Posted by Are you still wondering if smartphones are all you need to take good photos akin to professional photographers? The truth is that to take a great photo will require the necessary adjustments to achieve the best results. Most of these adjustments are not available to most smartphone cameras. To understand the differences between the DSLR camera and a smartphone camera, you need to familiarize the types of basic adjustments that the DSLR camera can achieve.
What is Aperture?
The Aperture is essentially the opening in the lens of the camera. It’s also referred to as the f/stop, which controls the amount of light entering into your camera. Compared to the smartphone, the lens hole is fixed in size, while on a DSLR you can adjust the size of the opening.
Why is Aperture important?
Making adjustments on the Aperture can impact the Depth of Field or how much of the view is in focus. It’s a common method used to develop a blurry background effect or Bokeh effect.
Utilizing a wide-open aperture is a well-known technique in shooting portraits. Observe these blurred backgrounds from these few photos:
That being said, it’s not possible to get this effect without using a large lens which means smartphone cameras will not be able to achieve this shot. It’s worth mentioning that the latest phone models may be able to simulate this effect with software or apps.
When it comes to landscape shots, everything in the frame must be in focus which can be achieved with a small aperture.
What is Shutter Speed?
Manually adjusting the shutter speed will affect how long the aperture is open for while taking the shot. Longer shutter speed will allow more light in, while a shorter shutter speed lets in less. This setting can only be adjusted on DSLR cameras, whereas smartphone cameras do not possess such features
Why adjust the Shutter Speed?
Do you enjoy taking photos of sports activities or wildlife? To get the best shot, you will need a very fast shutter speed to freeze the action.
Want to blur the motion of the vehicles on the highway? You will need a slow shutter speed.
Looking to take beautiful pictures of the stars at night? Very low shutter speed with the camera attached to a tripod is required to achieve this shot.
Utilizing different lenses
A DSLR camera provides you with the option to use larger, higher quality lenses. Unlike the smartphone camera lens which is tiny. The DSLR camera lenses can provide you with a great advantage in terms of:
- Image stabilization for those with shaky hands
- Autofocus
- Larger apertures
- Sharper images
Macro lens: Used for getting close up shots of your subjects. This lens is mostly used for taking pictures of tiny subjects that can just be inches away from your camera lens.
Wide-angle lens: Utilizing a wide-angle lens can help fit a lot more visuals into your shot. Another variant of the wide-angle lens is called a fish-eye lens, which is notably used on GoPro cameras.
Telephoto lens
Widely known as the zoom lens where you can get close up shots of subjects from a long distance. It’s one of the most prominent lenses and essential tools for wildlife photography.
What is your go-to camera? Leave us your thoughts on the comment sections below. Head over to Jobstore.com and unveil your next job opportunity.
You Jing is a content writer who writes career and lifestyle contents to inspire job seekers and employers alike on their journey to work-life balance, empowerment and transformation in their career path.
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