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Do you shoot mostly with an iPhone, or a “real” camera?

What do you mostly shoot with?

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jbachandouris said:
Saw a mirror less Canon for $599
Canon T7 with 2 lenses and bag about $550. No swivel display though.
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I don't know your budget and what you can truly afford; bunnspecial just gave you some good things to think about.

But don't underestimate what photography might do for your mental health. I think a lot of us here rely on photography to help keep us sane and get through rough patches.
 
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bunnspecial said:
You can always opt for used/second hand as well.

I have bought the vast majority of my cameras this that way. In fact before starting to build my Fuji system, buying new was unthinkable. The only reason I have bought a lot of that new is because availability is not great second hand at least for what I was looking at nor were prices.

If looking at a DSLR, though, prices right now are really kind of crazy low. I should say rather that they are for Nikon F mount, but I'd not be surprised if EF mount was the same story. More recently, I've bought a fair bit from B&H, and a lot of the used gear I get from them comes boxed and would pass for new absent inspection with a magnifying glass. I have bought a lot from KEH as "Bargain" grade, though, which is basically used but not abused and working perfectly condition. It's mostly been great, and they've taken care of me when it wasn't. I bought my D800 from a local store with 150,000 shutter actuations, and the stop down lever broke the first time I used it. The shop split the repair bill with me by mutual agreement since the repair was involved enough that I opted to have them refurbish to as-new mechanical condition.

Point in all of this is you have options, and even within a given budget buying second hand can often get you into higher tier cameras(especially if you're willing to go a generation or two older).
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An excellent suggestion.

All of my Leica gear - bought from an authorised Leica dealer - is used/second hand (and was in excellent condition).
 
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Most of my pics are from iPhone 13 PM(Camera+, Focos, stock camera app). On occasion, I do carry my DSLR bag with my lenses I collected over 30 years. The best camera is the one you always have in your pocket, though I have invested a lot in lenses over 2-3 decades.
 
mollyc said:
I don't know your budget and what you can truly afford; bunnspecial just gave you some good things to think about.

But don't underestimate what photography might do for your mental health. I think a lot of us here rely on photography to help keep us sane and get through rough patches.
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It totally keeps me sane. Not sure what I'd do without it.
 
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I mainly use my iPhone for just taking photos of the different products at the store to text to Mrs. Darmok so I know which one to buy. I use a regular camera for all the other stuff, like birds, bugs, flowers, wildlife, landscapes, people.

So what, roughly 50/50 then?
 
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I've experimented with my Nikon D5100 DSLR with a Nikkor 18-200mm zoom lines, vs. an iPhone 14 Pro. Up to 3x zoom, the iPhone takes clearly sharper pictures, with better color and much more detail. It also has accurate timestamps and a geocode in its metadata. At full zoom (10x on the DSLR), the detail of the Nikon is of course better than when you zoom in on the iPhone taken with a 3x zoom lens.

So, when I went to Switzerland recently, I took the Nikon and used it when I needed to zoom into something interesting. It was also nice for standing back and zooming on on people standing in front of the Matterhorn, for example, because by getting back and zooming in, you make the people the same size as if you stood closer to them, but you make the mountain in the background much bigger, so it made for an impressive shot.

But still, over 80% of my pictures were on the iPhone, because it now takes awesome pictures, and on that trip, wide angle was important much of the time (1000-foot waterfall in Lauterbrunnen required wide angle, for example). I also love the night mode of the iPhone 14 Pro, making night scenes look gorgeous without a tripod. The Nikon could get good night pictures with a tripod, but not without one.

I just wish the iPhone had a good way to get a 10x zoom, and then I think I'd leave my bulky DSLR at home permanently.
 
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ranbo said:
I've experimented with my Nikon D5100 DSLR with a Nikkor 18-200mm zoom lines, vs. an iPhone 14 Pro. Up to 3x zoom, the iPhone takes clearly sharper pictures, with better color and much more detail. It also has accurate timestamps and a geocode in its metadata. At full zoom (10x on the DSLR), the detail of the Nikon is of course better than when you zoom in on the iPhone taken with a 3x zoom lens.
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The 18-200 is definitely your weak link in this set up. It’s a great lens for a super zoom(11x was unheard of when it came on the market) but also was designed around cameras like the 6mp D100/D70/D50 or maybe the 10mp D200. When I had one I could definitely see its weaknesses on the D200.

Superzooms exist that are optically amazing and also let in a lot of light but they are often cinema lenses that cost as much as a house and need a forklift to move. Lens modeling has gotten better as have processes like molded aspherical lenses, so newer zooms are normally better than 20 year old ones.

There’s a reason why the main “working” f/2.8 pro zooms in most makers line ups are often 1.5x-3x. Nikon’s current SLR lineup is the 14-24(1.7x), 24-70(2.9x), and 70-200(2.86x). Those exact ranges are also common across other makes, although I think some are now making a 12-24mm or so. Nikon does make the amazing, heavy, and $10,000 120-300 f/2.8(2.5x).

If you want to see what your D5100 is capable of at moderate focal lengths, try the attractively priced($200 new) Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX. It’s a great lens that is also small and light.
 
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Feb 2016 to April 2023
Nikon D5500 DSLR
kit lens 18-55mm plus 55-300mm telephoto
24MP RAW [NEF] + JPEG

April 2023 onwards
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple Default Camera app
48/12MP RAW [DNG]

Adobe Photoshop CS6 for post-processing
 
Serious technical question on the current 48mp 14 Pro/Pro Max-

I thought I had read somewhere or another that they "bin" the pixels(almost a retina display in reverse) where 4 pixels on the sensor correspond to one pixel output.

