I am an enthusiast photographer, which means I am not a Pro but I am fine to carry a few kg of gear just for the pleasure to take photos. And I am OK to spend hours just to try to make one good photo.
I have been looking for several years for a smartphone able to replace my camera, should it be a DSLR or a mirrorless when I am not exclusively doing photography – typically when I am with friends and family and grasps some opportunities to take some photos but without intending to only do something for the purpose of photography. That is where smartphones do make sense even for people like me.
However, I tend to believe I might be a little bit demanding like many other enthusiasts can be. I want similar performances from a smartphone despite the physics limits but thanks to the skills of the engineers and thanks to computational photography. So far, I have failed to be convinced for the well-known reasons by enthusiasts (performances, ergonomics mostly).
But I believe smartphone are very likely to replace cameras in many circumstances already, and will be even be more capable in the future.
So, I have been done the tests again, this time with the Samsung S20 Fan Edition 5G ( shortened in this post as “S20 FE”). A modern smartphone not being the most expensive but not exactly cheap either and aiming at satisfying demanding photographers. Why does it matter to other people, even those who do not have this specific model ? Just because as far as I can see, most of my conclusions and remarks that valid for most cameras of smartphones, and when they do not I tend to highlight that it may not be true for all smartphones. And similarly, I have compared the smartphone camera with a modern but not top end mirrorless camera: Nikon Z50, an APS-C mirrorless. Furthermore, I occasionally compare it to an “old” but respected full frame body : Nikon D750.
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