Smartphone cameras are getting better and better.. Are u ready to give up your p&s?

The smartphone camera is the new digital box brownie, effectively. If that's all you demand from your compact camera, then sure, a smartphone camera will do that job. Personally I demand more from my compact cameras, so a smartphone would not replace one for me, although it would make a nice supplementary camera. My next compact will most likely be the current Ricoh GR, and as fast as cameraphones are progressing, there is no way one would even be a contest for me, comparing it to a Ricoh GR/ RX100/ etc.

For the majority of compact users who only need the equivalent of a digital box brownie, ie, just push the button, I can't see why they have not dumped their p&s already though, and the current p&s market is a dead man walking, imo. In the next 5 or so years, all I see is enthusiast compacts and up. Everything else will be serviced by smartphone cameras, imo.
 
Like many people, I've used a phone as my "notebook" or Instamatic-equivalent camera quite a while. In my case, since 2005-6, when I had a Sony Ericsson S710a, a quasi-flip phone which had a pretty good camera for its time (don't recall the MP, but it was close to the original iPhone, which came along later). I'm not surprised that it was cellphone makers who 1st realized (or rediscovered) that photography for many, perhaps most, people is about social communication. The ability to take & then transmit a picture just like a text message is 1 of the great technological & social innovations of mobile phones. Before the Sony Ericsson, I was as skeptical as anyone about the value of having a camera in a phone, but was quickly won over by its utility. When I switched to a Treo 650, an early smartphone that had a really bad camera, I missed the old Sony Ericcson's camera on many an occasion (& often wondered whether easier texting & rudimentary web surfing was worth the switch).
 
I have to admit that the camera in phone has become a tool unlike a camera ever was for me.
Whether it's snapping a pic of a price tag or paint color or wine label or workers notes or check before cashing or… you name it.
Before the ease of a camera in the phone I would have written it down or simply taken the label off the bottle or would go in search of a copy machine.
Making quick images of these things is different than making a photograph.
It's a tool like a small tape recorder used to be. Not a precision recording instrument just a recorder. (oh and it's a recorder too :) )
 
I don't care how good the cameras get in these things ... I just can't like them.

I bought an HTC a few months ago having come from a normal old flip phone and find it the most intrusive, annoying device I have ever owned and I'm sick to death of seeing people sitting around with their faces buried in them when they could actually be communicating with other human beings directly.

(end of rant)
 
Keith said:
I don't care how good the cameras get in these things ... I just can't like them.

I bought an HTC a few months ago having come from a normal old flip phone and find it the most intrusive, annoying device I have ever owned and I'm sick to death of seeing people sitting around with their faces buried in them when they could actually be communicating with other human beings directly.

(end of rant)
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^ This.

Further more, I hate myself for becoming almost reliant on my phone. Mobile phones, televisions, laptops/tablets are the cancer of good conversation.
 
EBdR+

A party of three I sat next to, at a sushi restaurant in nice neighborhood on friday...

It's shot with my GR, automatically transferred to my phone via Eye-Fi. ;)
 
No. It's not the image quality, as a modern, good smartphone has a really pretty decent camera in it now. However, I find using them fairly torturous compared just about any other 'dedicated' camera. Also I like to preserve battery life of my phone, which is why I have a separate MP3 player and don't use my phone for music.

Basically, you can build anything you want into a phone, but if it works like crap, as they tend to, you're better off dropping £100 on a little compact.
 
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136759

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136759

First i don't own a "smartphone".
i do not use cell/mobile phones.
i love my P/S compacts.
i don't see them as replacing my world weary Leicas..
i hate people who are so busy "social networking" that are really boorish,
rude and indifferent, to the folks they are with..
i have told, now no longer friends,
they might be happier elsewhere..
icon10.gif

i bought a P/S at a small price.
It needs no contract (that allows the supplier of service,
to re-set a new higher price at any time!):bang:
i have used some smartphones..mostly OK. but not for me!
 
Keith said:
I don't care how good the cameras get in these things ... I just can't like them.

I bought an HTC a few months ago having come from a normal old flip phone and find it the most intrusive, annoying device I have ever owned and I'm sick to death of seeing people sitting around with their faces buried in them when they could actually be communicating with other human beings directly.

(end of rant)
Click to expand...

+1000

Having said that I have over the years taken 3 or 4 amusing snapshots (of signage) with the phone I had on me because I was at work and cameras are not permitted. But I would never ditch the LX7 (or my old A630, or even the glacial A95 I had before that) for a phone cam.
 
I use a phone camera for parties, snapshots, but nothing 'artistic', they suck to use, the quality from the latest iPhone is really, really, good, but no fun to use.
 
f16sunshine said:
I have to admit that the camera in phone has become a tool unlike a camera ever was for me.
Whether it's snapping a pic of a price tag or paint color or wine label or workers notes or check before cashing or… you name it.
Before the ease of a camera in the phone I would have written it down or simply taken the label off the bottle or would go in search of a copy machine.
Making quick images of these things is different than making a photograph.
It's a tool like a small tape recorder used to be. Not a precision recording instrument just a recorder. (oh and it's a recorder too :) )
Click to expand...
You make a good argument for the phone camera, Andy!

Roger and I are old codgers, perhaps prone to thinking negatively about new things. From what I’ve seen on the ‘net, smart phone cameras do an amazing job. Certainly easy to have with you when a photo opportunity presents itself.

The tradeoff is still image quality in exchange for portability. My problem with this is that I never can tell when setting out whether I will catch a super keeper or just document shots. So I feel the need to be always prepared for that great shot. Not that great shots can’t be made with a phone camera, but I would hope to have better starting IQ and an actual camera interface to work with. All photography is serious so I try to have a good camera with me.

For many years I was happy to use the pocketable Motorola RAZR, and would be still if AT&T hadn’t cut off support for 3G connections. I never used its camera except by accident. Now I have an iPhone 4S, and very pleased with its phone features and sound quality. It has an 8Mp camera: amazing to consider.

Looks like the p&s digitals are being squeezed out.
 
I already ditched using P&S cameras (automated operation & sensor sizes 1/1.7″,1/1.8″, 1/2.5" or 1/2.7″ ) for the iPhone 5.

I may pick up a 5S in a month or so because I can make a $100-150 cash-in-pocket profit selling the 5 and signing up for another couple of years with the 5S... and the camera is even better. I can also see myself just waiting a year too.

Of course I use the Fuji XP1 which I often carry when I'm out. I use the iPhone every day to photograph debit/credit card receipts instead of filing the paper copies away. I also use the iPhone to scout locations for projects. The GPS info makes it easy to return to the exact same spot weeks or months later for shooting with the XP1. The light meter and DOF apps are nice too. For outdoor family shots the iPhone does well if I don't have the Fuji with me.
 
jsrockit said:
There is no way even the best camera phone can compete with the Ricoh GR and Sony RX100 (II) in ergonomics, quality, and enjoyment. I still want my camera to act like a camera... and I still like to choose shutter speeds and aperture.
Click to expand...

I just got an RX100 II for my girlfriend and I'm interested to see what she thinks of it. There seem to be enough benefits over smartphones to warrant the price. The tilting screen and low light performance seem especially handy. And the option to select aperture and shutter speed make a lot more creative use possible.
 
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