What to look for when choosing a smartphone camera

Why megapixels are not important

The term "megapixel" can be interpreted as one million pixels. That is, a 12-megapixel camera takes pictures that consist of 12 million tiny dots. The more of these dots (pixels) in the image, the sharper it looks, the higher its resolution.

From this we can conclude that a camera with a large number of megapixels shoots better than the one with fewer. But it is not so.

The problem is that these days there are more megapixels than needed. Let's think about screens: a FullHD TV has a resolution of 2.1 megapixels, and the latest 4K TV has a resolution of 8.3 megapixels. Considering that the camera of almost every modern smartphone can count more than 10 megapixels, displays simply cannot display such a high resolution in full.

It is unlikely that you will notice the difference between photographs of modern cameras with different numbers of megapixels, since even the latest screens do not support such resolutions.

In fact, breaking the 8.3 megapixel mark can be useful if you intend to crop your shots. In other words, by taking a photo with a 12MP camera, you can cut out a significant portion of it. At the same time, the resolution of the picture can still remain higher than that of a 4K TV.

Advice … Don't chase cameras that are over 12 megapixels. This amount will be enough with a margin, unless you are going to cut pictures into fragments or edit them for professional purposes.

Pixel size is more important

The metric that more accurately characterizes a smartphone camera is the pixel size. In the general list of characteristics, its numerical value is indicated in micrometers before the abbreviation µm. A smartphone camera with a pixel size of 1, 4 µm almost always shoots better than another with a size of 1, 0 µm.

If you zoom in on the photo enough, you can see individual pixels in it. The colors of these small dots are determined by microscopic light sensors inside the smartphone's camera.

These sensors are also referred to as pixels, since each of them captures light for a corresponding pixel in the image. So if your camera has 12 megapixels, it has 12 million light-sensitive pixels.

Each sensor captures particles of light known as photons and uses them to determine the color and brightness of a pixel in an image. But photons are very active and not easy to capture. For example, instead of a blue particle, the sensor can catch a red one. As a result, instead of a pixel of one color, a point of another will appear on the image.

To avoid such inaccuracies, the light-sensitive pixel catches several photons at once, and special software calculates the correct shade and brightness of the point on the final photo based on them. The larger the pixel area, the more photons it can capture, the more accurate the colors in the final image will be.

Advice … Stop at cameras that are no more than 12 megapixels. A larger number forces the manufacturer to sacrifice pixel size to fit everything in a limited space. When comparing cameras with an equal number of megapixels, choose the one with the larger pixel size.

Aperture

Another important camera characteristic that shouldn't be neglected is its aperture. It is indicated by the symbol f divided by a numeric value. For example: f / 2, 0. Since f is divided by a number, the smaller it is, the better the aperture.

To understand the meaning of aperture, think about pixel size. The larger it is, the more light particles the camera captures, the more accurate the color rendition. Now imagine that the pixel is a bucket and the photons are raindrops. It turns out that the wider the bucket (pixel), the more drops (photons) get into it.

The aperture resembles the funnel for this bucket. Its lower part is the same diameter as the bucket, but the upper part is much wider, which helps to collect even more drops. As the analogy suggests, a wide aperture allows the sensor to capture more light particles.

Of course, in reality, there is no funnel. This effect is achieved through a lens, with which the camera captures more light than its pixels can capture.

The main advantage of a wide aperture is that it allows the camera to shoot better in low light conditions.

When there is too little light, light-sensitive pixels may not capture enough photons. But a wide aperture solves this problem by opening up access to more particles.

Advice … Remember, a lower number means a wider aperture. So opt for cameras with f / 2, 2, or lower, especially if you often photograph at night or indoors.

Image stabilization: EIS and OIS

Among other characteristics of the camera, you can find two types of image stabilization: optical - OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and electronic - EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization).

When the camera sensor moves due to hand shake, OIS physically stabilizes the image. If, for example, you are walking while filming a video, each step usually changes the position of the camera. But OIS maintains the relative stability of the sensor, even if you shake your smartphone. As a result, the technology minimizes jitter in videos and blur in pictures.

The presence of optical stabilization greatly increases the cost of the device and requires a lot of space for additional parts. Therefore, instead of it, electronic stabilization is often introduced into smartphones, which creates a similar effect.

EIS crops, stretches and changes the perspective of the individual frames that make up the video. This happens programmatically and already with the footage, so electronic stabilization can be applied even to clips recorded on cameras with OIS to make them even smoother.

By and large, having a camera with OIS is better. After all, electronic processing of frames can reduce the quality and create on video. In addition, EIS almost does not reduce blur in pictures. But it's worth noting that electronic stabilization continues to develop, which confirms the quality of videos shot on Google Pixel devices.

Advice … If you can, choose devices with optical stabilization, if not, stop at electronic. Ignore machines that do not support either OIS or EIS.