Skip to the List. When judging a camera for its picture and video capturing ability, you can’t reach a verdict by looking at the pictures on its native display screen. You need to view the pictures and videos on a much larger screen (for instance on Samsung UN65MU9000). After all, larger displays will be the family albums for your children. By the time they grow up, they will all have 101-inch or larger screen TVs on their walls. And surely you wouldn’t want them to find the pictures you take today to be horribly small, grainy, blurry, and pixelated. At this point, you might be thinking that it would be a good idea to buy a good digital camera spending $400 or more. But there’s no point in buying digital camera anymore. Professional grade camera phones available in market today.
Latest smartphones come equipped with better cameras and technologies. They feature better still photo and video recording technology than most digital cameras priced under $400. Optical zooming ability is the only feature where mobile phone cameras lag behind. You have to buy zoom lens; but class zoom lenses for mobile phones are still scarce and pricey. If zooming ability is not what you are looking for in a camera, it will be better for you to opt for mobile phone cameras than the digital cameras. You can even capture slow motion video with camera phones which is a very rare quality in affordable digital cameras. Here is our recommendation on the latest professional-grade camera phones.
iPhone 8 Plus |
FeaturesPrimary: Dual 12 MP, 28mm, f/1.8, f/2.8, phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom, OIS, quad-LED (dual tone) flash |
Samsung Galaxy S8 |
FeaturesPrimary: 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash |
Essential PH-1 |
FeaturesPrimary: Dual 13 MP, f/1.9, phase detection & laser autofocus, OIS, LED flash |
Huawei P10 Plus |
FeaturesPrimary: Dual 20 MP + 12 MP, f/1.8, Leica optics, 2x lossless zoom, phase detection and laser autofocus, OIS, dual-LED (dual tone) flash |
OnePlus 5 |
FeaturesPrimary: Dual 16 MP, f/1.7, 24mm, EIS (gyro) + 20 MP, f/2.6, 36mm, phase detection autofocus, 1.6x optical zoom, OIS, dual-LED flash |
Honorable mention
Sony Xperia XZ Premium |
FeaturesPrimary: 19 MP, f/2.0, 25mm, EIS (gyro), predictive phase detection and laser autofocus, LED flash |