Is this actually the case at least in the default photo app? If it is do some 3rd party ones offer full res?

Even so, 48mp does sound a bid ludicrous to me on a camera sensor(IIRC aren't they 1/2.3"?). I have a 40mp APS-C camera, which would scale up to ~90mp on a full frame sensor. It's the most demanding sensor I've ever used, and really you need darn good glass and perfect technique to see everything it's capable of.
 
bunnspecial said:
Serious technical question on the current 48mp 14 Pro/Pro Max-

I thought I had read somewhere or another that they "bin" the pixels(almost a retina display in reverse) where 4 pixels on the sensor correspond to one pixel output.

Is this actually the case at least in the default photo app? If it is do some 3rd party ones offer full res?

Even so, 48mp does sound a bid ludicrous to me on a camera sensor(IIRC aren't they 1/2.3"?). I have a 40mp APS-C camera, which would scale up to ~90mp on a full frame sensor. It's the most demanding sensor I've ever used, and really you need darn good glass and perfect technique to see everything it's capable of.
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All pixels are not equal. Especially on a tiny camera phone sensor.
 
Darmok N Jalad said:
I mainly use my iPhone for just taking photos of the different products at the store to text to Mrs. Darmok so I know which one to buy. I use a regular camera for all the other stuff, like birds, bugs, flowers, wildlife, landscapes, people.

So what, roughly 50/50 then?
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Chuckled over this! So, half the time you're running errands and texting photos of possible shopping items and the other half you're living! 😎
 
I’ve been wanting to try getting into DSLR photography for years but always held back on investing in a decent camera in case it ends up in a drawer or I’m just really bad at it. I love using the camera on my IPhone 14 PM though. It’s often crossed my mind to get started with a cheap used DSLR, but how would a 10-year old, say, Canon (550D? 100D?) compare with the latest camera tech I have in my iPhone? Would a ‘real’ camera still be better? Is there a particular older gen camera that anyone can recommend for newbie for say under £200/$200? Thanks (and sorry if it’s a little off the original topic!)
 
Mostly with my phone. If I know we are going to a nice area, I’ll take my Canon DLSR. The iPhone is ok, but if I need distance, an iPhone won’t cut it.
 
If it’s casual pictures or I need a quick photo of this or that, I just use the iPhone. If it’s something serious, i pull out the the real cameras. I shoot with Leica and some vintage Chinese film rangefinders (Seagull/Haiyo)
 
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I shot a mix with my A7III with Tamron 28-75 F2.8 or 35mm F1.4 and iPhone.

Now that I’ve got an 18 month kid, my poor camera has been collecting dust. No time to edit and fiddle around with camera settings and editing RAW so it’s 95% iPhone unless I need to help my wife shoot real estate photos. Been thinking about looking into those Fuji cameras…
 
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Just realized I posted I was “thinking” of going Fuji and I picked one up a few days ago!
 
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soulreaver99 said:
View attachment 2234675Just realized I posted I was “thinking” of going Fuji and I picked one up a few days ago!
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I'm not getting rid of my Nikon's anytime soon, but honestly there's something special about Fuji.

I did a "trial by fire" in May taking my shiny new X-T5 with me when I'd had it for a week and a half(someone on here told me I was brave and maybe a little crazy, to paraphrase) for doing that. I still had my D850 with me, but this was a vacation that involved a lot of walking and in a hot location, and the Fuji was such a relief and went everywhere with me.

I spent a week fighting with the thing, but the D850 only came out a few times and by the end of the week had mostly hit on a set of controls that worked for me. I've refined a bit since then, but am mostly happy with it now.

There are things that still frustrate me, but it's such an incredible little powerhouse and the results are worth it. My Nikons still have their place and are still used regularly, but I feel that I can definitely stick my neck out as a "Fuji guy" now.

I started with the 16-80 f/4, but have since added the 23mm f/2, the 35mm f/2, and the 56mm f/1.2. I LOVE these little Fuji prime lenses. Not only are they optically incredible, but the feel and handling makes me smile in a way that manual focus Nikkors and Hasselblad Zeiss lenses do(without the blisters from focusing the Hasselblad lenses...).

I did buy the Fringer adapter, which works flawlessly with AF-S and AF-P lenses, but I honestly haven't used it much just because I feel like they upset the balance of the system. I'd use them if I needed a lens I don't have. What I have enjoyed is my cheap "dumb" adapter that works great with manual focus Nikkors.

I haven't shared a lot of photos from it just because of the nature of a lot of what I take with it(I don't want to splash my 6 month old's face all over the internet) but here's one I think I can share. This is from BIL's house Saturday evening. Unfortunately I stepped on a few toes by getting this picture(by the self appointed "official" photographer who was slow on the draw at the important moment) but the subjects were quite pleased

DSCF4139.jpg
 
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I was using the iPhone but went to a Sony A7mk3 and loved now I'm going to give the iPhone 14 pro max a trial on the next vacation.

Only because on the last vacation the proper camera was a pain to lug about in theme parks especially with all the other you have to carry with having kids etc.

I'm hoping the iPhone 14 pro max can do a decent job and I don't regret it on my vacation in 3 weeks.
 
The Cockney Rebel said:
If you shoot with an iPhone, which iPhone are you shooting with, and what apps do you use?

If you use a “real” camera, what body/lens do you tend to use?
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Depends. iPhone 13 or Mini 6 for basic photography, and Canon Powershot for trips and other activities as it has many more features over the iPhone/ipad.
 
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