What determines the clarity of a photo on a phone? What camera characteristics affect the quality of photography? Better few large pixels than many small ones

Nowadays, you don't have to be a professional to create high-quality images. For getting good result A regular point-and-shoot camera is also suitable for a beginning photographer. To select the appropriate technique, you will need a general knowledge of the imaging process. In this article you will learn about what 1 megapixel is and how it is reduced. It will also help you understand the main camera characteristics that affect the image. Is it true that the clarity of the picture depends on the number of megapixels?

Let's understand the concept

A digital photograph is made up of many dots that form an image. They are called pixels. Each of them is an element of the matrix construction; the greater their number, the better the camera itself. So, 1 megapixel consists of 1,000,000 pixels.

How can we concisely define this term? A common abbreviation for megapixels is mpx. The concept comes from the English words pix and element. Perhaps, when you greatly enlarge a photo taken from your device, you have already seen how the image is divided into tiny squares? These are pixels.

How many units do you need?

You may come across the opinion that the more dots and, accordingly, the higher the resolution, the clearer the picture will be. In reality, good optics and craftsmanship are much more important.

The result is affected by the settings of aperture, shutter speed, ISO (light sensitivity) and many others. From external factors- this is exposed light or natural lighting, weather conditions (if the shooting takes place outdoors).

The physical size of the matrix itself has a much stronger effect on the characteristics of the image than the number of megapixels (or abbreviation - MP) in the camera. If there are very few of these units, you will get a blurry frame with big amount noise. This problem is usually faced by owners of inexpensive smartphones and cameras. Even such powerful editors as Adobe Photoshop will not be able to completely get rid of such artifacts. If you want to immediately get excellent shots, we recommend paying attention to both the presence of the required number of megapixels and the concept of crop matrices.

What determines image quality?

In most modern devices, megapixels (or abbreviations - mpx, Mp, MP) are in excess, while manufacturers are trying to save on other parameters. For example, on the physical size of the matrix.

During times film photography The concept of “full frame” appeared; it is associated with 35 mm film used as a photosensitive element. With the advent of digital cameras, the latter was replaced by the matrix. But its production is more expensive, so companies began to produce stripped-down versions. This is how the crop coefficient appeared - the ratio of the diameter of the full frame to the diagonal of the smaller matrix.

This parameter affects, first of all, what percentage of the visible image will fall into the frame, and a kind of cropping of the future image. As the coefficient increases, the noise level increases and the viewing angle decreases. The image obtained by a camera with a full-frame sensor will be many times clearer and better quality. Also, when buying a camera, you should pay attention to the focal length, the characteristics of which relate more to the lens.

A little more about matrix resolution

In what cases is a larger number of megapixels (abbreviated as MP) needed? If you are going to greatly enlarge the future image, for example, to print photo wallpaper. The greater their number, the more the image can be cropped without loss of quality. Additional pixels will come in handy when shooting an object from afar; it will be possible to bring it closer when editing.

Another factor is the increase in the amount of memory occupied on the media and the processing time of the resulting image. In most cases, a resolution of 8-13 megapixels (abbreviated as Mp) will be enough for a novice photographer. When printing street posters, for example, they do not use such a high resolution, since they are located at a height and the viewer looks at them from afar.

Instead of a conclusion

From this article, readers learned what megapixels (abbreviated as Mp, Mp or mpx) are and how these elements affect photography. Whether it is worth purchasing a camera with a large number of these elements depends on the tasks for which you will use the photographic equipment. If the goal is to obtain high-quality images for small printed images (including A4 format), it is better to pay attention to other, larger important characteristics cameras discussed above.

If you plan to print large posters or greatly enlarge pictures, you should prefer a device with a large number of megapixels. In all other cases, there is no need to pay special attention to this parameter - it is better to purchase good lens or filters. The clarity of the image is influenced more by the skill of the photographer and the settings suitable for the shooting conditions than by the number of pixels in the device.

Artem Kashkanov, 2019

Introduction

The topic of choosing a camera has probably always been and will be relevant. Time passes, technology changes, old materials written on this topic become hopelessly outdated. General principles remain unchanged, but great amount nuances makes you look at the problem of choice differently. Purpose of the article Which camera is the best?- dot all the i’s when it comes to purchasing a digital camera, taking into account the current market situation. The article is aimed primarily at beginner amateur photographers, but I am sure the article will also be useful for experienced users.

Where to start choosing the “best” camera? First of all, you must determine the range of tasks for which the camera will be used. The tasks can be completely different and you need to come to terms with the fact that an absolutely universal camera simply does not exist. This is the same as choosing a car - you can buy a Mercedes car or a KamAZ truck for the same price. You can move from point A to point B in both, but the tasks of these cars are completely different, as well as the requirements for the driver’s skills.

It's the same with cameras. For example, to go on a picnic with friends and “take pictures for history” there is absolutely no need to drag yourself there professional camera(although there are some enthusiasts), a smartphone is quite enough - after all, photographs from such events, as a rule, do not go further social networks and home photo albums.

