Taking pictures iPhone versus SLR

An increasingly common issue.

1) My SLR has settings for proper light control in tungsten and florescent light conditions
2) I have 3 lenses for the SLR. I can't take pix with a 15-30 on the phone
3) I can get really good pix in the low light with the SLR
4) My SLR takes raw image photos
5) The SLR has polarizing filters

The camera phone is good, but can't do all that the SLR can.

Although I have the SLR I really only know how to use it on Auto.

If you're serious about using your SLR, changing the lens and settings, and using filters, then bring it. My last 2 trips I just used my phones ( had a 6s iphone last trip and a Galaxy before that) and got some great photos. Cameras are a lot easier to carry around as well. If you do decide to use your phone, make sure you have enough storage space so go through the phone and delete whatever you don't want or need anymore. You'll be surprised how much space text messages with pictures take. Also, you can play around with your iPhone settings before and after you take the photo. Take a class at an Apple store before you go.

If you have time to take a photography class before your trip, to help you get beyond 'auto', it
would be a really good idea to do so. If the instruction 'takes', you'll definitely want to bring the SLR.

What the SLR brings is the ability to control light better.

1) Try to take pix of a stained glass window. You can do a better job with the SLR
2) Very low light is better with the SLR
3) Pix of inside sights are better.

I took 2 bags - 1 for clothes, 1 for camera.

If you are using your SLR as mostly a point and shot camera, then you will probably do just about as well with your iPhone. A SLR has a lot more flexibility but if you are not using it, why take it?

jb,

The "short answer" is that which camera to use depends on the quality of photos you want, keeping in mind that you may be getting to some of the locations you'll be visiting only once in your life. Would you prefer to return home with medicocre and possibly grainy or blurred photos, or would you prefer good quality photos that really bring back memories of the trip?

I've been travelling for many years with a DSLR, a P&S camera for snaps / backup as well as an iPhone (currently an iPhone 6S), so I know what results each camera is capable of. I also take a Circular Polarizer, Lens Hoods and a few other accessories and on some trips I've also packed along a tripod. I've found that the majority of time I use either a 24-105 zoom or a 10-22 wide angle lens.

A few thoughts on each camera.....

• DSLR - this is my preferred choice most of the time, as it has the flexibility for a variety of shooting conditions, whether low light, motion or whatever. I can change ISO, shutter or aperture according to conditions and desired result. I only shoot RAW and the images have enough resolution that I can crop or enlarge and still maintain good quality.
• P&S - I use this for snapshots or as a backup if the DSLR has problems (which has happened). It's also nice to throw in my pocket if I'm going out for the evening, but invariably I miss having the DSLR for night shots.
• iPhone - can take reasonably good pictures with good lighting and stationary subjects, but has serious limitations with low light and moving subjects. It especially doesn't do well for night use.

The DSLR is a bit of a nuisance to haul around, but I've obtained some great results with it that simply would not have been possible with the other two cameras.

Rather than just using your DSLR in "Auto" mode, I'd suggest reading the manual and learning how to use at least the basic settings (shutter, aperture, ISO, white balance, etc.).

I use a DSLR and find it takes better photos, even in auto. But take both on a few trips somewhere interesting around your hometown. Different light conditions, indoor and outdoor. Dark churches and bright parks. P Try using both cameras for the same photos and see what you think.

My husband has an iPhone 7plus and the camera is great. But I can't use it well because it's huge and physically arranging shots and holding it steady is difficult for me. So it's not just camera specs, it's ergonomics and usability.
That said, it did come in extremely handy in the St Peters dome climb. The area is fenced off for safety - standard lattice fence. the iPhone lens can be put against the open space in the lattice, giving an unobstructed view. A SLR lens is too big so the shot has the fencing in it. I worked with the fencing to interesting effect, but then used the phone for more straightforward pictures.

Two schools of thought obviously.

Clearly if a DSLR having a larger, more capable imaging sensor, using lenses selectable to the scene and having the ability to match it's settings to the environment (aperture, shutter speed, etc) wasn't able to take better images than an iPhone then nobody would be buying DSLRs, nicht wahr?

But - A famous newspaper photographer (Weegee Fellig) was asked how he shot his great pictures - "f8 and BE THERE" was the response.

The trick is - are you comfortable toting your DSLR (and it's supporting cast of bits and pieces) with you everywhere you go? Are you comfortable setting it up to take a shot in challenging lighting conditions - in other words do you know how (and why) to set it to f8 (or f1.8)? If yes - take the DSLR, if no - take the iPhone, which actually does a decent job in most all conditions (considering it's itsy bitsy sensor).

