Is the iPhone a Legitimate Replacement for an Advanced Pocket Camera?

We've all seen the phone versus $50,000 camera videos, and while they're fun to watch, the real competition for an advanced camera phone is a compact system camera. This great video examines how well an iPhone X can compete with a popular vlogging camera for video work.

Coming to you from Potato Jet, this video pits the iPhone X against the Canon G7X II. The compact system camera has been generally obliterated by the camera phone, which is certainly understandable, considering the overwhelming majority of people don't want to carry two devices and the advancing quality of phone cameras in tandem with their connectivity makes them much more attractive to the average consumer. However, for content creators and enthusiasts who don't want to lug a full DSLR or mirrorless system around, the compact can still strike a pleasing balance of better capabilities and portability. However, as smartphones continue to advance, that gap of capabilities continues to narrow. As the video shows, there are certainly situations in which the G7X II outshines the iPhone, but depending on your needs and standards, a late-model camera phone could very well be sufficient. Check out the video above for the full comparison.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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12 Comments

Finally a comparison worth watching. Also, finally someone talking about highlight rolloff!

Nah. My fuji kills it.

I've heard great things too. I miss my original RX100; that was such a great little camera.

I have an RX100 III, and while it's image quality is wonderful, the thing is an egg. Hard to believe, made all out of metal and all that, but I've dropped it twice from around 3 ft to stone and wood floors, and the thing was history. All other compacts I've ever had have had similar, sometimes worse fates, and continued to work. I believe cameras like these need to be made principally out of a high quality plastic engineered to the task.

Great comparison. It's worth noting that as he was talking about the G7X's superior highlight rolloff at the end (and I agree it's superior), all the business signs behind him were completely blown out. Pacing of the video was great, as were the constant A/B on-screen comparisons.

until smartphones get lenses as big as cameras, all comparisons are flawed. small lens cannot beat bigger lens. period

That's kinda the point here. The argument is if it (the bigger lens, etc) "worth" carrying around a second larger camera for the maybe minute benefits.

For me, my Google Pixel is fine, unless I actually need to capture something professionally.

If quality for the best price is the ultimate goal you can get a G7 X Mark II and an unlocked carrier-agnostic Motorola G Plus (64GB) for less than an iPhone X.

Motorola G Plus (64GB) & Canon G7 X Mk II = $893 (Amazon)
iPhone X (64GB) = $999 (Apple Store)

Just trying to show parity in the features.

I see. Admittedly, I haven't had an iPhone since the 6 and I've been much happier with unlocked Android phones. The one's from carriers are loaded with crapware. That was the intent, is you can get a *good* Android phone for that price (i.e. good = unlocked).

A camera is a camera and a phone is a phone. Lazy people only carry 1 device. People wonder why the camera business is down? Articles like this. Call me when you use a real camera for your profession.

No, you can't blame an article like this as to why the camera business is down. The convenience of one device to handle all your needs is the reason why. Common sense dictates that anyone who couldn't care less about photography (and they outnumber us) are more than happy with what they get from a cellphone that fits in their pocket and has network connections. People like us merely get shafted in the process. Life sucks, and then you die...