For professional purposes, the requirements for technology are completely different. Lightness and compactness fade into the background, and completely different parameters become priorities - image quality in low light, rate of fire, color rendition, dynamic range, performance and battery life of the camera.

Thus, choosing the “best camera” is always a compromise between the capabilities of the equipment, its size, ease of use, price and system upgrade capabilities.

In this article, I will answer the four most important questions that arise when choosing a camera: crop or full frame, optics - replaceable or non-replaceable, DSLR or mirrorless, point-and-shoot camera or smartphone. The purpose of my article is not to name a specific model that you need to buy in order to find happiness in life, but simply to systematize knowledge on this topic. I have gone through the problem of choosing a camera many times and I know firsthand what the agony of choice is :) Everything that is written in this article is my purely personal opinion, which has developed over many years of passion for photography. Whether you accept it or not is up to you.

Crop or full frame?

One of the main criteria by which cameras are divided into “good and bad” is physical matrix size. It is measured not in , but in millimeters (or inches). It is this parameter that has a decisive influence on the quality of photographs - color rendition, noise level, dynamic range (the ability to simultaneously work out both bright colors and deep shadows in an image).

A bit of boring theory

If you don’t go deep into theory, the rule is simple - the larger the matrix size (in millimeters), the more “artistic” a picture can be obtained with its help if you have good optics and hands growing from the right place :) A large matrix is ​​capable of transmitting light, color , with it you can control the depth of field and generally create masterpieces. Small matrices are capable of all this to a much lesser extent.

Everything seems to be clear with light and color, but what is “depth of field” in a photograph and why is it needed? Let's look at two example photos:

The ability to control depth of field (the correct name is depth of field, depth of field) is an invaluable quality in artistic photography. IPIG is of great relevance when portrait photography- a portrait with a blurred background in most cases looks much more impressive than a similar shot with a sharp background.

Based on the above, the erroneous conclusion may arise that the background in the picture is blurred by the matrix. This is wrong! The background in portraits blurs lens. And the main difference between cameras with “small” and “large” matrices is that the lenses they use are completely different. Optics that are used on full frame cameras is capable of blurring the background almost to zero. The camera lens in a smartphone is not capable of this by definition. It's all about such a characteristic as focal length. The larger it is, the more “blurry” the lens will be. It can be shown schematically as follows:

Please note that as the size of the matrix changes, the focal length of the lens decreases proportionally (while maintaining the same angle of coverage of the space in the photograph). Along with it, the ability of it to blur the background decreases. Here is an explanation of why you can take portraits with a blurred background on DSLRs/mirrorless cameras, but not on point-and-shoot cameras and smartphones. By the way, if smartphones were represented in this diagram, they would be located to the right of the point-and-shoot.

This dependence is described more simply and clearly by the following parameter: crop factor- coefficient, how many times the camera matrix is ​​smaller than the film frame (36 * 24 mm). “Top” cameras have a crop factor of 1 (that is, the size of the matrix corresponds to the film frame), while most cameras of the semi-professional and advanced amateur class have a crop factor of 1.5 to 2 (each equipment manufacturer has its own). Compact, inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras and smartphones have a crop factor of 5-6 or more.

There is a widespread belief that the crop factor somehow changes the focal length and aperture of the lens, turns a “fifty-kopeck lens” into a “portrait lens” and the like. It's a delusion. The crop factor does not change anything, it only creates the illusion of shooting with a lens with a long focal length due to the fact that the image is cropped at the edges and the angle of coverage of the frame is narrowed. To somehow simplify the understanding of this mechanism, the concept of “equivalent focal length” was introduced. Thus, on a 1.6 crop, a 50 mm lens has an equivalent focal length of 80 mm, but in fact it remains “fifty kopecks” and the background in the portrait blurs out like “fifty kopecks” and not “eighties”.

Full frame - pros and cons

In addition to blurring the background, the crop factor indirectly affects the quality of the picture as a whole - full-frame matrices are generally superior to crop sensors in color depth, dynamic range, and they have a higher operating ISO sensitivity (less noise in photographs). It is because of this that for taking pictures professional quality best choice There will be a full frame camera.

Despite all its advantages, full frame also has a number of disadvantages. The most important of them is the cost of the camera and lenses for it, and the price is not always proportional to the increase in quality compared to a simpler camera model. It happens that for an increase in quality of a conditional 10% you have to overpay 100% or more! In my opinion, this is justified if the camera is used as a production tool and this investment will pay off. But even in these cases, it is often much more profitable to rent a camera (this is true, my thoughts out loud).

The second disadvantage of a full frame is its dimensions and weight. The size and weight of the carcass may not differ from the “cropped” one, but full-frame optics are noticeably larger and heavier. Here, too, it is worth assessing your level of enthusiasm and physical capabilities. A fully equipped photo backpack can weigh 5 kilograms or more. Would you carry this with you, say, on a long hike over rough terrain? Maybe we should look for something more compact and lighter?

