Full-Frame vs. Smartphone (don't laugh...)

Interesting video and nice share, Chris. But as someone who likes to try to keep things simple, I can't say I find it tempting.

Hi Mart
Your comment is so true and reminded me of the old saying (from Arthur Fellig I think)...

"F8 and be there!" 😁

In other words, whack it on aperture priority at F8 (generally considered a reasonable sweet spot) and be in the right place at the right time.

Easier said than done though!

Thanks, Chris . I especially liked the work that he shared of Eric Mencher. I am now following him on Instagram. Some really nice black and whites.

Thank you Helen and Howard for your replies. I enjoy listening to his warm relaxed conversational style. While I will never give up using my slr, there are some advantages in using my smartphone. It's the one you have in your hand, and it attracts much less attention.

As you say Howard, being intuitive and immediate without overthinking every shot can have its advantages. It can take away some stress and allow the creative juices to flow.

An amusing thought just came to mind. Once a friend was showing me his plane spotting slides. I was drawn to the composition an interesting abstract shot of utility poles and electrical wires. I gave a favourable comment on the picture and asked him about it. He replied, "er, um, well I think that picture was taken by accident!" Well, however it was taken, I thought it was rather good!

Kind regards
Chris

Thanks. Some amazing stuff. 
Being old school I am still wary of the actual sensors sizes on smartphones. I could not find the sensor physical dimensions for any 48 MP smartphones.
People are posting bird photos from their smartphones on assorted wildlife photo FB groups. So far, most images are not very good...noise and clarity being main issues.  
The nuthatch was photographed in low light at ISO 4,000. It would make a decent print. The nuthatch was shot at about 15 to 20 feet in low light. Could this be done with a smart phone? 

At what point does the phone morph from being a camera into an AI device? Sure we all edit digital photos from our DSLRs and mirrorless cameras but the basic images are not overtly altered.
If a smart phone uses the original image information and creates a new image is it a camera or an AI device?  
Just wondering. 

I have an iPhone 14 Pro, which is overkill for many purposes, but!! The thing has 3 lens on the back. It's normal function is 0.5X, 1X, 3X-I think that is what they are. BUT, there is a Macro mode that steps in when you take a closeup, really close. Then, at the 3X mode, you can get a circle looking thing to show up and that will do a digital bit of magic, all the way to 15X!
Now, that 15X stuff is not really as great as one might hope for. But, as a birder for quite a few years but NOT an expert birder, that 15X gives you enough reach to get a photo of a bird that is good enough to help you ID the bird. So, yes, Helen, it is sometimes better than none! And I can send that photo to my really great birding friends and they can tell me what bird I saw and photographed!
Then, you can also take that photo and see if Photos can ID the bird, or the flower, or the tree, which it can do fairly well.

Add these items. There is a free app called Merlin, I don't know if it's available on Android, but this app will help you ID the bird you just saw by leading you through a series of steps. Usually pretty good. OR, if the bird is singing, turn on the microphone and Merlin will take a stab at an ID of the bird. I have not had an opportunity to play with this one yet, but, come the spring migration!

Sorry for long post, but, thought it worth passing along the info on some of the things that birders do with their iPhones and Android phones. Not to mention ways to record what birds you saw today on that walk in the park.
cjt

On the whole, I agree with you, Clive.  But I also acknowledge Helen's post about convenience and unexpected opportunities.

Phone camera sensors are indeed very small and most of the zooming etc is all done with electronic zoom rather than optical, which tends to degrade quality.
A lot of the quality seen in phone photos is down to algorithms, but then so is a jpg in a full frame camera. 

On rare occasions when I have taken a half decent shot on my phone, as soon as I try to blow it up beyond say 7X5, the lack of quality becomes evident, and there is no way I could print at 300dpi for an A3, as I can with my Sony.

I suppose there is a case for both and at the Sydney photo exhibition they had a section for phone pictures and they were, without exception, excellent. Perhaps it's me doing something wrong?

What does annoy me a little is the snobbery of some people that if you use a phone you're not a real photographer. There is enough snobbery in photography already, and that stance is a little old fashioned in my mind.

I'll put it out there though...I'm not a fan of AI and that is really what will impact phone cameras more and more in coming years.

That's my penny's worth!