With the popularity of Instagram, a lot of people are now into mobile photography to produce the best pictures for their Instagram feed. The type of camera a smartphone has these days is considered a major selling point. But not everyone knows what kind of specs to look at when evaluating the camera of a smartphone. This is a guide that will point out to you what specs matter when you are getting a smartphone for your mobile photography needs.

Megapixels

When you see MP on the camera specs, this refers to megapixels. Megapixels are the building blocks of a digital photo. So, the higher the MP, the better. This is because the more megapixels your smartphone have, the resolution of your photo will also be higher. The higher the resolution, the clearer the image will be when you print or post them.

Pixel size

The pixel size is different from the megapixel. A megapixel is comprised of a million pixels. The larger the pixel size, the better the quality of your picture. Large pixels gather more light and limit digital noise in your photos. This is great if you often take photos with low lighting or at night.

Sensor size

Your smartphone’s sensor is equivalent to a real camera’s photographic film. The bigger the sensor, the more light is received. With more light, the quality of the photo becomes bigger. The sensor is important because of the size limitations of your smartphone. The size of a smartphone sensor is expressed in inches. For great picture quality, your smartphone camera sensor should be at least a full inch.

Aperture

The aperture is an opening between the sensor and the lens of your camera phone. It controls how much light will reach the sensor. The wider the opening, the more light can come through. So make sure that you get a wide aperture.

Lens

Smartphones with one camera have a wide-angle lens. Smartphones with two or more cameras usually have a wide-angle lens and other type of lenses such as ultrawide angle and telephoto lenses. You should not really focus on this though since the focal length and angle of view for lenses usually differ from one manufacturer to the next.

Image stabilization

This refers to the way your camera phone will reduce shaking. This is useful to avoid motion blur in your photos. There are three types of image stabilization: mechanical (OIS), digital (EIS), or a combination of both (AIS). The AIS is the better choice among the three.

Zoom

Digital zoom is an important spec that you should check. Most of the time, zooming using your smartphones will degrade the quality of your picture. But the latest phone models now use optical zoom and you can usually find these in smartphones with multiple cameras.

HDR

HDR stands for high dynamic range. This spec will allow you to capture images with balance. This involves the shadows and highlights in your photo. HDR ensures that your pictures will not be underexposed or overexposed. Most cameras can have this automated when you take a photo.

Now that you know what specs to focus on for your mobile photography, you will surely end up with a smartphone that has a good camera kit packed in it. Your Instagram feed will surely look better than it ever was.