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eBay Deals Blog: Smartphone cameras perceived as "good as DSLR"

eBay Deals Blog recently ran an online survey, having readers compare images taken by the Apple iPhone 5s, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and a Canon 5D Mark II coupled with a Canon EF 24-70 lens without knowing which device took each photo. The blog made the results of that survey available to TUAW, and the results are surprising.

The blog hired a professional photographer to take 10 controlled images, including different lighting conditions, landscape and portrait shots and macros. It then asked 1,000 readers to vote for the best result for each image.

The iPhone 5s came out on top in three different photos, Samsung's Galaxy S4 in two and the HTC One and Xperia Z in one each. The DSLR, which sells for about US$2,800 without a lens, took the top photos in three situations, roughly tying the iPhone 5s.The conclusion from the survey?

On the merit of the pictures alone, there surprisingly was no resounding victory for any party. While the Canon produced the most consistent high quality images, the iPhone ended up garnering the most votes overall for the images.

Smartphone cameras continue to close the gap in how we take our photos. And for everyday use, the convenience of a smartphone smashes its heavier, more expensive counterparts. So unless you're looking to take professional-grade photos, hold your phone up proud and filter away.

TUAW readers are invited to look at the eBay Deals Blog post and view the images for themselves.

There's no doubt that smartphone cameras are getting better all the time. Last week, photography website DPReviews posted a comparison of the cameras in the iPhone 5s and Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphones against a number of classic DSLRs. While the bottom line of that post was that smartphone cameras still have a long way to go to even match current DSLRs, smartphones with cameras are outselling digital cameras 13 to 1, so chances are good that R&D by Apple and other companies will quickly fill that gap.