Decide whether to get a 5MP camera phone or a 5MP digital camera.
The first mobile phones were large, clunky and expensive devices reserved for special circumstances. Now mobile phones are small enough to fit in a pocket or a purse and are inexpensive enough to achieve widespread use, with many available with built-in cameras. If you want to take digital pictures, you might be wondering whether you should get a 5MP digital camera, or a mobile phone with a 5MP camera built in.
Always With You
When you use a cell phone, you will likely carry it with you most of the time if not at all times so you can make and receive calls wherever you are. It will become part of your routine, like grabbing your keys before you leave home. If your cell phone has a built-in 5MP camera, you will always have the ability to take photos too. If you rely on a 5 MP digital camera, you will have to remember to bring it with you in anticipation of taking pictures, and it will add to the number of devices you carry.
Lens
Cell phones with cameras use small lenses that you cannot physically adjust for zooming or to change the exposure. The small size of cell phones precludes them from including complicated optics, such as a large lens that can extend from the body of the device. On the other hand, a 5MP digital camera will have a larger lens, and some models feature a lens that extends so you can zoom or capture more details in your shots.
Viewfinder
Digital cameras often come with a large LCD display taking up the entire back of the camera, which you can use as a viewfinder to compose shots. Some cameras also have an optical viewfinder so you can see exactly what the image will look like. Depending on the model, a camera cell phone may have only a small display to serve as the viewfinder, which will make it more difficult for you to compose your shots and review the pictures you have taken.
Sharing
When you take a picture with a digital camera, you have to download it to a computer so you print it out, email it to friends and family or post it on a website. On the other hand, when you take a photo with a camera cell phone, you often can upload it to a website right from the phone, or send it as a message to another person's cell phone or email account. This may be more convenient for you than sharing pictures made with a digital camera.
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