You told us: Consistently good photos trump occasionally great ones

Modern smartphones make it easy to snap good-quality images in practically all conditions. Automatic modes take the guesswork out of picking settings, so we can shoot images we can be proud of more often. That said, these modes that swing for consistency might not give us truly memorable, “perfect” photos. Hardware that requires a human touch might produce horrible photos without the proper knowledge, but genuinely great shots when handled correctly.

This got us thinking: Would you rather snap consistently good photographs, or great shots inconsistently? We posed the question in a recent poll. Read on for the results!

Would you rather take consistently good photos or great shots inconsistently?

Results

This poll garnered just over 1,100 votes since it was published on October 7. There’s an overwhelmingly popular option, too. With 75.8% of the vote, respondents opt for taking “consistently good photos” over “great shots inconsistently.”

See also: The best camera phones available

Interestingly, some feel that through editing, good shots can be made great. Of course, if a camera shots consistently solid images, it’s more likely to capture that fleeting moment well. Others, however, feel that inconsistently great shots may not be an issue when faced with still subjects, fixed scenes, and plenty of time to capture multiple shots.

Your comments

• jeff campbell: Well that’s the advantage of having auto mode and pro mode like the Samsung camera app. Especially on the flagship phones the camera and auto will take respectively great photos although maybe not perfect but if you really need to dial in something and you have time to wait like a real photographer would do you can use pro mode where you can go just all your settings.
• Brett: I’d rather have consistently good photos. I edit all the photos I plan to use anyway. Editing can take a good photo and make it great.
• DBS: Inconsistent great shots. For a very simple reason: I can take more than one shot of the same scene. So if a shot doesn’t come out great the first time, I can do it again. A phone that takes consistent but just average photos might be good for people who want fast-food-photography (ie. iPhone users), but to me that doesn’t work.
• Evie: Inconsistently great. Always good and it’s just the machine doing what the machine does. Occasionally great and I can convince myself that I’m a great photographer when I try!
• roaduardo: This is an area where iPhones are great with. The consistently good photos.

Thanks for your votes and comments on this poll. If you have any further thoughts about smartphone camera performance or whether consistently good trumps inconsistently great, be sure to drop a comment below.