One more thing before we move on: The size of the sensor is very important to the end result of your photos. There are many sizes of sensors (as shown in the diagram below), and phone manufacturers create new sizes to fit in their space constraints. In general, the larger the sensor, the more light it can capture, making a better-quality photo. However, bigger is not always better. Bigger sensors are heavier and require heavier, bulkier equipment. Better quality isn’t always necessary – how many people are actually going to be viewing your photo at 30+ inches? Will people be able to tell on your social media pages if you used a phone camera or a full-frame (large sensor) camera? Depending on how you use your photos, there is a point of diminishing returns in terms of quality. For most beginning photographers, an APS-C sensor is perfectly adequate (and quite a bit cheaper than most full-frame cameras). With the quality improvements in phone cameras, a good-quality sensor in a phone is adequate for many amateur photographers.
Below are some of the most common sizes of sensors. Most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are either full frame or APS-C, while phone cameras, bridge cameras, and point-and-shoot cameras usually have smaller sensors.
