Let’s face it; when cameras first started appearing in mobile phones, the general public viewed them as being a novelty. Technology had advanced to such a stage that it was now possible to include tiny built in digital cameras with practically any type of phone, irrespective of whether or not the phone was tied in to a specific provider.

These tiny cameras allowed us to take pictures, but they were very poor quality and did not seem have much of a purpose. We could downloaded the pictures onto a PC or use them for messaging, but the low grade images did not appear deliver much value to us, other than a quick laugh.

Despite the limitation of the early camera phones, we loved them and they became a ‘must-have’ item for many of us. We loved them because suddenly it was possible to take a picture anytime, anywhere. Young people were particularly big fans of the camera phone because it unlocked a new level of freedom.

It wasn’t along before virtually every phone had able to in camera and as is to be expected, the novelty started to wear off. In order to stimulate the market, manufacturers had to find new ways of attracting buyers and as a result we saw the likes of a pink mobile phone as well as an extensive range of sim free phones.

By this stage cameras in terms the developed to such an extent that people were now finding many interesting uses for them. If you saw something interesting on display, you no longer had to try and explain what it looked like over the phone that instead, you could simply take a photo and send it via a message. Likewise you could send holiday photos back to friends and family from the beach in some are off land.

It wasn’t long before mobile home cameras soon became an integral part of the various businesses; such as real estate agents who could use them for circulating photos of new properties as they came onto the market. Engineers and the other hand were able to exchange ideas, concepts, and even problems with each other.

As more and more people started to make use of phone cameras, a demand for better quality cameras followed and today it’s not uncommon for a mobile phone to sport and big mega pixel camera. The truth is; these modern day camera phones are equally as good as any other entry level camera on the market. The mystery however is, even though we really only need one gadget, the vast majority of people still choose to buy two.

Of course, the mobile phone camera is still not going to be quite as good as the dedicated camera. Any photographer will tell you that the essential ingredient necessary for taking a high quality photo is the lens. Lenses in dedicated cameras are much larger than those in phone cameras, which means they are also better.

Composition is yet another key ingredient is as far as good quality photographs are concerned and of course this has more to do with the photographer than it does with the camera. Your intention with regards to the use of your photos is also of much importance. The reason for this being; while mobile phone cameras are perfectly suitable for taking snaps which you intend uploading to one of the many social networking websites, if you intend using your pictures for creating posters for example, then I’m afraid you’ll need a good quality dedicated camera.

It’s really a matter of “six of one and half a dozen of the other”, in that while dedicated cameras are superior from a technical point of view, mobile phone cameras on the other hand rank higher in terms of accessibility and usefulness. In fact, they’ve gained so much ground in recent years than most people no longer have a need to carry a phone and camera. The bottom line is; irrespective of what phone you want to buy, just make sure that it comes with a built in camera.