Is the iPhone the only camera you need when travel?

A few months ago the Wall Street Journal asked the question “Is the iPhone the only camera you need?“After noticing that my Nikon D200 DSLR had sat quiet for a few weeks while I put the camera on my iPhone 4S through the paces in my daily life, I decided to put this question to the ultimate test: a weekend in New York City with only my iPhone. Perhaps this is cheating a little since 1. I’ve been to New York so many times & already have thousands of photos from there with my “good” camera & 2. I know we’ll be back so any shot I took that didn’t turn out I could always retake later. Regardless, off we went to celebrate my husband’s 30th birthday, trusty iPhone in hand.

My first challenge came before we even arrived in the city. As we headed north on the train, just as the Manhattan skyline came into view, a full moon popped out of the clouds & shined brightly above the city. I grabbed my iPhone as the train bounced along & struggled to get a good, crisp shot – a shot I knew I could get with my DSLR. This was the best I got with my iPhone:

A real opportunity missed & one that may never come again. So much for that “oh, I can just retake any photos that don’t turn out!”

DSLR: 1
iPhone: 0

Daylight
The next morning we headed down to one of my favorite places in the city, the Saturday morning Union Square Greenmarket. We go there almost every New York City visit & enjoy spending time strolling the hundreds of vendors, grabbing breakfast & enjoying it on a bench under the shade of Union Square Park. A farmers market is not an ideal place for a DSLR, they’re too big & too intrusive, but the perfect place for an iPhone, since everyone has one. Below are two photos from the Greenmarket the first one taken on a previous trip with my DSLR, the second one taken in April with my iPhone:

I think it’s about a tie, don’t you? In a good light situation, I think both cameras are about even. An interesting note about this comparison: notice how the cropping is different? I store all my photos in Flickr & when I posted these on my blog they ended up being different sizes due to the different crop ratio. Really something that only a photo nerd would notice…

DSLR: 2

iPhone: 1

Zoom

The next iPhone camera challenge forced me to use what I think is the weakest feature of the iPhone’s camera: the zoom. We hopped on the Staten Island Ferry for a glimpse at the Statue of Liberty standing proudly in the harbor. On the way over, sun still high in the sky, but forced to shoot through a dirty ferry window my shots look like this:

Not bad, but not as crisp as I could have gotten with my DSLR, even through a dirty window.

On the way back, we grabbed a spot on the outside deck. The sun was starting to set behind the Statue, leading to what I hoped would be great silhouette shots. This is what I ended up with:

It’s a little pixel-y, don’t you think? It just looks like a cell phone picture. The iPhone camera couldn’t handle shooting into the sun, on a moving boat, while zoomed in. Yes, that’s a lot to ask of a little smartphone, but I know it’s something that my DSLR would have nailed.

DSLR: 3

iPhone: 1

Low Light

The last test was the ultimate one: a low light situation. Any photographer will tell you that how a camera performs in less than ideal lighting situations is critical to getting great shots. We headed to Smalls Jazz Club in the West Village, a windowless, dark, basement bar with spotlights on the stage performers. This is the shot I got:

While it’s not perfect, it’s pretty darn good. In addition, this was a situation where having my DSLR would have been impossible. My iPhone fits in a little clutch purse for an evening out, my “big camera” doesn’t.

DSLR: 3

iPhone: 2

Bottom Line

This was an interesting test for someone who adapts very slowly to technology (I didn’t even have a digital camera until 2007!). While it made me appreciate all that the little iPhone can do – it really does take great pictures for being something that fits in the palm of your hand – it also made me appreciate what a workhorse a good DSLR is. Bottom line: I won’t be putting my Nikon away any time soon & it will continue to be my constant travel companion.