I have a collection of cameras. I think I have a dozen of the damned things. I love them all! They are all a little different and they all do different things. But which one is best?

A bunch of them are vintage film cameras and. I love using them to connect with the history of photography and exploring different processes. I have the first DSLR that I ever owned. I bought it when I first graduated from college. It cost me a more than any camera I have ever owned before or since and the sensor is only 2.7 megapixels! By comparison my current phone camera is 12.

That brings me to the reason I wanted to write this post. My phone is actually also an incredible camera. It can take some pretty great pictures. It’s not always the best tool for the job. A DSLR (like the one I use for most of my work) has a larger sensor that produces much higher quality files, even at the same resolution. Because of that I have a lot more flexibility with images in post production, cropping and large printing. It’s also a lot easier to control exposure for creative effect using aperture and shutter speed adjustments. Lens selection, ergonomics, focus control, signal to noise ratio… there are lots of ways that a DSLR is the best camera. But the phone camera is better than all my other cameras in one very important way. It’s always in my pocket. That means it’s with me whenever I come across an unexpected moment that I want to photograph.

I used to carry a compact camera with me all the time. Well that’s not exactly true. I used to intend to carry a compact camera with me all the time. Often I did, but it was the times that I didn’t that I seemed to always end up stumbling across a moment I wanted to capture. But now I always have a camera with me. Even if it’s not perfect and it doesn’t give me the level of control that I might get from a more sophisticated camera, it’s there in my pocket and I can get pretty good results from it.

The photo above is a great example. In my spare time I ride a road bike. I set out for a ride this past weekend and as I crested over the hill just outside town I saw the most beautiful misty morning scene with fog rolling through the valley and the sun rising behind scattered clouds. I don’t stop for much when I’m on my bike, but I had to stop to take a picture of that. A few minor adjustments in Lightroom and I’ve got an image that I love and I will probably be printing it to hang on my wall.

Sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you.