Every year, mobile camera technology improves, and every year, I see more articles comparing phones to professional cameras. I decided to do my own comprehensive test to ultimately decide which device is better, a phone or a DSLR.
To be fair, cell phone cameras have become very impressive photography devices in their own right. Modern phones produce quality images, often using computational photography to compensate for the relatively small sensor size. As phone cameras improve and image processing software improves, every year, I see more and more articles comparing mobile phones to dedicated cameras, in order to prove that mobile phones are now available. now outperforming a dedicated camera or trying to prove that a small sensor can never be. matches the performance of a full-frame imaging device. Regardless of the conclusions in the articles, there’s always disagreement in the comments around whether anyone is interested in pixel peeping or you’re having trouble making a large, sharp image out of photos. taken with a mobile phone.
I decided to do a series of comprehensive field tests to finally decide, once and for all, which device is superior: a mobile phone or a DSLR.
For my tests, I will be using my own device, an iPhone 12 Pro Max with a 12-megapixel sensor and a Canon 5D Mark IV DSLR Camera with a 30.1-megapixel full-frame sensor. And that’s all the specs I’m going to compare, as this is a real-world usage test.
Picture
First, the pictures like? I was impressed with the photo quality from the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but the files simply don’t have the same level of information to restore highlights and shadows.
Here are two different images taken on a DSLR: 
Both of these images were taken in relatively low light, and they show how well the full-frame sensor handles images captured at high ISOs. The second image also uses an off-camera flash, which I struggled with to work properly with the iPhone. So far, DSLR cameras are off to a strong start.
Here are two different images taken on an iPhone:
The first image shows a great feature of the iPhone, which is the selfie camera on the front. Although images are a bit blurry due to the combination of low light and small sensor, being able to easily take selfies with the 6.7-inch screen is extremely practical. Many modern cameras, especially mirrorless cameras, have articulating screens that allow for gratuitous selfies the second image was taken while having a picnic by the river at sunset last summer .
It’s tough competition: DSLRs produce large, detailed raw files, allowing for easier post-processing. However, the iPhone produces images that are perfectly acceptable for posting on social media, whose quality is often only slightly degraded through filters and image processing in the phone.
Winner: DSLR
reality
This seems like a no-brainer. The iPhone fits in my pocket: 7.4 mm thick and weighs 228 g. 5D Mark IV is 75.9 mm thick and weighs 800 g without the lens attached! I very rarely leave the house without my iPhone, but I need to keep my DSLR and a lens or two in my pocket, charge it, and format the card before using it.
It is often said that the best camera is the one you carry with you, and I usually carry my phone with me.
Winner: iPhone
connection
The iPhone has 5G connectivity, as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which can be easily set up via a simple touchscreen menu system. The 5D Mark IV also has Wi-Fi support for file transfers, but unfortunately there’s no browser to read the news or check your email on the 3.2″ touchscreen.
Winner: iPhone
Application Support
The iPhone comes pre-installed with the Apple App Store, and this gives access to thousands of third-party apps that are ready for immediate download. Unfortunately, there is no built-in App Store on Canon DSLRs. I can download software updates, as well as third-party firmware, such as Magic Lantern, but these require the use of a computer to save files to the SD card to use in the camera.
Winner: iPhone
Ergonomics and appearance
To be fair, iPhones are designed with photography in mind, while DSLRs are designed with photography in mind. DSLR cameras have all the controls at my fingertips. I need to change the exposure and adjust the image I want to take. That said, it’s not difficult to take photos or control photography on an iPhone. It simply doesn’t feel as if it was built with the primary function of taking pictures. DSLR cameras also look more like a camera than the plain glass of an iPhone. When doing professional photography sessions, clients often expect the photographer to come with a dedicated camera. You are more likely to impress customers if you have a camera instead of just using a cell phone.
Winner: DSLR
Now onto the real world tests. I’ve chosen real-world situations that I encounter frequently, where I use these devices to ultimately decide which is better.
portrait
While there’s Portrait Mode on the iPhone, the lighting effects and artificial background blur don’t match the large sensor with the right portrait lens. While the iPhone might be a bit easier to set up and start shooting, the DSLR really wins in this category, if nothing more than compatibility with some off-camera flash. When I’m booked for portrait photography, I’ll use DLSR all the time.
Winner: DSLR
This is a very common real-world application that I’m sure we’re all familiar with. I’m at home, my partner is at the store and she texted me asking what products we needed to buy. Using my iPhone, I can take a quick photo of the product and send it to her right away. With a DSLR, I had to take a shot, then connect it to my laptop and process the photo, before sending it back to her. I found that in most cases she left the store before receiving the images, which is not the strong point of a DSLR. I was able to simplify this method somewhat by connecting my DSLR to my camera. iPadthen send JPEG from iPad to Tasha.
Winner: iPhone
Post on social media
Another very popular use for DSLR and iPhone cameras is posting content on social media. In a world where people measure their human worth by the number of likes and followers they have, being able to post high-quality content to your favorite social media platforms quickly Fast is extremely important. While many people still aim to produce high-quality social media content using professional equipment, I have certainly noticed a shift towards posting quantity over quality. There are some great creators who just don’t seem to get as much recognition if they just take more selfies because they “feel cute” (can be removed later). I find it shocking that Canon has yet to add a dedicated Instagram app, complete with filters, to their older cameras. iPhone is really the winner here when it comes to posting a bunch of useless content to satisfy the insatiable needs of social media users.
Winner: iPhone
communicate
As mentioned above, at the time of this writing, there are no Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube apps on the Canon 5D Mark IV. While we can hope that Canon will fix this in a future firmware update, I’m pretty sure they won’t implement the phone functionality in part due to the placement of the microphone and speakers as well as lack of cellular connectivity. Since I use my iPhone every day for communication as well as photography, until Canon allows voice calling and texting from their range of interchangeable-lens cameras, I will take my iPhone out every time I leave the house.
Winner: iPhone
Result
3/9″ DSLR camera
iPhone 6/9
We have it, the iPhone is definitely the best of the two in my comprehensive real-world tests. Needless to say, despite some minor compromises in image quality, the iPhone is definitely a better device than the Canon 5D Mark IV.
Inference
While researching for this article, I found a lot of articles comparing cell phones to different types of professional cameras. I am surprised that other articles focus almost exclusively on image quality, videography and photography, while mobile phones are a very versatile device, leading me to make a list of situations in the real world.
While doing my tests and writing this, it occurred to me very briefly that perhaps these two devices could have been built for completely different purposes, then I thought that it can’t happen when so many tech journalists want to compare them over and over again.
What is your opinion? Would you throw away your camera gear and buy an iPhone instead? Let me know in the comments section.