And as some other folks have recommended - if you aren't yet comfortable with the ins and out of a DSLR and want to learn - there are available classes that could introduce you to just what one can do. Be careful though photography is additive :-)

Have fun!

I think it depends on what you are planning to do with your photos.

The last few trips we've taken have been with other couples. One has a surprisingly good older point and shoot camera, but ditched it for the ease of sharing photos with their brother as we went on the iPad. The other couple are suffering camera breakdown and haven't invested so used their new phone.

The photos on both the iPad and the Galaxy Edge look terrific on each device, but I always create photobooks for us and when I try to use their photos in the photobook they are dismal. In fact they are so bad that I had to put my foot down and say that if/when we take another trip together, unless they use proper cameras I'm not doing a book.

The photos we took with our SLR are perfect, even though I am also currently only using the manual functions. It is basically a really good point and shoot for me at this stage. I can blow up the photo to the full spread of the book and the image is perfect.

We do find the SLR to be too heavy and awkward and find on too many occasions we have to talk ourselves into lugging it around. We will be investing in the best compact point and shoot we can afford before the next trip.

Wow I really appreciate everyone's comments. I know we will be in several museums, Lourve etc. Also I do plan to make a photo book for all us. So there are some good points. My daughter also has a iphone6 & is excellent at taking pictures with her phone too. I also have a P&s camera that I hope my son will want to use. I don't mind carrying the camera plus my husband is a good guy & will assist 😄

I recently returned from the RS Sicily tour, bookended by several days in Rome. Took all my photos with my iPhone 6 and used them to make a photo book on Shutterfly, as well as to print 4x6 photos, which I mounted on cardstock and use for stationery note cards. The photos turned out beautifully and of such good quality that several people commented I should consider selling my notecards. I agree that unless you are knowledgeable about using all the features of your camera (which I am admittedly not), your phone will do well for the purpose of photo books and regular-sized photos. If you plan to blow up any of your photos, however, you may find the resolution you get with a camera to be better.

It comes down to the talent of the photo taker. You can have a $10,000 DSLR and can take pictures that look terrible or a new smart phone and take photos that are truly amazing. If you don't know how to do anything other that set the SLR to AUTO and click away, might as well take the iPhone and use it. At the very least, the ease of sharing will make the iPhone a better option.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try and learn how to use the SLR if you have a true interest in photography, but if you are at the point of knowledge using your SLR that you would miss many of your shots of action because you will be fiddling with the controls on the camera and not be able to select the correct exposure before the action is gone, then take a point and shoot or the iPhone. The pictures you capture will always be better than those you missed! ;-)

I have an iPhone 7 and am constantly surprised of what it can capture and how good the quality is even in super low light conditions. My previous iPhone (5s) was just OK even in bright light trying to capture composed stills.

If you plan on printing photos larger than 8x10 then use an slr. If you only look at photos on your computer and phone, stick with the iphone. If you use your SLR on auto mode you have already answered the question, leave it at home and travel lite.

There is a middle ground. We have shifted from the high end, multi-lens, RF camera, etc., to a quality point and shoot. And the few 8x10 we print look terrific. And the P&S slips into a pocket.

I don't agree with the comments to leave the DSLR at home if only using it on auto mode. I generally use auto mode on my camera, mostly because it works really well and is quicker. Occasionally I change settings but rarely do I go full manual. But I would never think of leaving my DSLR at home and just using my iPhone (which I do like and use). The iPhone cannot compete with indoor photography, like churches and spaces that are not well lit. It cannot compete with evening and night photos. It cannot compete with fast action photos. It cannot compete with the zoom capabilities. I use my iPhone for photos to post of Facebook and snapshots. But otherwise I always use my DSLR.

It does depend a lot on what you plan to do with your photos and why you take them. I'll print or put into photobooks many of my best images. I sometimes use my photos for lectures and "slideshows." And of course I like to look at them on the computer. Photography is also something important to me as part of my trip. So lugging around the DSLR is not a chore to me.

I do agree with those who say "Leave the SLR at home if you're going to use it in auto mode only" and if you're only going to make small prints or put them on the internet. :-)

I'm an avid amateur photographer myself and always carry a terribly heavy backpack full of lenses. But what use are the possibilities of an SLR to you if you're not using them? Might as well save yourself the back pain.

A good SLR does amazing work at higher ISO (with low light), that is true, but for any serious night photography or really low light photography, you will also need to carry a tripod - more back pain.

