To answer this question, first we have to look at the end product: the photographs. Photos are a set of data points called pixels. If a photograph is low resolution, it has fewer pixels, or data points. In printing terms, these are also called dots per inch (dpi).
So, while a low-resolution photo (such as from a phone) might look good on your computer screen, it would look horrible if printed in a magazine or newspaper. And no amount of photo-app wizardry will make an excellent, clear photograph out of a low-resolution photo. We are aiming for a photograph that has 300 dpi. Why? Because your photos are part of your promotions, and the news media and other audiences prefer 300 dpi (that doesn’t mean you won’t get a story if you only have lower resolution photos but it could be a hurdle.)
Equipment changes every year, including the camera in your cell phone. Your best bet is to invest in a $300 – $500 digital camera with optical zoom (1). Investing in this equipment will help you portray your important research in the best light to fellow researchers, administrators, funding agencies, news media and the public. That’s a lot of bang for your buck!
This camera can even be shared with another department to reduce individual department costs if needed! If you do that, I recommend keeping your own camera cards and batteries/chargers – even the best of coworkers forget to recharge batteries and cards when returning them to you. I (almost) always have a spare battery with full charge ready to go.
For those hesitating to spend that $300-$500 on a digital camera: I do understand that your cell phone camera is the one you always have with you. I contend that your lab should be planning to take photos quarterly (with the seasons) or at least twice a year. At the same time, you should file them, and be ready to promote your work with them. Again, this is a blog about communication, and photos are excellent, critical communications tools.
What type of camera you need depends on your research. Do you value macro shots over distance shots? Do you need something to help you steady your hands? If two people standing side-by-side had a “real” camera and a phone – the camera’s photo would always be a higher resolution than the phone.
To convince you more about investing in a digital camera for work, let’s talk more about data.
When you do your research, you plan meticulously about the number of data points you will need to make your results valid. After all, once you complete a study, it’s difficult to go back and add in more data points. It would take a lot of effort and time to do so—and most likely cost a lot of money (if it’s even possible.)
We all know about photo experts who specialize in taking damaged photos to make them usable again. In those cases, these photo wizards are cutting and pasting “data” into the damaged photo. They might be using part of the photo, or other tools, to make up for the damage. As a result, people pay an extraordinary amount of money to have these prized photos fixed. But it’s different from a photo with all the correct pixels intact. It’s a photo with “fake data,” and taking a decent photo is possible for most everyone.
What you get with your $300-$500 camera is a better lens, a better zoom, and a camera card that can carry more data. (For those of you so inclined to go down the “even better camera” rabbit hole – prices will be higher). This camera will last you 5-10 years – barring any accidents like dropping it into a stream. But there are cameras built for that type of toughness (even the stream scenario) in the $500 range if your research warrants that need.
You might be thinking, “But my cell phone has a great camera.” And it does. It’s a great camera because it’s with you most of the time. But at this time, cell phone pictures are usually saved at 72 dpi or 96dpi. That is not a very good photo resolution to promote your excellent work. Your work deserves high-resolution photos, and all the benefits that come with them, right?
There are tricks to get good photos out of your phone, beyond the scope of this blog. It takes time, training, and effort. The biggest problem with cell phone photos is using the zoom feature. If you buy a camera with an optical and digital zoom combined, you can zoom in close from 6 ft or more away from your subject—insects, people, equipment—and still get a 300dpi photo resolution. With your phone, however, even if you are even just a few feet away from your subject, when you use the phone’s zoom feature, you will lose pixels—that ever-important data. In addition, if you try to “zoom with your feet” (always recommended versus using a phone’s zoom feature), you might cause other problems, like having that certain bug fly away, creating a shadow, or losing depth of field.
Most importantly, when you use your phone’s zoom feature, you are deleting data right from the start. It’s the same as saying you’ll take 1,000 data points for your research, but then saying “oh, 100 will do.” So, you don’t capture the same number of pixels – thus my distaste for zoomed camera-phone photos!
I bought my Sony DSC-HX400V for around $300 on sale several years ago. And it can take some great photos. Sure, I have friends who lug around multiple lenses but in the time they take to change them out, I’ve got my photo and have moved on. It works for me. And that’s the point. I also have a friend who decided she “must” have a more expensive camera, and more than a year later has yet to learn how to use it. She’s still relying on my photos.
My simple camera allowed me to take the dragonfly photo from a distance – they fly away if you move too close, right? If this were a photo of a person, I could stay outside of their “personal space” (always recommended) and still get the photo.
You simply would not get the quality of photo with your phone camera at this distance – and zooming with your fingers would make it worse.
I’m not totally against cell phone photos! I just think they shouldn’t be your main photos for promoting your work. They can augment the planned, quarterly photos you take. Even photos taken with your cell phone have the potential to be good communications tools. But don’t swipe and zoom. Use your cell phone’s camera for those spontaneous moments you can’t plan and want to document. Your cell phone is a valuable tool for visual content, too, just not the best.
Having both an inexpensive digital camera and your cell phone camera is the better bet to promote your scientific work.
Written by Susan V. Fisk, BS(Chem), M.Ed., MBA. Copyright by author.
Read more about visual content:
The importance of taking photos to document your scientific work.
Tips on what type of photos to take.
Do you need permission to take a photo?
For samples of my personal photography and to make purchases, visit my Etsy shop.
(1) Of course, some scientists need extra photographic capabilities – and they probably have the equipment already. My goal with this blog is to get more scientists taking photos and using them to explain your work to the public. When I’m interested in doing a story about someone’s work, I need to ask for photos – and a good percentage have no photos. Another large percentage only have cell phone photos. No photos – no story. Low resolution photos – harder for me to get the news media to pick up the story.
Do you want more help with your science communications? Contact me at TrulyRelatableScience@gmail.com for estimates on editing your professional web pages, public presentations, grant proposals, or to Zoom into your classroom/lab for a workshop!
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