Difference in making Films through Smart Phones and DSLRs

Difference between Smart Phone camera and DSLR camera in producing films

Well to start with, you must know that each camera does has its own features and the type of camera (Smart phone or a DSLR) you want to purchase solely depends upon your budget, knowledge, skill level, requirements and more. 

A DSLR camera has more features and video quality advantages than the Smart Phone Cameras. But Smart Phones also do win on certain aspects. Let us discuss them in brief first and then in little more detail:

Difference	Smart Phone Camera	DSLR Camera
I.  Video Quality	Inferior	Superior
II.       Cost of equipment	Less	More
III.       Portability	Highly Portable as you can carry them in your pockets.	Bit less portable than your mobile phones.
IV.        On the go	No need to do setups. Just take your phone out and start shooting.	Need to setup a little.
V.      What suits better                           and to whom	The beginners especially with little budget can start with Smart Phones and surely it will give you good quality if you shoot well	Professionals can prefer DSLR Cameras more than Mobile Cameras.

A bit detail will help us understand the differences better.

• Video Quality- DSLR Cameras gives you better video quality than you Smart Phones. This is because:

a) Big size of Image sensors- A DSLR camera has big size of image sensor on which the image forms. This means if an Image sensor’s surface area is big then it can contain more pixels in it which will result in higher picture resolution and ultimately to a sharper image formation on the sensor. Also, big size Image sensors help you take better footage in low light.

Comparison of size of Image sensors.
Image- quora.com

• Here you can compare the sizes of image sensors in DSLR cameras, Point & shoot camera(sensor name- 1/2.3") and Smart Phone camera. By this you can understand how important image sensor is all about. But for many people Smart phone can be a better option especially in their initial projects as not everyone purchases a DSLR at that time and if you have a good Smart phone camera you can still get some good results.

b) Optical Zoom VS Digital Zoom- An optical zoom in simple language lets youzoom in or out through the lens of a DSLR camera without losing image quality. But in case of Smart Phones, where you have only digital zooming option and not optical zooming, your image quality degrades a lot if you use phone’s digital zoom. So this simply means, if you use Optical Zoom your image quality does not degrade but if you use Digital Zoom your image quality will get degraded automatically.

Comparison in shot taken through Optical Zoom Vs Digital Zoom
Image- 2mcctv

• Here you can compare the shot taken using optical zoom against the shot taken using digital zoom. It clearly shows how you image will degrade if you use digital zoom of mobile phones. So, if you are going to use a Smart Phone for shooting, this drawback can be avoided but only to some extent and that is by ‘walking close’ to the subject, you want to capture.

• Cost of Equipment- Yes of course the cost of equipment lets one decide what equipment to use. The DSLRs have more features and a better video and picture quality so it will cost more than your Mobile Phones. So, if you are a beginner and/or with less budget then you must go for Smart Phone camera and not purchase a DSLR camera.

• Portability- Another important factor here to consider is the Portability of the equipment or device you use. Unlike a DSLR Camera, a Mobile phone is very much portable as it generally comes in your pocket and is with you everywhere you go.

  

  Image- vnclagoon

  
  
• As your Smart Phones are this much portable, you just need to start shooting without doing any other setup and this brings me to my very next Point.

• On the Go- As mentioned above and you would know that you can carry mobile phones in your pocket everywhere you go. This means you can quickly take out the phone and without any delay you can start shooting. DSLRs need a little more setup time than your Smart Phones. Also, Smart Phones triumph at few places where shooting through phone is allowed but not through DSLRs. 

• What suits better and to whom- Ultimately, the most diplomatic yet one of the best aspects is to describe what suits better and to whom? I think, beginners in the industry who don’t have much skill and/or people with low confidence to invest on costly DSLR cameras may find shooting on Smart Phones as a better option. And the people with more skill, experience and confidence to invest might find DSLR their more preferred option.

• But any beginner can acquire skill if he/she practices more. Keeping any camera as a showpiece won’t add to your skill, only practice will do that. There is no big thing in acquiring skills (If our will is strong enough we can do it very easily) but sometimes in all of our lives budget tends to be a big barrier to purchase costly things and some beginners might not want to purchase them and in fact this is not any bad. Before purchasing those costly filming devices let you yourself decide that do you have a reasonable interest and love in film making? I mean money is not easy to earn. I also agree a Professional Film maker should have DSLRs and/or Cinematic cameras but when you are a beginner and/or anyone with low confidence to invest, you can make some astonishing projects on Smart Phones also as they have potential to give you a kick. 

So in my opinion, just start with whatever equipment you want (mobile or DSLR), you are going to do wonders if you optimally utilize your equipment with good story been presented.