Smartphone or DSLR for photography/videography (novice).

[iPwnz]

This is not a buying questionnaire per se but more of a need advice kind of thing.

A little off-topic background:

Spoiler

last few years have been shit in the state (read L&O) and my plans all majorly flopped but due to unavoidable personal circumstances I'm unable to leave for the cities for work so I'm stuck here in a small town which, while it is calm and simple it's not exactly an ideal life due to the lack of opportunities. Business could be one thing but absolutely no capital as we've lost it all.

Anyway so I'm trying to make do with online "village content" with my phone camera and sometimes working as a local photography freelancer and free videographer to try to sustain myself. That's when I noticed that my smartphone camera while it is good is lacking in some crucial areas in my opinion. Hence this thread.

I have a Samsung S10+ smartphone which I've been using for the last couple of years. I really love the video camera and the stabilization especially is very good. The phone is not in good condition aesthetically and if not for the video camera quality I would've thrown it away. The daylight photos are decent imo and very usable for printing but I'm not impressed with night photos. Also I use the digital zoom upto x3.5 max. Farther and the quality really drops, like bad, very grainy results. Even 2x zoom isn't good anymore but desperate times need desperate measures.
I also love night sky photography. And this phone doesn't do justice to the view. Can only take a rough image of the constellations.

Pros of the S10+ smartphone:
1. Good daylight photos (Wide camera).
2. Very good video camera.
3. Very good video camera stabilization.
4. Options for FHD 60fps and even UHD 60fps videos but for me FHD60 all the way. I've barely touched UHD.
5. Very small and highly portable.

Now my negative issues regarding this S10+ smartphone are:
1. Phone is very slow. Possibly due to the Exynos chip or software updates. The software updates really ruined the phone over the years. Not sure if it's intentional.
2. Shooting long videos heat up the phone especially during the summer.
3. Slow shutter speed. This is something which I noticed when I wanted to take quick multiple photos and often the results come out very blurry especially at night.
4. Night photo/videos aren't so good (anymore).
5. No optical zoom. Digital zoom is not good, naturally.
6. Low camera megapixel count for when I want to crop (?).

Now my personal thoughts, I feel that getting another used flagship phone with good camera would be ideal but I don't know if I'll find any viable one in my budget which I'm still not sure about. Old used DSLR sounds more cost-effective in this regard. I've come across decent "beginner" DSLRs like Nikon D3200 for 20k. But I don't know if they are suited for videography. Because like I said I need to use it for both photos and videos. At the same time DSLRs come with very good optical zooms. And I don't expect to get a good smartphone of flagship model in this budget range. I like the S21FE but again it's Samsung so I expect it to be plague by similar problems like slow shutter speed and what not. I really wanted to get an iPhone Pro and if it's going to be an iPhone then might as well go for the Pro Max model due to its longer battery than non-Pro Max models I thought but I wonder if it will be an unnecessary financial burden.

Thoughts from any veteran?

 

[ssslayer]

DSLR any day will be better in terms of quality and also in terms of you learning how to tweak which controls for best results (unless you plan to use the complete auto mode all the time).
What gives you an impression that DSLR are not good for videography?

 

[iPwnz]

DSLR any day will be better in terms of quality and also in terms of you learning how to tweak which controls for best results (unless you plan to use the complete auto mode all the time).
What gives you an impression that DSLR are not good for videography?

Not all of them have 1080p60fps. And also battery life issue.

 

[kewlboy9]

Not all of them have 1080p60fps.

Go for a mirrorless intead of a DSLR. Any mirrorless camera released in the last 10 years will shoot at 1080p 60FPS. Sony's entry line a6000 which was released in 2014 also shoots 1080p 60fps. Someone here was selling the same model for 26.5K recently. Plus, mirrorless cameras are a lot more portable than traditional DSLRs.

 

[malsawm]

For videography, dslr may not be the right choice. mirrorless like sony's, or panasonic's ones are the best. Panasonic ones like GX80/85, GH series are made with videography in focus. Their only downside being they are micro four third (MFT) and third party lens support. As the earlier post suggest, you can check out sony a6000 series..

 

[Simar]

You should go for a DSLR/Mirrorless camera. You would probably have to check the used/open-box/refurb market for a sub 30k budget.

I’m a little biased towards Canon since that’s what I’ve used for several years and it works well for me, but you can try recommendations from others in the thread like what @kewlboy9 mentioned.

You’ll probably get one lens with the camera, which is usually a kit lens like an 18-55mm/16-50mm etc. It’s a good starting point that allows for some zooming as you mentioned, and you can always crop to get closer since it’s a camera with a larger sensor with better image quality, you’ll get much better results compared to your phone camera.

If your budget allows for it, you can also consider getting a “nifty fifty” 50mm f/1.8 lens, which would let you shoot some portraits and get images/videos with shallow depth of field which is something you may like or want. It’s one of the cheapest prime lenses available, but I think you can hold off on the purchase until you get used to your camera + kit lens and utilize their potential.

Don’t fall into the trap of gear acquisition syndrome like I did. I was much happier when I had a crappy point and shoot camera and used it extensively. Use what you have, and work on improving with it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ECB90D96DF59DE5
I used to love watching this series when it came out. See the ones that came out 8-11 years ago where Kai was the host. You’ll be able to see what pro photographers can accomplish with cameras that will make you laugh your ass off.

Although, since you mentioned night sky photography, you need a tripod. You’ll get one for around 1k which will do the job just fine.