Also, before lugging around an SLR just to take pictures at the Louvre and other low light places like museums or churches, make sure you know what their rules are on taking pictures. They're all different wherever you go. Some won't allow tripods, most museums won't allow flash, some won't allow taking photos at all (they want to sell their own post cards). You'd hate to find out you've lugged around your SLR in vain for one of your main points of interest.

Having said all that, there certainly are very good reasons why people - myself included - do carry an SLR!

However, you'd do well to explore those reasons while you are still back at home. Imagine yourself on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, in front of the most beautiful sights you'll ever get to see, standing there and trying to figure out your camera settings instead of enjoying the sights and taking beautiful pictures.

Take a class - it's a lot more fun to learn together with others. If you want to learn by yourself, start by understanding the exposure triangle, and experiment with aperture priority and and shutter priority modes. Those are extremely useful in many situations (I rarely ever use the full manual mode).

Photography is fun. It's great to tweak the settings for whatever purpose I need, and not having to rely on what the camera decides for me. But once you are in a beautiful place, you don't want to have to study your manual.

Think of it like if you were driving a car. You don't want to start figuring out how that stick shift works while you're on that Route 66 road trip. That's when you want your hands to shift gears automatically without you having to think about their every move.

The best camera is the one you have with you, AND the one you know how to use well.

Good iPhone photos can be displayed and printed at sizes much larger than 8x10.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/15/shot-on-iphone/

Regardless which camera you use, mastering this simple technique will improve your shots by leaps and bounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0uoFNTVgaM

I agree with Douglas. Even if your SLR is in 'auto' mode, it will take better photographs. Auto usually has a number of auto selections as well to fit your condition. With the SLR you can play with your settings when you have time and keep it on an auto setting when you do not have time. I also agree with Staynsavor, "the best camera is the one you have with you". There are times I don't want to carry my SLR so I just use my Apple device. Pictures are adequate for memory or posting on instagram/FB, but not really good for anything else, IMO. So I suggest you use your phone for backup.

Also, just make a decision regarding one lens and take that. Learn that lens really well before or on your trip. A light lens for my Canon is the 50mm, but you can google and learn which lens is best of the lenses that you have at home. An SLR with 50 mm is pretty light unless you have a full frame camera. My last trip I took a 15mm-85mm lens and that was heavier, but rather than changing my camera, I am going to change my day carry system. I met a woman who takes a full frame SLR and also a really good small point and shoot SLR (ie, Canon Coolpix 7800, but not exactly that) so she can carry the appropriate one depending on the activity. I will confess that when I went to the Yorkshire Dales in 2014, when out walking, I took automatic photographs as I was lazy (and an illness had hit each of our party during that week...so tired) and my photographs were surprisingly lovely. I played with the settings in the village when I could stop and ponder. I good camera can often make some good decisions. I have also learned that if something is happening fast, I'll set it on the appropriate automatic setting so I can get the object, usually moving, before I miss it...and then if I have gotten it, I'll refine with my manual settings for the next shot. OK. Verbose. The bottom line is the SLR will give you more options, auto or manual, and you can make it lighter by making decisions on what to bring, selectively, before you go...and how to carry it. We have the above Canon Coolpix and I just can't bring myself to bring it and miss the once in a lifetime photograph or the fun of a nice SLR. Again, personal decision, but that's my take. On the side, in 2000 I used my SLR on auto only, and I have the best photograph of my daughter and step daughter thanks to that heavier camera. Sometimes you can travel too light when it comes to cameras, IMO.

Also, just make a decision regarding one lens and take that.

What's the point in using an SLR at all if you are only going to use one lens? There are great bridge cameras out there that will do a better job in that case.

Taking only one lens along may be a good idea for a specific photo project, or for a day trip where you know pretty much what you are going encounter and what you want to shoot, or for testing and getting to know that particular lens.

But for a whole vacation, why take an SLR at all if you are going to limit yourself to one lens? Doesn't make sense to me.

What's the point in using an SLR at all if you are only going to use one lens?

