>>3366733>>3407012I would say it depends on the type of photography that you want to learn. While I'm not up to date with the latest phone technology, I'm hard pressed to believe they have surpassed even cheap DSLR s capabilities yet without entering cost realms that leave the argument defunct. I'm into studio photography so Im not even sure how you would connect the lights to a phone? A pocket wizard app?
I started off with a craigslist Olympus E-20 and a 100w tungsten work light shoved in peoples faces. I got the bug and a week later moved to an ebay Xti (400d, which you can get for under $100 these days) and a Cowboy Studio (apt name) 110w strobe plus softbox for $60. That was about ten years ago so they're probably cheaper now. Within a week id bought another matching strobe and I was churning out plastictastic facebook specials (pic related) and marveling at how easy it all was. Of course as time goes on you begin to scratch the surface of what you dont actually know, and that deflates you a bit. The fun that you get from a 'full' camera setup however, and the ability to create (at first sight) pretty cool pics without a whole lot of experience, is what gets you through the boring bit later. Ive watched many of my friends try and get into photography and they all give up very quickly when things dont dont translate the way they want, for my setup it would have been under $150 and they could have been having fun learning, making their light instead of constantly looking and never finding it.
Tldr, spend $150 on an old dslr and a cheap strobe, it will keep you amused enough to stay learning, makes learning 10x easier just by having it, and it also means you dont have to go outside and let the sun dictate your business when youre not in the mood for its shenanigans.