Crop - pros and cons

As the maritsa decreases, the camera tends to turn from a bulky and heavy gadget into a light and elegant gadget. I'll tell you a little about my experience in this matter...

When, after five years of “full-frame” life, I purchased my first cropped mirrorless camera, I breathed a sigh of relief! The device weighed four times lighter and fit into a small bag instead of a backpack. The quality of photographs in most cases turned out to be practically indistinguishable from “full frame” - at least when using a good lens.

Naturally, in a number of cases, a cropped camera was inferior to a full-frame one - it did not blur the background in a portrait so well, photographs taken in low light were noisier. But there were no striking differences. The gap between crop 1.5-2 and point-and-shoot is much larger than between crop and full frame.

For four years I have been deciding for myself the question - crop or full frame? I decided in favor of the crop and here's why:

1. It's much cheaper. For the price of a full-frame camera you can buy a cropped camera with a very good lens.
2. When buying a crop, we almost always get much more pleasant and useful features than a comparable full frame. A rotating touch screen, a perfect autofocus system, video with normal autofocus, fast continuous shooting - all this is found even on amateur cropped cameras. Full-frame cameras fully acquire these functions only in “top” models, and even then not always.
3. A cropped camera is almost always lighter and more compact than a full-frame camera. You can shoot with it on the street without attracting much attention to yourself. It doesn't require a backpack or a large bag. In the end, if the camera breaks/gets lost/stolen, it won't be that bad, because see point 1.
4. If you are more drawn to scenes that are shot with a large depth of field, a crop camera will again come in handy - it is much easier to get a greater depth of field with it than with a full-frame one. And don’t think that cropped cameras are not capable of blurring the background :) When using fast, long-focus optics, they do this almost as well as their more expensive full-frame counterparts.

So, as we see, when choosing between crop and full frame, everything is not so simple. Personally, I think that for most amateur photographers a cropped camera would be preferable. Already, the gap in picture quality between crop and full frame is not as great as many imagine - even if the difference is noticeable, it is not critical. I am confident that over time this gap will narrow even further.

The only drawback of crop compared to full frame, which cannot be avoided, is the inability to blur the background into mush. The laws of physics prevent this. That's all, actually! If you can't come to terms with this, buy full frame :)

Replaceable or non-replaceable optics?

Enough words have already been said about matrices and bodies, now it’s time to talk about an equally important thing - the lens.

The lens is the main element of the camera, no matter how strange it may sound. The quality of the image depends 90% on the lens, so you should approach the choice of this device responsibly.

We have already decided that a large matrix is ​​good, and a small one is bad. Now let's decide on replaceable and non-replaceable optics. Here everything is no longer so clear.

As you know, DSLRs and system cameras (mirrorless cameras) involve the use of interchangeable lenses. But there is another class of cameras on the market - “premium compacts”. Unlike conventional point-and-shoot cameras, they have 1-inch matrices, that is, they are comparable in size to “cropped” cameras. But unlike SLR and system cameras, these compacts have non-replaceable lenses - quite high quality, but non-replaceable.

Why change the optics on your camera at all? If you even superficially study the basics of composition in photography, you can find out that it is customary to photograph different subjects at different focal lengths for better representation in a photograph. The focal length determines the wide angle of coverage of the lens. The smaller it is, the wider the viewing angle. Wide angle lens“distances” objects, but allows you to place a fairly large sector of space in the frame. Accordingly, increasing the focal length has the opposite effect - the viewing angle narrows, the fragment of space that falls into the field of view is “stretched” across the entire frame.

The examples above show the difference between a wide-angle and a telephoto lens. For the purity of the experiment, of course, it was worth filming from one point, but I think the meaning is clear.

The photos above are two extremes. In everyday photography, focal lengths are most often used, at which the perspective is close to what we see with our own eyes.

These two example photographs illustrate the most typical use of a camera for amateur purposes - to photograph landscapes and one's friends and family (either at home or against the backdrop of the same landscapes).

These photographs are shown here for a reason. If you buy a camera with non-replaceable lenses, you will most likely be limited to a focal length range of 28-70mm (maybe a little longer, but not much). This camera will allow you to take photographs very good quality, but if suddenly you want to get serious landscape photography, then with this camera you will run into a wide-angle limitation - you won’t be able to “push” the lens closer than 28 millimeters. The other extreme is photo hunting. Here you will no longer have enough of the “long” end and there is nothing you can do about it. Cameras with non-replaceable optics are good for walking lightly - they will easily fit in your jacket pocket and will allow you to take photographs of excellent quality, but you will not be able to photograph any atypical scenes.

If the camera involves the use of interchangeable lenses, then all these restrictions are removed. Naturally, lenses cost money, sometimes a lot. But if you are a creative person and plan to learn, grow and develop, then I strongly recommend purchasing a camera with interchangeable lenses. Even though with a standard lens the image quality may be inferior to premium compacts (and this most likely will be the case!), such a camera, even with a cheap fixed lens (without zoom), in terms of quality, can leave a camera with non-replaceable optics far behind.

