27-08-2020, 09:12 PM
Yes, modern CMOS sensors are truly excellent now - much better in low light that a comparable CCD sensor. The increased sensitivity will be offset by the fact a Digital 8 sensor will be larger, but even so, a modern smartphone sensor will be better in most comparisons. The smartphone also has the advantage of serious image-processing horsepower to clean up noise and other artefacts. There's really no contest these days...
The last non-phone digital camera I bought - back in 2014 - was a Canon S120. It's a lovely camera - really very good. Comparing results with friends who had the latest smartphones, my Canon made them look a bit silly in low light conditions. However, that was 6 years ago - that gap closed pretty quickly. I've just done a couple of test shots to compare it to my 2016 iPhone SE, and if anything, there's slightly more noise with the Canon. It chose an ISO of 800, so it's not surprising that some noise is visible when you zoom right in. But 800 is pretty much unusable on my older 450D (a D-SLR from 2008), so that's impressive progress in a short few years. We have one at work which is a couple of years newer (a 550D, IIRC), and that is also much better than the 450. Without uploading the iPhone image to the computer, I don't think I can find out what ISO it chose, but either way, the results were excellent.
Until I got the iPhone, I used to carry the Canon with me wherever I could (and a separate MP3 player). Now, I only use it for high-quality shots in the workshop for the website. Remember - this iPhone is 4 years old, and was the cheapest in their line-up. I would expect that current camera phones would be considerably better again. Also, I rather doubt the sensor in a Digital8 is capable of shooting 4k video, unlike this 4 year old phone
The last non-phone digital camera I bought - back in 2014 - was a Canon S120. It's a lovely camera - really very good. Comparing results with friends who had the latest smartphones, my Canon made them look a bit silly in low light conditions. However, that was 6 years ago - that gap closed pretty quickly. I've just done a couple of test shots to compare it to my 2016 iPhone SE, and if anything, there's slightly more noise with the Canon. It chose an ISO of 800, so it's not surprising that some noise is visible when you zoom right in. But 800 is pretty much unusable on my older 450D (a D-SLR from 2008), so that's impressive progress in a short few years. We have one at work which is a couple of years newer (a 550D, IIRC), and that is also much better than the 450. Without uploading the iPhone image to the computer, I don't think I can find out what ISO it chose, but either way, the results were excellent.
Until I got the iPhone, I used to carry the Canon with me wherever I could (and a separate MP3 player). Now, I only use it for high-quality shots in the workshop for the website. Remember - this iPhone is 4 years old, and was the cheapest in their line-up. I would expect that current camera phones would be considerably better again. Also, I rather doubt the sensor in a Digital8 is capable of shooting 4k video, unlike this 4 year old phone
