To truly compete with more professional devices, these are the features that smartphone cameras need.

Even when I had an old Nikon DSLR, I could increase my ISO to 25,600.

While you could adjust the brightness, many smartphone cameras dont provide the option to change your ISO.

DSLT Camera Projected Out of Smartphone and Hovering Over It

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If youre new to photography, you canlearn all about ISO here.

2Larger Sensors

Smartphone manufacturers often talk about how many megapixels their cameras can take images in.

But while megapixels play a role in getting good pictures, theyre not as essential as you might think.

Adjusting the ISO Settings on a Camera

The camera sensor will have a bigger influence on your picture quality.

Camera sensors are where the light bounces off and generates an image.

you’re free to usually see your DSLR sensor on your camera body when you remove the lens.

Photo of a DSLR Camera Digital Sensor

Youll notice that the sensor is relatively large, and often much more so than what smartphones can offer.

Because camera sensors are bigger, more light can enteras a result, you often get better photos.

The manydifferent types of digital camera sensors differ significantly.

Adjust Your In-Camera White Balance Settings

Understanding these will help you choose a better camera if you want to go that route.

Ideally, you want the whites in your images (e.g.

paper) to actually look white, hence the name.

Panasonic Lumix G DSLR Aperture Shutter Speed ISO Sensitivity

Moreover, you have different presets to pick fromsuch as cloudy and daylight.

Nonetheless, being able to control your white balance when taking the photo typically produces much better results.

4More Shooting Modes

Modern smartphone cameras offer multiple filters, justlook at the numerous iPhone camera filters.

Zoom Camera at 2.1 x on a Smartphone

Theyve also started offering more shooting modes, but smartphones are better for videos than photos in this respect.

These diverse options mean that I have much more control over my pictures.

The only real exception is when you get to choose whether you want a longer timer for low-light images.

For example, you may want a slower shutter speed when taking pictures of sports.

If smartphone cameras dont make this feature more widespread, their chances of competing with DSLRs are virtually non-existent.

The reason is thatsmartphones, unlike cameras, dont have variable optical zoom.

Theres no disputing that many modern smartphones have pretty good image quality for wide-angle shots.

But sometimes, we cant move closer to our subject and would rather zoom in.

Even for the casual shooter, smartphone cameras still have limitations that a DSLR would solve.