DSLR or mirrorless?

If you decide to purchase a camera with interchangeable lenses, you are faced with the next task - choosing the type of camera. The choice is small - either it is a DSLR camera or a system camera (mirrorless). First, look at this picture:

This is a comparison of the size and weight of a mirrorless camera with a “top” standard lens and a DSLR with a mid-range lens.

Currently, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are about equally popular and the choice largely depends on your personal preferences. By and large, the presence or absence of a mirror in the camera design does not in any way affect the quality of the resulting photographs. The filming process is a little different.

When shooting with a SLR camera, we look into the optical viewfinder, which, through a system of mirrors, shows us the image as it appears in the lens. For system cameras, a screen or an electronic viewfinder is used for this, which shows us the picture as the matrix “sees” it. Which is better - optical or electronic viewfinder? It is impossible to give a definite answer - both have their pros and cons.

Optical or electronic viewfinder?

Optical viewfinder good because it conveys the picture “as is” - without any embellishments, delays, flickering, etc. Because it's just a system of mirrors and lenses, it doesn't consume power, thereby extending the camera's battery life. On the other hand, the DSLR viewfinder also has its disadvantages. For most cameras, it does not cover 100% of the frame, but a little less - 95-98%. Because of this, unnecessary objects at the edges of the frame may fall into the frame and you will have to additionally crop the image, slightly losing its resolution. The mirror viewfinder reflects a minimum of “service” information - shutter speed, aperture, ISO, exposure compensation. It is impossible to force it to show, say, a live histogram, white balance or electronic level. Because of this, there is an increased likelihood of a defective photo due to incorrect exposure level, white balance, or obstruction of the horizon. To finally evaluate the correctness of the settings and framing, you need to take a test shot, look away from the viewfinder, look at the screen, and if there is an error, make adjustments to the settings. It's spent on this Extra time, however, with proper experience, the number of such duplicates is reduced to a minimum.

Main advantage electronic viewfinder (EVF)- it displays information taken from the sensor with camera settings already applied and makes it possible to evaluate the result even before the shutter is released. The viewfinder completely duplicates the contents of the camera screen when shooting and viewing. In addition to the picture itself, the EVI can display a lot of necessary information - in addition to shutter speed and aperture, you can display a live histogram, an electronic level, highlight overexposed and underexposed areas, outline objects that have been focused on, display a picture using the selected image style, white balance. This helps a lot when shooting and allows you to reduce the number of “sighting” takes to a minimum. That is, you can shoot without taking your eyes off the viewfinder - time is saved and fewer interesting moments are missed. You have to pay for this with additional power consumption that occurs when the matrix and viewfinder are operating. In older cameras, the electronic viewfinder displayed the image with a slight delay, which made it difficult to shoot in motion, but in modern cameras, if there is a delay in display, it is very insignificant. Not all system cameras have an electronic viewfinder. Simpler and cheaper models do not have this option and use the screen for shooting. In principle, there is nothing terrible about this except for filming in bright sunny weather, when the screen may look pale. Although for full-fledged work it is better to prefer a camera with a viewfinder.

The second difference between a DSLR and a system camera is autofocus.

Autofocus on a DSLR camera is carried out by phase sensors. Distinctive feature this mechanism - if the object is out of focus, the camera “knows” which way to turn the focusing mechanism, which in general speeds up focusing. On the other hand, the focus sensors are not located in the plane of the frame (the surface of the matrix), but in a separate block located perpendicular to it. Because of this, a mismatch may occur - according to the sensors, the sharpness seems to be adjusted (the dots in the viewfinder are highlighted), but in the photo the object turns out to be blurry. This phenomenon is called “front focus” and “back focus” (depending on which direction the autofocus misses). It can be treated by adjusting the camera and lens in service center. The focus is especially blurred when using fast lenses on inexpensive bodies.

Modern SLR cameras have a “live view” mode - Live View, in which the mirror is raised and focusing occurs using the contrast method, like in mirrorless cameras. He will be discussed below.

Mainly used in system cameras contrast method focusing in which the matrix itself acts as autofocus sensors. Information from the matrix is ​​read and processed in real time. A special algorithm determines whether the object in the focusing area is sharp enough. If the sharpness is insufficient, a command is given to the lens to shift the focusing group of lenses, which will occur until maximum contrast is achieved at the edges of the object. In this case, the initial focusing direction may be determined incorrectly and the autofocus “slides” back and forth for some time, and the worse the illumination, the longer it takes to focus. The contrast method is inferior to the phase method in speed, but superior in focusing accuracy - such things as “front focus” and “back focus” are unknown to mirrorless cameras. In modern system cameras, the loss in focusing speed compared to SLR cameras is minimal, if not completely absent.

