I spent the week between Christmas and New Years at my parents. My daughter, her grandpa,and I went skiing for a couple of days. I thought I would leave my big camera at home, so. I could concentrate on socializing

I found out two things:

– cell phone cameras (at least mine) are not great for action shots

– I like taking photos

One of the big advantages of a DSLR is the reaction time. You press the shutter, and you capture the moment. My cell phone has a significant delay between button press and image capture. Much of the time, my subjects (my daughter and my dad) moved enough that they were out of focus. With my SLR, it has predictive focus that follows the moving subject so that it stays sharp while the shutter is released.

Another technique is to manually focus on the spot where you want to take a photo. When your subject reaches this spot, you trip the shutter. MY cell doesn’t have manual focus.

I guess my point is that, while cell phone cameras are great for recording scenes,and static moments (such as posed portraits), a more sophisticated camera is still more versatile. It all comes back to a tradeoff. Convenience, and the fact that you most likely have your cell with you, compared with the weight, bulk, but capability of a full size DSLR.