Large camera on mobiles versus smaller

[anticpated]

I have been doing a bit research on the advantages of large megapixel photography versus average size of 12-16 megapixel.

In the past I have owned mobile handsets with 2 megapixel up to 16 megapixel. From my point of view, whilst the sensor retains less information in comparison to say a modern say 108 megapixel. How much information is being kept post-processing?

A lot of factors should be considered such as how much data is being discarded. Different manufacturers are using a process of data binning. Where neighbouring pixels are combined to reduce the final output size.  The reason being the limited space used by the sensor, lens and combination of iso and shutter settings. 

This is why even larger pixels captured on smaller sensors are limited by the physical limitations of the device being used 

So basically, for the moment, whilst large megapixels are nice it is not always capturing more information than a dedicated camera with smaller sensor. 

In my few snaps  I have concluded smaller images with RAW capture is still going to have better overall results.

Please feel free to add to or argue against any points I have made 

[anticpated]

I meant a dedicated camera with less megapixels and a larger lens. Difficult to keep track of my text when I am constantly correcting autotext.

[Anonymous]

Hi @anticpated ,Take a Canon 5D Mk4 DSLR with it's Full Frame 30 megapixel sensor, it's one of the best all purpose digital cameras on the market. If 30 megapixels is good enough for a pro £3000 camera body it's definitely good enough for a mobile phone imo.

Overloading a small sensor (or even a big one) with too many pixels usually amounts to poorer quality. 

Is a case of less is more a lot of the time. 

[liggerz87]

It's kinda like how HTC made the ultra pixel I think it debuted with the one M7 were it was 4 megapixel camera but bigger senser was good for low light pictures but it lost the details for normal light pictures I may be remembering wrong though I currently have the Sony Xperia 5 ii has photography pro mode on it which lets you mess with a load of settings IV sideloded a APK update that's from the Xperia 1 iii that lets you open like a basic mode for photography pro just like opening a stock camera point and shoot on it or you can go to auto mode on it pr program mode or s for shutter it's pretty good I love how quick the Sony can snap photos within a few seconds comes in handy for the rats lol

[anticpated]

Pixel binning should be better described. It uses a group of microlenses of the same colour on the sensor. For example, 3x3 meaning 9 pixels are shifted to 1 from the original RAW capture. So 108MPixel becomes 12Mpixel with more captured detail with a trade off in data retained in the DNG and Jpeg.

While this is hardly surprising it is good to understand what is actuaĺly happening. Don't be fooled by marketing. I never really was and for what it counts- mobile photography has come a long way.