Many modern cameras use a mechanism hybrid focusing, in which some of the matrix pixels are used as phase sensors. Hybrid focusing combines the speed of phase focusing and the accuracy of contrast focusing. Hybrid focusing can be used in both DSLRs (in Live View) and mirrorless cameras and reduces their differences in terms of autofocus performance to zero.

System cameras have a simpler shutter design (without a moving mirror), as a result of which they are superior to DSLRs in terms of speed burst shooting on average 1.5 times. From my own experience, I can say that even if you are not into shooting “machine gun bursts,” this property can play an important role when shooting some fast-paced events. This could be sporting events, dancing, active recreation, playing with pets. In fleeting moments there is a huge amount of emotion hidden, which is almost impossible to capture when shooting 4 frames per second (a typical rate of fire for an amateur DSLR). This is another big plus of mirrorless cameras.

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

• If you like shooting through an optical viewfinder, get a DSLR.
• If you are more accustomed to shooting “like a point-and-shoot camera” using a screen, there is no point in buying a DSLR, since in Live View mode it loses all the advantages in the form of fast phase detection autofocus and low power consumption; a mirrorless camera will be preferable.
• If you value comfort and convenience when shooting, take a mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder.
• If you are going to shoot video, take a Sony or Panasonic mirrorless camera. In terms of video capabilities, they are the best.
• If you need high speed continuous shooting - take a mirrorless camera.
• If you want to combine compactness, light weight and high image quality, take a mirrorless camera.
• If the ability to take 1000 pictures on one battery charge is critical for you, take a DSLR.
• If you go hiking, take a mirrorless camera and several spare batteries.
• If you have a lot of good “DSLR” optics and you don’t want to part with them, take a DSLR.
• If you want your device to look “brutal” and command respect from potential clients- take a DSLR.
• If you shoot “purely for yourself”, but the capabilities of a smartphone are not enough for you, take a mirrorless camera
• If you are a professional photographing weddings or sports, why are you even reading this? :)

Conclusion - every year there are fewer and fewer reasons to buy a DSLR camera. For the vast majority of tasks within the framework of amateur photography, buying a DSLR now makes no sense.

I expect a barrage of criticism, but everything said above is my personal opinion, based on my own experience.

Smartphone or point-and-shoot

This part of the article is for those who do not have any major goals in the field of photography, but are looking for a simple “photo recorder” that would always be at hand. I won’t give technical arguments, I’ll just show one graph:

These are statistics on camera sales from leading manufacturers for the period from 2003 to 2018. The graph clearly shows how sharply the popularity of point-and-shoot cameras has fallen over the past 5-6 years, despite the fact that the number of sales of cameras with interchangeable optics has not changed fundamentally. Why do you think this happened?

My personal opinion is that if you buy a point-and-shoot camera now, it should be a camera with a 1" matrix or larger. Only in this case can it surpass a smartphone in image quality and functionality. These are Sony RX, Canon Gx, Panasonic Lumix LX cameras. In these series there are models of different price categories, but they rarely cost less than $ 500. And if the camera is bought for creativity, I recommend that you return to reading the “” section again.

There is no point in buying cheap point-and-shoot cameras for 200-300 dollars with 1/2.3" matrices, it's just money down the drain. For this money you can buy a smartphone that will take pictures no worse, will always be at hand and will perform many other useful functions :)

What should you buy for your camera first, and what can you put off until later?

Let's say the cost of your dream camera turns out to be several thousand rubles less than you planned to spend. In this case, you are tempted to buy some additions and accessories for the camera, which can subsequently diversify your life. First of all, I can advise two things:

Normal flash drive

A new camera usually does not come with a flash drive, or its volume is too small for everyday use. The choice of flash cards for cameras is huge; they differ in format, volume, speed and price. In terms of format, everything is clear. If your camera works with SD (and its varieties SDHC, SDXC), then you need to choose from them.

What size flash drive should I choose? It all depends on the tasks. If this is photography, then for most modern cameras a 32 gigabyte flash drive is more than enough - this capacity is enough to hold several thousand frames in Jpeg format and about 1000-1500 in RAW format (with a resolution of 20-25 megapixels). For video shooting, it is better to purchase a larger flash drive - 64, 128, 256 gigabytes. Depending on the video resolution, the consumption of the flash drive will be different. It is also important to take into account the maximum capacity of the flash drive supported by the camera.

As for speed, in principle there is no big difference for shooting single frames in Jpeg; you can buy the cheapest flash drive. But still, this does not negate the need to have a speed reserve - it will be useful when shooting in RAW (especially serial) and shooting high-resolution video. After all, the more megapixels a camera has, the more demanding it is on the speed of the flash drive.

Depending on the data exchange speed, maximum volume and maximum file size, flash drives are divided into many classes and subclasses. I will talk about this in one of the following articles. For now, the principle is this - choose a flash drive that costs slightly above average (for its capacity).

Bag for the camera

Here the requirements are:

1. The bag must accommodate the camera fully loaded - along with a charger, spare flash drives, space for an additional lens (if it is possible to purchase one)

2. The camera should be well fixed (this is achieved using internal partitions with Velcro), but at the same time it should not be flush in size - if you need to make an effort to fasten the bag, we discard this option. The same as with shoes.

