iPhone 14 Pro camera review: A small step, a huge leap
The size of the sensor isn&#x27;t as important as people think it is. What really matters is the diameter of the aperture (the absolute diameter, not the f number). Consider a cone of light for a given angle of view hitting a small sensor close to the aperture and a large sensor further from the aperture:<p><pre><code>         o &lt; aperture of a given diameter
        &#x2F;\
       &#x2F;  \
       ----    &lt; small sensor (less area, more light per unit area)
      &#x2F;    \
     &#x2F;      \
     --------  &lt; large sensor (more area, less light per unit area)
</code></pre>
If you compare typical shooting apertures for DLSRs and camera phones, they&#x27;re not radically different. Say you are shooting a 50mm lens at f8 on a DSLR. That&#x27;s an aperture of 6.25mm. A typical smartphone camera will have an aperture of around 3-4mm. In this scenario, then, the DLSR is getting about 3 times more light (or ~1.5 stops).<p>Of course you <i>can</i> use much wider apertures on DSLRs, but their use is more limited given the shallow depth of field that results. If you&#x27;re shooting e.g. landscapes, then you&#x27;re probably not going to use apertures much wider than f8 anyway.