I will not say that today’s cell phone cameras are no match for a regular camera; that isn’t true.

When you take photos outside in the daytime, all cell phone cameras do a great job.

My DJI Mavic Air 2 has a Sony IMX586 48MP sensor also used in the Galaxy S10 phone. So these phones do a pretty good job.

So one of our friends took their phone this past weekend and had me take the picture. They had the benefit of having both and choosing what to use. Here are those two photos:

Then here is my photo using off-camera flashes.

The cell phone is acceptable until you see the difference using flash. All cameras do a better job of reproducing colors under flash than you get under other light sources like fluorescent.

Besides a better color, the noise is a problem when shooting in low light with a cell phone. Using the flash, I am shooting light equivalent to the sunshine outside. I can shoot at ISO 100 and fast shutter speed as well.

Dorie also took photos to show my setup so I could see her settings for the camera.

Now there is one more difference worth pointing out. When professional photographers set up using flashes, they put the lights usually at 45º to the right or left of the camera. Then they also put the light about 45º above the person’s eyes.

The lights in the ceiling are directly over their heads and create what I call “raccoon eyes.” These are the shadows around the eyes.

Here are the benefits that all the people who paid me to take their photos in the Ring at the Citadel:

• Full Spectrum Color Light
• Lower ISO ~ less noise
• Better light direction on faces
• 24-megapixel images so they can get large prints made

While you can get your cell phone pictures, there are times when it is worth going for quality rather than good enough.