A Look Inside Our Photo Labs, New Gear For Testing Smartphones

Like it or not, smartphones have become an ever-more viable alternative to digital cameras, and as such we try to test their sensors in the same conditions as we do SLRs and compacts. We take the same shots of the same scenes from the same angles, in the same lighting. That's how we're able to obtain reliable results and make valid comparisons between camera and smartphone sensors in our Face-Off.

Well, we just got some new gear to help optimise our testing procedure even further. We're just itching to put it to use in our next smartphone reviews... Here's a look.

Unlike cameras, phones don't have a screw hole to let you mount them onto a tripod. So what our reviewers have always done until now is delicately place the smartphone they're testing on a tripod and then frame the shot as precisely as possible by hand. Which is not easy. More often than not, it just makes us waste time trying to stabilise the shot.

Recognise the scene?

So we just got a new mounting accessory for smartphones. It's a mountable clip that screws into the tripod and grips the phone in place. That way it's just as stable as any screwed-in camera.

And then there was Barbie...

Not only does this save us time, but more importantly it increases the reliability of our smartphone camera sensor reviews and our results in the Face-Off by guaranteeing that the images haven't been affected by any user interference.

> Camera Reviews: Understanding the Face-Off

> See all our smartphone reviews

> See all our digital camera reviews