3. The inner coating should not be lint-free. This is usually the case with the cheapest bags, lined on the inside with low-quality material, from which individual hairs separate during natural wear. These hairs can then end up in the most unexpected places, incl. on a camera matrix with non-replaceable optics (unbelievable, but true!)

How should your camera fit in your bag? Lens down, lens up, or on its side? There is no consensus on this matter. Personally, I prefer the lens facing down - it’s easier to take the camera out of the bag. There is also an argument in this favor that with this position of the camera, less dust settles on the matrix. A cradle for the carcass is formed from soft inserts; there is a small gap under the lens at the bottom. There are “compartments” on the sides for spare batteries and a second lens.

It is advisable that the bag have a hood - a waterproof cape that is pulled out of a special pocket and covers the bag from the rain.

Tripod

I remember some author smart book About photography, I recommended photographing the landscape only with a tripod, even during the day. Personally, I think this advice is outdated. Modern cameras have quite high working ISO to shoot handheld from morning to evening. A tripod is really only needed for night photography. There is definitely no need to buy it together with the camera!

Protective filter

A protective filter is a piece of glass that covers the front lens of the lens from dust, splashes, and fingerprints. If the camera is dropped, it protects the front lens from chips and cracks. In principle, this is a useful thing, but there is one thing... Cheap protective filters almost always reduce the contrast of the image, especially when shooting against a light source, and can cause additional glare. Expensive filters do not have these disadvantages, but their cost may exceed the cost of a “whale” lens.

My personal opinion is that if you buy a protective filter, it should be a good and expensive one. There is no point in protecting a cheap lens with an expensive filter. Dropping a camera is a rare occurrence, and for fingerprints, you can purchase an optics cleaning kit - it will be much cheaper.

General conclusion (provocative)

The most versatile and balanced camera in all respects today is a cropped mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses and an electronic viewfinder. This camera will suit at least 90% of buyers! The manufacturer is not important - Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm. The main thing is that the camera fits in your hand. A kit lens will do for starters, then shoot and decide what you are missing in it - either some focal lengths, or aperture ratio, or something else. I made this choice personally for myself and have never regretted it.

If you don't like my choice, that's your right. Nobody is stopping you from buying a DSLR or a premium compact. Nobody forbids you to buy a full-frame camera or smartphone. The main thing is that you now know what you want, which means my mission is completed :)

About my help in choosing a camera

Until recently, I provided a consultation service on choosing a camera based on your criteria. Now I'm her I don't provide. Due to my busy schedule, I no longer had the opportunity to regularly get acquainted with new products in the photo industry, attend presentations and exhibitions of new products. Therefore, the most I can do is send a link to Yandex.Market with a selection of cameras with characteristics that suit your needs, the final choice is yours.

To be good photographer, it is absolutely not enough to have good camera. Of course, the level of technology is even more important! This is especially true for the “new” class of photographic devices, which has been ours for almost ten years now. true friend- smartphone.

It’s logical to ask, what affects the quality of photography in a smartphone? Let me tell you the truth, not all your issues will be solved by a couple of applications or tweaks. You need to arm yourself with solid knowledge to get the most out of your smartphone camera.

How to get high quality photos on a smartphone: basic tips and tricks

1. Select the highest resolution and image quality in your smartphone settings

If you ask your child what affects the quality of photography in a smartphone, you will get a definite answer - you need to “message” with the camera settings. And they will be right. Indeed, very often the factory camera settings are not optimal. Sometimes the image resolution is set to low in the settings. Why? Low resolution is "good" for digital zoom. We will talk about this option separately.

It would be a good idea to pay your attention to the aspect ratio of the image. This is important in order to get the maximum size photo. For example, the following screenshot was taken in 16:9 format, since 4:3 format crops the picture. But! On other smartphone models, you can get the opposite effect, that is, in 4:3 format you will get a full frame, and in 16:9 format you will crop it. It depends on the characteristics of the photomatrix.

One final note. Since high-resolution photos require more space in your phone's memory, you should get a large microSD memory card. If you have an old phone without a memory card slot, make sure to clear out any junk from the phone's internal memory before taking photos.

2. Keep your smartphone camera optics clean

If you ask me again what affects the quality of photography in a smartphone, then I will answer the question with a question? When was the last time you cleaned your smartphone camera lenses? A? Imagine that very often this is the main reason for taking pictures Bad quality. It's easy to explain. Constantly being in a pants pocket or in a handbag, the smartphone camera lens comes into contact with the fingers of its owner, with dirty handkerchiefs, lipstick and just dust. Therefore, before you start shooting, be sure to wipe the camera lens with a clean cloth. Microfiber is best suited for this - a special fabric that does not leave dust particles behind after wiping the lens. If you love to shoot, let this fabric always be at hand. You can also use special kits with a cleaning spray, but this is inconvenient. In the end, wipe off your fingerprints on the camera with a clean handkerchief, the shooting result will still be better.

