I am doing a job that's an audit and mystery shop. First one a tad nervous. Can I use my smartphone for the pictures?

It depends on the mystery shopping company and the demands of their client. I just did a revealed audit today for Trendsource at a well-known fast food restaurant. The instructions were very specific about the fact that a digital camera with a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 had to be used and that a cell phone or other low-quality camera just would not cut it. This client did not want the date/time stamp, which was unusual.

Other msc's/clients are not as fussy and say a camera phone is fine. You need to read your instructions closely to see what they require.

If you're thinking of getting a camera, I can suggest the Nikon Coolpix S3300. I've used it for tons of jobs and have never had a photo rejected. It's small, light, versatile and easy to use.

Most smart phones have cameras capable of taking some good shots at a more than adequate resolution. While perusing the Market Force website the other day I noticed even they are now saying a smart phone is acceptable.

That said, a lot of it is going to be your comfort level. For the longest time it was easier for me to take a lot photos with my camera and just use my phone for jobs requiring 10 photos or less. After being caught out with dead batteries and no spares, there was no choice but to use the phone and my comfort level has increased. I also like that the pics are saved to the cloud which saves me time transferring them to my laptop.

The biggest issue will be for those require a date/time stamp on the actual photo. Apparently it is getting more and more difficult to find even a digital camera with that function so there are alternatives including a program called TimeToPhoto. They offer a 30 day free trial and then you have to pay for it, but so far it has worked well for me.

There is a difference between a smartphone and a cellphone. Smartphones absolutely can take those pictures since most shoot 5 megapixels or higher. Cellphones are touch and go since most of those diehards just want a phone for calls.

For what we're doing, yes a smartphone is probably ok [assuming that it's in compliance with the job requirements]. Don't fool yourself into thinking that a 16mp [or whatever] smartphone will equal an equal mp DSLR image in quality, because it simply won't happen. Photographers can tell the difference on 8x10 prints, about 40% of the population can tell on 16x24 inch prints and, by the time you get to 24x36 inch or larger, the cell phone image is just about totally pixilated while the DSLR can go to billboard sized images.

I think the "not a phone camera" instruction is a relic from a bygone era. I've got a great digital camera, but my iPhone4s actually has higher resolution and does a great job with color and light balance.

For the timestamp, I use a program called BatchStamp for mac. They also have a PC version. It does a great job timestamping after the fact based on the information embedded in the jpeg.

[mac.softpedia.com]
[www.softpedia.com]

Is your program free or fee based? I'm still on the trial version of TimeToPhoto and the deadline is fast approaching to buy it.

LisaSTL Wrote:
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> Is your program free or fee based? I'm still on
> the trial version of TimeToPhoto and the deadline
> is fast approaching to buy it.


It's free

I had 6 involved photo audits to do yesterday. I took my camera and two spare batteries and I could not believe it when I got only 10 photos out of each battery! I'm like WTH?? Since each location required about 21 photos I went to my backup camera, a little Canon I purchased specifically in case this happened. I turn it on and I can't believe it, the battery is dead. This left me with only my smartphone. I was pretty anxious about it but had no choice but to continue the audits with my smartphone since they were a long way from my home. I finished up the audits, came home and downloaded the photos and you can barely tell the difference between my smartphone pictures and the initially 30 photos I took with my very expensive Canon Rebel XT DSLR (cost me over $1000). Perhaps two of the photos were a little dark but that was about it.

Still waiting to hear if the MSC notices and says anything.

I keep a 12 pack of batteries in my car

jpgilham Wrote:
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> I had 6 involved photo audits to do yesterday. I
> took my camera and two spare batteries and I could
> not believe it when I got only 10 photos out of
> each battery! I'm like WTH?? Since each location
> required about 21 photos I went to my backup
> camera, a little Canon I purchased specifically in
> case this happened. I turn it on and I can't
> believe it, the battery is dead. This left me
> with only my smartphone. I was pretty anxious
> about it but had no choice but to continue the
> audits with my smartphone since they were a long
> way from my home. I finished up the audits, came
> home and downloaded the photos and you can barely
> tell the difference between my smartphone pictures
> and the initially 30 photos I took with my very
> expensive Canon Rebel XT DSLR (cost me over
> $1000). Perhaps two of the photos were a little
> dark but that was about it.
>
> Still waiting to hear if the MSC notices and says
> anything.


That's why I love my Nikon Cool Pix S4300. It has a rechargeable battery that lasts forever. They only time it has died on me was when I had not charged it for a couple of weeks. I have done 9 or 10 audits a day without the battery dying. It also has the date/time stamp feature. I used to use my cell phone before I got my camera, but I got tired of having to add the date/time stamp and resizing them. Even with a couple of companies that said no cell phone pictures... they accepted the photos from my phone.