It’s getting to be a tough call.
I was just reading a couple of columns written last year by a self-described “camera geek” admitting that he was now relying more on his iPhone than a traditional camera while traveling.
And with Apple and other companies dramatically improving their phones with each technological generation, it does seem almost inevitable that phones will continue to eat away at the camera market.
Travel Photography in the Age of the iPhone, 8/18/2018
But then I thought back to this past weekend, when I forgot my camera when we drove out to have dinner and spend the night with friends in Kaaawa. On Sunday morning, I had just my iPhone to rely on. I wasn’t confident that it would suffice.
As far as the photos were concerned, the iPhone produced very good results. And it was relatively simple to give them an additional tweak in Lightroom, which (along with Photoshop) are my primary editing tools. You can see the results below and judge for yourself.
However, I found using the iPhone camera to be awkward. I never did quite figure out the best way to grab ahold of it, wake it up from it’s slumber, frame the shot and take the photo.
A standalone camera is made to be fit in your hand. It has some heft, which helps reduce camera shake, and is balanced in your hand. I carry it on a strap, over one shoulder, usually holding it in one hand. Moving it into position at or near eye level feels natural. I’ve used cameras for so long that they feel natural.
The iPhone kept capturing photos that included part of a finger in the image, even when I thought I was being very careful. To wake up the iPhone XS required me to hold it in one hand and swipe up with the other and then take a good look at the screen to get get past its security and be ready to shoot. I tried carrying it between photos, but that didn’t really work. Then I stuck it in a pocket, but that wasn’t satisfactory either. The iPhone was always within easy reach, but somehow required more attention than any of my cameras, which by now just work.
Bottom line: I don’t think I’ll be retiring my cameras any time soon.
But, as I wondered recently on Facebook, when will someone license the great smartphone software and package it in a traditional camera body?
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invest in good cameras and let phone just be a phone. it works for me (tho i don’t really have a good camera)
The best camera is… the one you have with you.
Proven again and again!
One trick with iPhone: I hit the Power On, or Wake button, then at the lock screen, swipe left. It takes you immediately into the camera without requiring an unlock.
I have to recommend this episode of Midsomer Murders called “Picture of Innocence”.
https://midsomermurders.fandom.com/wiki/Picture_of_Innocence
“When the Luxton Deeping Photographic Society refuses to accept digital images in their annual exhibition, aspiring local photographer Steve Bright is enraged. Steve and his friends regard the traditional method of photography favoured by shop proprietor Headley Madrigal and his friend Lionel Bell as old and antiquated. An intense rivalry and mutual hostility exist between the two groups culminating in a showdown between Lionel and Steve at the exhibition. The next morning Lionel is strangled to death. DCI Barnaby and DI Jones investigate. ”
This is from 2007. Sometimes there is *no* point in arguing……. and sometimes there’s no point in arguing about that either!
😀
I loved the Midsomer Murder series, English countryside, too.
I feel unqualified to say this in the presence of experts, but it’s not just the camera (or the cell phone). An experience years ago at an employee recognition banquet drove this point home. The photographer was late. A public relations specialist named Janet Smith borrowed someone’s pocket camera—no cell phones in those days—and started taking pictures of the honorees. When the official photographer finally arrived, he took over with his professional equipment. His pictures from that night were good. Janet’s were better. (Janet Smith is also responsible for the black-and-white action portraits that once lined and maybe still line the walls of a long tunnel in the depths of the Kaiser Permamente Moanalua Medical Center.)