How else to get high quality photos on a smartphone: technology and focus

1. Select the correct exposure in the settings

In the theory of professional photography, there are three main parameters that affect the quality of a photograph: exposure time, aperture value (the degree of openness of the aperture) and ISO value (the level of light sensitivity of the camera). Together, these settings determine how bright the photo will be, how clear background objects will be, and how blurry moving objects will be.

Aperture value:

For most smartphones, you cannot change the aperture because it is fixed. However, smartphone photography enthusiasts need to choose the right value for two other parameters - exposure time and ISO sensitivity. By the way, if you are not ready for such complex terms, just turn on the automatic camera mode. In it, the camera will independently determine all the necessary values. But keep in mind that most often it is manual mode gives better and more accurate photography results.

Shutter speed, exposure time:

Longer exposure times or shutter speeds result in better lighting in your photo, especially in poor light conditions. But at the same time, you will encounter another problem - objects in motion will create a blurry trail behind them. However, this effect can be effectively used when shooting on a fast river or in a city at night.

More a short time shutter speed, on the other hand, allows you to clearly capture all objects in one place, at the same time.

ISO sensitivity (ISO values):

The second parameter that you need to understand well is the ISO sensitivity level. This setting determines the current sensitivity of the camera sensor. The higher the ISO value, the greater the light sensitivity. By setting your ISO to a high value, you can, for example, reduce your exposure time, resulting in a sharper image. As a general rule, when your subjects are in low light, it's best to use high ISO and high shutter speed settings at the same time.

Then why not use high ISO settings all the time? The explanation is simple: high ISO greatly increases noise in the resulting image. Here I note that each smartphone has its own characteristics. Some models produce a lot of noise in images at ISO 400 or 800. In other models, such problems may occur even earlier. My advice for you is to evaluate what affects the quality of smartphone photography, take a series of photos in different situations with different ISOs and choose the best value for your camera. As a rule of thumb, ISO values ​​up to 200 are ideal in most cases.

2. Focus manually

For a successful photograph, a lot depends on correct focusing. Usually, automatic focusing is enough for an amateur, but it is important to understand that it does not work flawlessly. Moreover, the “automatic machine” may simply not guess what exactly you want to focus on. The solution is to point your finger on the viewfinder image (on the touch screen) where exactly you want to focus. Just turn on the appropriate mode. Well, the best thing is to switch the camera app to manual focus mode and control the focus yourself. It's not fast, but the pictures will be much better. Although if your hands are shaking, it’s better to return to automatic mode!

3. Use burst shooting, take several shots in a row

My next piece of advice will be of interest to those who have already understood what affects the quality of photography in a smartphone, but want to understand it thoroughly. Instead of taking an endless number of shots waiting for the perfect one, just use continuous shooting in a short period of time. I'll explain. If you take only one photo of your romantic kiss against the background of the Eiffel Tower, you may later regret it, since it may turn out to be the only one, but the most disgusting in quality.

Therefore, I recommend that you always take several photos of important events in your life and trust the autofocus mode. Do not spare your phone memory, shoot again and again, because this can be a priceless shot. Moreover, modern smartphone models have a built-in burst mode, which is activated by “dragging” on the button you assigned to activate the camera.

4. Hold your smartphone in two hands, use a tripod or natural support

You know perfectly well what poses and situations you have to shoot in with your smartphone. As a result, shaking the hand with a mobile camera leads to blurry pictures. Even if you are stationary and seem to be in control, holding your smartphone in one hand cannot guarantee you high-quality photography. I recommend that you hold your smartphone with both hands. This way you stabilize the position of the camera lens in space. The ideal option would be to shoot from a tripod. If you are not ready to purchase such a “luxury”, look around, maybe you can rest your hands with the camera on a railing or a tree branch?

Well, the last thing that affects the quality of photography in a smartphone. When taking pictures, hold your smartphone at arm's length and straighten them completely. Keep in mind that the less you pull your smartphone, the clearer the photos will come out.

Remember those not-so-distant times when you saw beautiful landscape, an unusual plot, and they said to themselves with regret: “Why don’t I have a camera with me? I could capture all this and keep it as a keepsake.” New technologies have allowed each of us to carry a camera with us at all times. Smartphones are equipped with powerful cameras that can help you take great pictures.

You no longer need a DSLR camera whose pictures look like wallpaper! Here are some simple tips and little tricks that will help improve the quality of your smartphone photos, which are in no way inferior to those of a digital SLR camera. Why carry around a heavy camera and sets of lenses when it's all built into your phone.

Pictures taken by the Nokia 6600 (now an outdated smartphone model) are of quite decent quality. The shots taken with your phone's camera will be no worse. Before you start using your smartphone camera, you should thoroughly understand all the available functions. You should know how to change image brightness and resolution, how to turn HDR mode on and off, how to use flash, how to turn on panorama and burst mode. Once the commands are learned, you can freely apply them to different shooting conditions.