One lens makes a kit lighter, so there are choices one has to make, if one is looking for a lighter weight, but wants the SLR. So I guess you can pack too light or too heavy, and we all have our sweet spots. I actually love my 50mm lens because it requires me to think, to move, to analyze more rather than just changing a lens, which I hate to do in the elements anyway. There are a lot of people who don't see what is around them and/or compose their pictures. I took my 15mm-85mm lens to Greece because mountains were involved, because it is a great lens and I had both street scenes and amazing landscapes in Greece. I have used my lens to the fullest and get some great photographs. I have never returned second guessing my choices. This is my system. You might have yours and that is fine and I won't belittle it. I don't usually take interiors, not my thing. I analyze my trip and pack my kit accordingly. I have taken multiple lenses in the past...but found it was a waste of weight for me. I'm shooting for the exceptional photograph, not just vacation photographs, but I do plenty of those as well. I love my camera and have great fun with it and it will have to be pried out of my hands...so not switching to our small one, unless I learn I am wrong...which happens, but not yet certainly. Anyone who doesn't have that same drive will get good shots and preserve memories with a P&S, and that is fine. I will say, if we are taking a car trip there is much more in my kit. However, I do pack a very small Manfrotto tripod on all my trips. Now my husband's kit weighs a ton...

Oh, I am not belittling your choice, by any means. Anyone may take whatever they choose, and as you can read in my first post, I am certainly not turning my choice of back pain into a recommendation for everyone. I am sure many people will shake their head at the bag full of bricks I lug along. My husband does, that's for sure, and he definitely won't carry any of it!

I just said it doesn't seem to make any sense to me. It's perfectly fine if it does to you, but it doesn't to me, and this thread is, after all, about recommending choices that make sense to someone who asked.

One of the main assets of an SLR, IMO, is the option of changing lenses. Why choose an SLR at all if one doesn't intend to use this option? As I said, in that case, a bridge camera would seem to make a lot more sense to me. As far as I am aware, the quality of some of these bridge cameras is just amazing. And you would avoid one of the major trade-offs of an SLR: those annoying sensor cleaning issues.

Most typical people are satisfied taking a few pictures with an cell phone camera. But if you can stand to carry around the weight of your Olympus SLR, use it so that you will not have wasted your money on it.

More important than what camera you use is to write what you did each day of your travels in a journal - whether you use a fountain pen and a good paper journal (some fountain pen users swear that molskine journals are the best but there are other brands of similar ones), or you type your journal on a computer you pay to use or type on laptop or tablet computer. I still use pen and paper even though I may be younger than most of you.

I have an LG android smartphone, but I am not much into playing with it often or using apps often like some people and I wouldn't waste time posting anything on facebook or any other social networking website until after I have returned home from my trip. For picture taking, I have a cannon compact-sized digital camera my parents bought me as a gift in May 2006. It has a range of manual features but pictures in low light are grainy if I am not careful and it only takes pictures up to 3072 x 2304 pixels. It still does the job ok for posting pictures online. I tried the cell phone camera just once; cell phone camera lenses cannot zoom in.

As I said, in that case, a bridge camera would seem to make a lot more
sense to me.

The OP didn't list such a camera as an option he/she had. And a DSLR can work with lenses that have significant range, so I've never had the need to bring multiple lenses along. Now I do have to carry a larger lens for the zoom capability I want, but I prefer that to having 2-3 lenses. And by no means does one have to have a tripod for low light or even many night shots with a DSLR - I've taken many great such photos, sometimes using a nearby railing or fixed object for stability. Anyway, dusk photos are typically better/more ineresting than pure night photos, and a DSLR with a steady hand or fixed support can do great for those.

My wife is the photographer and brings her Pentax k50 with 18:135 lens. We might branch her out, but her photos are for scrapbooks and sharing online. I take photos with my phone, and my main contributions are panoramic shots, quick videos, and signage that we find amusing.

The pictures from my iPhone 5 were good enough with some photoshop work from our last trip, so I have high hopes for the 6SPlus. This is the Pentax's first trip abroad, but has a similar form factor to previous P&S camera she was using.

Are the photos in the iPhone ads that say "Shot on an IPhone X" just lies? Or professional photographers with controlled conditions in ideal settings for the iPhone to work well?

The lens on an iPhone is tiny and the photos just will not zoom up with clarity to an enlargement like 8 x 10 or bigger. Also an SLR has the ability to zoom non-digitally so it's just as sharp zooming in on a far image as a near one which is by no means the case with an iPhone: interior shots with a little zoom look like crap even on screen (which is very forgiving of low resolution).

But if you are asking this question you probably would be fine with just an iPhone.

I am going on my 9th trip to Europe this Christmas and have found each time I take less and less pictures. I used my iPod the last two trips and the pictures are still In the iPod. For me it works fine. I had a nice luminx small camera, but found for me the iPod worked the best.

What you need to do is to determine what you want to do with the photos. If you are like me and the photos are memory joggers, the phone might be enough. If not maybe you should take the slr.