combined with more than adequate picture quality.
I a switched to my cellphone too!
Great decision!
I use my phone more and more too. While I realise its limitations compared to my ‘real’ camera, there are so many interesting moments and visions in everyday life, and my phone is the camera that I always have with me. For this reason, I chose my current phone primarily based on the fact that it had (arguably) the best and most versatile camera on the market (Samsung S21 Ultra). It was like buying a new camera and I’m very pleased with it.
I’m not sure I support the phone camera thing.. I guess it depends on what kind of pictures you take..
Last week for example..
We went out on a family trip to the zoo . It was great to be able to go there again and it was a great first experience for the little ones meeting all the tigers, lions, etc.. but since it’s a zoo, the animals are all inside they’re habitats or cages.. pretty far away from the fences (most of them at least) so everyone in my family that wanted to take photos with their phones, ended up complaining that they didn’t like their photos because the animals looked really tiny (because of the wide angle of phones lenses) or pixelated..
In the end they all ended up using the pictures I took with my camera because they looked much better.. and I ended up taking pictures of everyone except myself lol
The best camera is the one you have with you.. when the moment comes.
However nothing will top a real camera for a real shoot, the interchangeable lenses, sensor size and low light capabilities, ergonomics and just the sound of the shutter.. if you’re a real photographer then nothing will top it, in addition when I put the two together and pixel peep.. the diffrence is just laughable.. my Galaxy S21+ 64 megapixel camera can’t stand a change compared to my Fuji X-t3’s 26 megapixels, however having an ultra wide on my phone is a blessing for landscape !
I feel like the best camera is the one that’s always with you argument. Although I take that literally and carry my D7500 everywhere I go. Phone camera is fun to experiment with but all the best photo where I felt like I made a true art, felt content with was on my DSLR.
Gets a little harder when you’re carrying your trusty old 1D mark II around. I don’t use my phone, ever to be honest, the DSLR is simply more enjoyable to use for me.
Some people are just thinking too much about photography. At the end of the day, only one question matters: Do you get your shots? It doesn’t matter what you use to get your shots. If you can create satisfied photographs with a phone then you can just use a phone.
So basically the headline is misleading?
My phone camera is rubbish compared to my DSLR…. OnePlus 8t vs D750 but it’s very convenient sometimes…my partner repairs smartphones and the tech inside them amazes me!
Phone photos look great on a phone screen or website, but taking a photo in low light and making nice big prints , we going to need a camera.
I couldn’t agree more with what you’ve written and I myself have recently been dealing with this same issue over the last year. I used to carry a camera everywhere, now, I use my phone 90% of the time. I’ve just come back from a 10 day holiday in Skye, my DSLR came out of the bag once. I shot 200+ images on my phone in high Res mode and created about 15 panoramic stitches using the Bimostitch app. I’ve 3 kids, I don’t get the chance to stop and think about my images, I have to take them on the go. When I use one of my camera’s I feel I have to stop and think, take time for the image then hurry to catch up with everyone else. My phone allows me some creative freedom on the go and I always come away with images I’m really happy with. Over the last few months I’ve even been printing them and I’m so happy with the quality. Phones do have restrictions and, as you said, there is a time and place for a proper camera but with computational photography through my phone, I’m finding the need to reach for my camera less and less. My phone is the Huawei P30 Pro, I use manual settings and I use the large JPEG mode.
Mobile phones have got a lot better over the years and my wife takes photos with her iphone 7 whilst I use my Olympus OMD EM1ii. The iphone seems very good at taking close ups and photos in general but no way does it compare to my Olympus. The main thing I hate about using a mobile phone for photos, is the screen. Out in sunlight it is impossible to see what you are taking, making it hard to compose a photo. Sorry but I will be sticking with my Olympus
You bring up an interesting point. There’s been a lot of attempts to improve the capabilities of smartphone cameras by adding clip-on optics, but would people really get on board if there was an EVF that could be clipped to the phone for those who want to take their photography a little more seriously? (I will accept offers of a royalty for this idea. :) )
Click-Bait! Make an outlandish comment to get attention… nothing more!
That’s all the DIY lede stories are anymore, unfortunately. If you see a man biting a dog or a three-headed sheep shopping at Walmart and all you have is a smartphone, OK. If you’re making a living as a photographer and still use one, good luck in your next career, whatever it is.
My photos made the front page of the local paper, that used to really be a paper, twice. No real credentials, just the right place at the right time. To whit, the question of “what is the best camera”? I submit, that in many situations, particularly news worthy ones, the best camera is the one you have with you. And, were not many famous taken with cameras that did not create the best technical images? Sure they were.
One of the main issues I see with the cell phone camera trend is the
democratization” of photography. Any one can nail a great picture, if only by luck.
Now, if we could get all those yahoos that shoot great news footage in vertical to think about where it will be most appreciated, and shoot things in horizontal….
So let me get this straight – the autor is “ditching” their DSLR but in the last paragraph they are saying that if they are concerned about image quality or camera versatility (“Finally, when there’s a need for more serious gear, I will still use it”) they would use a DSLR. So where exactly is the ‘ditching’ occurring ?????
I don’t think any photographer has ever said people should not use a camera phone to take any photos – just that for image quality, you can’t expect a camera phone to rival a DSLR. So other than attention, what useful information is provided by the author ? As others have identified – pure clickbait with no obvious purpose or useful content. I normally don’t look at the “controversial” topics because they are usually wacky opinions with unsupported arguments. Go to know I can still ignore any “articles” like this one and not be missing anything of value at all whatsoever.
“This is the song that never ends, it just goes on and on my friend…” Have you heard it? Google it.
I don’t know why people have a “need” to either vilified a platform/device or to proclaim they have to use X because they can no longer Y. I hear this in the caliber wars and do much so in photography. Why? I wonder if artists have these discussions about paintbrushes or canvases.
If something works for you and it meets what you need to produce the product you want…hip hip hurray!!
Go with that! We are very thankful someone had a cell phone for the murder George Floyd. We are thankful Ansel Adams had a 4X6. We are not saying anyone else in the same situations could have done it better, we see the product of what they did with what they had.