One of the problems that phone camera users face is low sharpness and blurred images. You must hold your phone still while shooting before you press the shutter and for two seconds afterward to allow the camera to capture the image. Light tends to scatter, and the camera must have time to focus (most phones have an option for automatic sharpening - Auto mode). Many cameras allow you to manually adjust focus. Use this opportunity to focus the viewer's attention on individual subjects and objects. For example, a camera can clearly depict an object in the center of a photo, blurring everything around it (a crowd of people, some kind of background).

This technique refers to the basic laws of photography. Turn on the grid on the screen and make sure that the composition of the shot follows the “rule of thirds”. Too much space in front of or to the side of a person or object can detract from the perception of the subject as a key element in the frame. Use a grid to place the object along the lines, or place it where the lines intersect. Leave a significant distance to the subject if you are photographing a landscape. In addition, you need to make sure that the frames of the frame do not intersect the object if you photograph it close-up or take a selfie. Avoid any distracting objects in the background.

Using the built-in flash when shooting is not always justified. Bright, harsh light often reduces the quality of the photo. Try to use natural light as much as possible. Use software filters, they soften the picture and help convey the emotions and feelings of people that you would like to display in the photo. Take photos of an object that's being illuminated by directional light, using Aviary, PicsArt, or Pixlr, which offer a variety of filters to choose from. Many people prefer to set light saturation and hue manually, and then use filters to enhance the effect. Most smartphones now have these photo editing features.

Have you watched the video where the guy puts his phone in a glass and takes a photo, trying to create an underwater effect? Try to take the same shot, it will turn out well. You can try taking photographs using water to create spectacular psychedelic images. If you love abstract photography, then experimenting with water can be very useful for you. You can take such photos in burst mode and get amazing pictures.

Tip 6: Use backlighting and photograph reflections

You don't have to use large light reflectors to remove unnecessary shadows from your photos. Use available resources, for example, another phone's flashlight, it will illuminate your subject from the other side, and the scene behind it.

Speaking of reflections, have you ever tried to photograph reflections on the surface of objects? Your phone will handle this task quite well. Some photographs with objects that reflect what is around them look like real artistic photographs.

Tip 7. Try shooting a panorama and forget about moving objects closer when shooting

According to many users, the zoom function on phone cameras gives an unclear picture and always degrades the image quality. Even if the frame looks good enough on a phone screen, it will show an unpleasant grainy effect when printed. Instead of zooming in on your subject when shooting, take a full frame of the scene and crop it later as you see fit.

Explore the cool feature of taking a panoramic photo. Most smartphones have a panorama feature that is easy to use. Try taking panoramic photos in an unconventional manner. This could be shooting a moving car or vertical objects (tall trees, waterfalls). The result will exceed all your expectations.

Conclusion

Don't think that taking great photos is only for professionals with expensive, high-end cameras. Such a photograph can be simple funny photo, taken with your first phone camera. Your pictures are gorgeous and amazing because they hold your most precious memories.

Freeze the moments, shoot and save the world around you as a memory!

Many people who have taken photographs at least once in their lives ask the question: “what determines the quality of photography”? Naturally, there is no definite answer, but let's try to look at this topic from different angles.

It’s worth starting with the fact that the concept of “photography” is translated from Greek as “light painting”. That is why the quality of the image will depend on the correctly exposed or caught light. Therefore, when ordering a professional photo session, you will notice that studio equipment is required to provide high-quality services. If there is not enough light, then nothing will appear in the picture. The best pictures are taken in cloudy weather and during the day. In order to shoot in the dark or indoors, flashes are often used, and here the choice will depend on your financial capabilities, the necessary parameters and wishes. The result of poor or incorrectly exposed light will be very low saturation of the photo, digital, you may even get a blurry photo with automatic focusing.

An undoubted factor that significantly affects the quality of photographs is his skills, experience, and experience. A professional will never be in a hurry when focusing, his hands do not tremble, there are no cropped heads, and illiterately manually set camera parameters can negatively affect the picture. Don’t forget about the properly organized composition of the frame.

The third parameter that affects the quality of the photo is itself. Or rather, the optics mounted on the lens itself. In order to get beautiful, and most importantly high quality photos It is necessary to purchase wide lenses and coated optics. Most often, SLR cameras have these characteristics, but sometimes there are also digital cameras With such parameters, it is also worth paying attention to the manufacturer. Also remember that the quality of the processor itself will increase proportionally to the cost of the equipment.

Of course, when choosing a device for taking photographs, you should look into several online stores where you can pick up flashes, cases and many other devices that can affect the quality of the pictures and make your work easier. Well, the last point, which will contribute to the fact that the photo will be much better, is a digital laboratory. Only ten percent of the total contribution to the photograph depends on the operator himself, who will develop the photographs, and the rest is: paper, printing and developing chemicals, timely maintenance of machines, skills and experience of the operator... All these points and factors significantly influence on the quality of future photographs.

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