Phonecams: Which is Better, Android or iPhone?

iPhone 4 and LG Doubleplay

I have been a fan of Apple since the mid-80's, but my first smart phone was a Samsung Galaxy S 4G. Before that I had an LG ENV3, which may have been the best cell phone for picture taking that I've owned. It was only 3.2mp, but it took incredibly detailed pictures, even when driving 60mph down the road. My wife has an LG Doubleplay that takes great pictures in low light and indoors, but suffers a little in bright sunlight.

Android

I loved the camera software on my Samsung. It had a lot of options to work with to create really interesting pictures. The downside was, to use them, you had to have time to go through the menus and set them up. That is the strength and weakness of most Android phones I've used. They have setting choices comparable to a compact digital camera, but you can't just snap a shot at a moments notice if you're in low light or another situation that is outside the capabilities of the default setting. The camera was 5mp and had decent low-light capabilities, though it lacked a flash. It took nice pictures in normal to moderately low lighting on the default settings. That is true of most of the Android phones I've used.

iPhone

Moving to an iPhone, I hated it because of the lack of options in the camera software. But as I used it more I realized that the iPhone's software is pretty darn good. It adjusts for bright or low light automatically, and does a good job of it. The latest version even has some photo editing capabilities. It's a good camera for taking pictures at a moments notice. With third party software pictures can be manipulated later to create all of the effects built into many Android phones, and more.

Third Party Apps

Both types of phone have a large selection of free and for purchase software to edit and manipulate photos after they're taken. Some of the software is very powerful, yet simple to use. You will want to learn to use one or two apps to put the finishing touches on your photos. I promise you, professional iPhonographers and Androidographers retouch most of the photos they share. We'll look at a few photo apps soon.

Conclusion

So which is better? Like many things, it depends on what you want to do, and what fits your style. If you like to whip out the phone and take pictures at a moments notice, the iPhone is a good choice. An Android phone will work, but the camera software may not handle as wide a variety of shooting conditions as the iPhone. On the other hand, if you like tweaking the settings to create just the effect you want in your pictures, an Android phone may be prefect for you. Until I dropped my Samsung and shattered the screen I carried both phones with me and used them both. There were conditions I knew one phone would handle better than the other, so it just made sense. And sometimes I want to try different settings to squeeze the best picture out of a scene. For that, Android is better. Other times I want to take a quick picture before the moment passes. Many times the iPhone will take a better picture in those conditions.

To put it clearly, if you like point and shoot compact cameras, the iPhone is for you. If you decide later you want to mess with lighting and effects, you can get apps. If you like the control of an SLR camera, or you spend a lot of time figuring out how to use all the settings available on your compact digital camera, an Android phone will satisfy your urge to tweak settings to get the perfect picture.