Getting rid of your camera?

[Roofy.]

It's a great camera when it's your only camera.

Basically. I dont own a digital camera, so the iphone is my digital camera. I went camping a few weeks ago and took a bunch of pictures and I thought they came out amazing. The iphone is my digital camera.

I even thought the 3GS took great pictures too.

 

[saving107]

About a week after I got my iPhone 4, I went down to Mountain View, Ca to visit some family. They live just a few blocks away from Google Campus and Shoreline Park, so I decided to take a walk because I wanted to try out the camera on my new iPhone.

I own a Fuji 5MP camera and Kodak 8MP camera, and as soon as I got down to Shoreline Park, I began to take photos with my iPhone. The fact that I can use 'Tap to Focus' to change how the image will turn out makes it a huge difference and my two other cameras can't compare. Also, I can do 720p recording when I need to and my phone is always in my pocket and charged ready to go.

I agree that taking pictures with my Original iPhone, 3G, and 3GS, the images were decent. But now that I have my iPhone 4, I know I will be using this a lot more often.

these images were taken around 7pm

 

[ravensfan55]

I have a nice 7MP Sony that I still use, since optical zoom is inherently better than digital zoom, and the flash is better. That being said, I use my iPhone for video recording since it records in HD and the tap to focus feature is great for both pictures and videos.

 

[scaredpoet]

As for me, I truly think that the camera industry will die overtime. And very soon.

This is what they said about Polaroid, and yet there is a resurgence now in the enthusiasm for instant film. They also said this about PCs in 2000, and again in 2007 when the netbook market hit. neither have come to pass.

The market for discreet Point and Shoot cameras has definitely peaked, but they will continue to be sold for a very long time.

And until the iPhone and similar phones can match the capabilities of dSLRs (currently 15-18 megapixels, the ability the shoot raw, excellent interchangeable optics that can produce a wide variety of effects, and the ability to shoot 1080p HD video without that horrible rolling shutter effect), that won't die out anytime soon either.


Don't get me wrong, I too like my iPhone 4's camera, and don't really carry my point & shoot much anymore. But not everyone will be so willing to ditch their cameras, and so the market will continue to be there.


And, I still shoot quite a bit with my Canon DSLR, and can capture lots of things that would not be possible with the iPhone 4, and will never be possible without serious changes in how smartphone cameras are made.

Most of the images here and here, for instance, are impossible to get on a smartphone camera.

 

[thedarkhorse]

I like it because it fills the void left by being only a DSLR owner for the past 4 years or so. My t2i is nice but not practical to take everywhere so I have the iphone 4 for quick but decent p&s photos is nice.

And arguing that the phone's camera isn't viable until it's up to DSLR standards is dumb, by the time the iphone camera is 15MP 1080p video, DSLR standards are going to be much higher with 25-30+MP and 3k/4k video recording and the same argument will be around. Don't forget that DSLR's not to long ago capped around 6MP for the consumer/prosumer and never shot any video.

 

[a.jfred]

5MP camera phone or 8MP DSLR? Yeah, not so much. Even my 9MP P&S takes better pictures.

Don't get me wrong, there's certainly something to be said for the convenience of the camera phone & having all the toys on hand for some neat tricks, but quality-wise, I've been rather unimpressed.

 

[Pressure]

As a professional I can only smile.

Sure, the iPhone 4 might be enough for those Point & Shooters but there is something to be said about image sensor sizes.

The iPhone has a 1/3.2" image sensor.

With enough light and talent the iPhone 4 can look decent but I am sure not ditching Full-Frame bodies for years to come. Not to mention my selection of lenses.

 

[tigress666]

Maybe you can ask this question when cellphone starts offering optical zoom.

Is there no cellphone? I could have sworn I saw some one the other day with one (I work retail and she came through my line).

It looked like an actual digital camera (maybe slightly thinner) and it appeared to have a zoom lens on it (I mean if it didn't, there was no excuse for the big lens and big area around the lens it was taking up). I asked her if it was a camera or a phone and she said it was a phone.

If that thing didn't have optical zoom, what a POS for being so big/bulky for no reason. But I'm pretty sure it did (it sure looked like it did, as I said, it looked like a digital camera such as it appeared the lens was made to zoom in and out).

Anyways, I use my iphone 4 as a camera. But until they some how magically manage to get an actual optical zoom in the iphone (without making it too thick, which is why I said magical ), it still does not compare to a real camera. For my purposes it works fine but I still miss optical zoom tbh. Just not enough to carry a seperate camera around (and honestly I just wouldn't use a seperate camera... I only even manage to bother with taking any photos cause I happen to have my iphone on me/in hand. I'm not one to be snapping pictures all the time).

And I'm just talking in the point and shoot world, not the world of professional cameras (which even those point and shoots are deficient).

 

[studio¹³¹]

As a professional I can only smile.

Sure, the iPhone 4 might be enough for those Point & Shooters but there is something to be said about image sensor sizes.

The iPhone has a 1/3.2" image sensor.

With enough light and talent the iPhone 4 can look decent but I am sure not ditching Full-Frame bodies for years to come. Not to mention my selection of lenses.

+1,000,000

 

[pdqgp]

As a professional I can only smile.

As a fellow photog, I smile too. No way. Nice to have a decent camera on a phone, and I use it a lot, but only in situations where I wasn't going to bring a camera to begin with. If the event warrants a camera, that's what I bring. P&S or DSLR, whichever fits the event.

 

[Thedeathbear]

Is there no cellphone? I could have sworn I saw some one the other day with one (I work retail and she came through my line).

It looked like an actual digital camera (maybe slightly thinner) and it appeared to have a zoom lens on it (I mean if it didn't, there was no excuse for the big lens and big area around the lens it was taking up). I asked her if it was a camera or a phone and she said it was a phone.

If that thing didn't have optical zoom, what a POS for being so big/bulky for no reason. But I'm pretty sure it did (it sure looked like it did, as I said, it looked like a digital camera such as it appeared the lens was made to zoom in and out).

Anyways, I use my iphone 4 as a camera. But until they some how magically manage to get an actual optical zoom in the iphone (without making it too thick, which is why I said magical ), it still does not compare to a real camera. For my purposes it works fine but I still miss optical zoom tbh. Just not enough to carry a seperate camera around (and honestly I just wouldn't use a seperate camera... I only even manage to bother with taking any photos cause I happen to have my iphone on me/in hand. I'm not one to be snapping pictures all the time).

And I'm just talking in the point and shoot world, not the world of professional cameras (which even those point and shoots are deficient).

Sorry, I meant iPhone. There may be phones with it but they're probably not one I want.

 

[ddavid]

Since the iPhone 4 can take pictures at 5 megapixel, who already got rid of his camera?
My Sony camera (which is a bit old now) can take pictures at... 5.1 megapixel. So I guess it wouldn't make any sense of having an iPhone 4 and that camera.

Of course, some will say that they need 10 megapixel for their pictures, or even more. But as for me, 5 megapixel is enough.

Not all megapixels are created equal. I used a Nikon D1x for years and am still amazed at the quality of the pixels, even though it was only 5 megapixels. (a lot when it came out!)

I have 12Mp cameras that don't equal the color/depth/detail that my D1x produced.

The iPhone is a great camera to have around. In my opinion it's not much use if you are trying to photograph kids or sports or birthday candles being blown out or horse jumping or anything that only happens once and can't be repeated.

The best camera is the one you have with you. I always carry at least a Nikon D40x and usually have my iPhone too. If I'm expecting to do a lot of photos I'll bring something more appropriate.