As of 2011, more photographs are now taken with cellular phone cameras than with all other types of still cameras and camcorders combined.  From which it can be concluded that:  

1. The vast majority of consumer photographers cannot discern quality and/or convenience is more important than quality
2. There is probably nobody left who actually uses a cellular phone for the purpose of making phone calls

Quite a few articles are now appearing which extol the virtues of a cellular phone camera as serious equipment. There is some question of whether or not the cellular phone camera will eclipse the point-and-shoot camera or even more serious equipment. All other things being equal, larger sensor sizes will generate better images, and the sensor size in a cellular phone will always be miniscule compared to any dedicated camera. Two interesting points of view are emerging. Examples of the two views include The rise of the camera-phone (Stuart Jeffries) and the Camera Phones Will Not Make Point-and-Shoots Obsolete (Matt Braga).

The emergence of cellular phone digital photography has made a camera a constant companion for millions of people who always carry a cellular phone but rarely carry a camera. In addition, most cellular phones also have have instantaneous upload capability for social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook. The ubiquitous presence combined with instant social uploading has vastly increased the number of casual and banal images created, often captured for ephemeral upload only. As recently expressed by Nigel Farndale: "photography, once a noble art, has become, thanks to the move to digital, a mental illness."

The smartphone is becoming good enough much of the time. Consumers who use their mobile phones to take pictures and video [are] more likely to do so instead of their camera when capturing spontaneous moments. But for important events, single-purpose cameras and camcorders are still largely the device of choice. -- Liz Cutting of NPD Group, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times December 22, 2011.

The following comparison images were taken with a Motorola Atrix cellular phone camera and a Canon 5dii camera.  Both images are of the same model, from the same distance, in similar lighting conditions.  Both original images encompass the model head to toe. Each image was cropped to show the same view of the control patches, gray card, and model. Each of these cropped versions was edited to match the color tones as closely as possible, but without any other processing.  No noise reduction was done with either image. Both cropped and edited images were resized to 400 pixels high. The 400 pixel high images were sharpened for web use.

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