Phone camera recommendations (Samsung)

[Toby Frost]

I've got an old Samsung phone, which I'm considering replacing. I don't want anything top-of-the-range, as I'm not into phones and don't use mine to a huge degree. However, I'd like one with a decent camera, especially for photographing small things (miniatures). I've been recommended the Samsung A 53, but I don't know if it's especially good for this. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Elckerlyc]

My thoughts are that, if photography is your main concern, you should probably buy a dedicated camera. They generally have more possibilities and are more user friendly.
But that's based on personal experiences. I really dislike shooting pictures with my phone. It feels clumsy and out of full control.

 

[Toby Frost]

I have got a small, old camera, and it's okay. However I'd be wary of buying a new camera as I know nothing about them and might buy something useless. I've also seen some good-quality model photography done on cameras, so maybe the right phone would work.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

I've got an old Samsung phone, which I'm considering replacing. I don't want anything top-of-the-range, as I'm not into phones and don't use mine to a huge degree. However, I'd like one with a decent camera, especially for photographing small things (miniatures). I've been recommended the Samsung A 53, but I don't know if it's especially good for this. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

I had an A50 (not sure if that is similar to A53 but it sounds like it might be). I was always very disappointed with the the camera. Just got a Pixel 7 and the camera seems way better.

 

[Parson]

Also just got a Pixel 7 and the camera is top of the line for a phone. If taking snaps is your thing, you'll like it a lot. But for serious photography I'd consider a dedicated camera, if that's an affordable option for you.

 

[HareBrain]

As a (currently) non-smartphone user, I'm curious as to good smartphone cameras are at handing depth of field, which would be important for small subjects like miniatures. Is it easily adjustable? Can you set aperture and shutter speed and so on?

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

As a (currently) non-smartphone user, I'm curious as to good smartphone cameras are at handing depth of field, which would be important for small subjects like miniatures. Is it easily adjustable? Can you set aperture and shutter speed and so on?

I think depth of field can only be done by adjusting aperture mechanically. I don't think it can be simulated electronically (ie without physical moving parts). Same for optical zoom I think (although phone camera have zoom functions I believe they work just be spreading the image across different numbers of pixels - ie a software process).

Edit: In other words I don't think phone cameras can adjust depth of field.....unless software differentiates the background from foreground using some kind of algorithm and intentionally blurs or sharpens according to user adjustment.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Edit: In other words I don't think phone cameras can adjust depth of field.....unless software differentiates the background from foreground using some kind of algorithm and intentionally blurs or sharpens according to user adjustment.

OK, I can't stop thinking about this now. A non mechanical method might be to have TWO cameras a few inches (at least) apart. I know, this would be difficult on a phone. By comparing the two images, it should be possible to identify which objects are distant (virtually identical in the two images) and which are close (very different in the two images). A depth of field algorithm could then be applied to produce a final image. But that wouldn't be a very ambitious aim with this tech...more interesting to use it for creating a 3D image.

 

[Parson]

I am not much of a photographer, (maybe message Mouse? she does a lot of photography) but there are settings on my phone camera that might allow some of what we are talking about to happen.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I think depth of field can only be done by adjusting aperture mechanically. I don't think it can be simulated electronically (ie without physical moving parts). Same for optical zoom I think (although phone camera have zoom functions I believe they work just be spreading the image across different numbers of pixels - ie a software process).

Edit: In other words I don't think phone cameras can adjust depth of field.....unless software differentiates the background from foreground using some kind of algorithm and intentionally blurs or sharpens according to user adjustment.

I know from experience that phone cameras do adjust focal length. I can see the camera image zoom in and out as it tries to determine the items of interest in the frame and focus on those. The cameras are quite good in identifying faces and bring those into focus. I don't know about depth of field, i.e., bring both foreground and background into focus or fuzzing one or the other out. I tend to use the autofocus when I take pictures and have not investigated whether there are manual settings.

In the US, at least, one can go into a showroom and try out various phones' cameras. Take along a typical size miniature and see how close one can get and still get a focused shot. Also, with current pixel densities, one can do a lot of cropping afterwards and still have a clean image for posting.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've got an old Samsung phone, which I'm considering replacing. I don't want anything top-of-the-range, as I'm not into phones and don't use mine to a huge degree. However, I'd like one with a decent camera, especially for photographing small things (miniatures). I've been recommended the Samsung A 53, but I don't know if it's especially good for this. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

We've found the Samsung A range really good. The A03s is a pretty decent smartphone overall, including the camera, though it's missing some of the additional photography features of the more expensive Samsung A models.

However, if you buy from Amazon, only do so if the supplier is Amazon itself - third parties on Amazon commonly sell cheap overseas phones which are not intended for UK use.