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Help > Working with Cameras > Deciding on a Camera > Mobile Phone Cameras
Mobile Phone Cameras

Mobile phone cameras are ubiquitous. We all have them! Can they be used for photogrammetry? Yes, they can, with some caveats. First, many of the modern phone cameras including the iPhone use OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) to reduce shake in hand-held images. This makes for better looking images and videos, but it is not a stable internal platform for accurate measurement. The lens (or the image chip) can move, and this means the internals of the camera can move and change. This is not what you want for photogrammetry!

In addition, mobile phone cameras often have lower resolution that many digital cameras, and this can lower accuracy a bit too.

Having said that, may people do use mobile phone cameras with PhotoModeler, even for important work. There is an understanding that the accuracy may be a bit lower, and some weak projects (poor angles and overlap) may not solve as well, but the convenience and availability can counteract these negatives.