Do You Carry a Separate Camera Anymore?

If I am planning to take photographs, I bring a digital single lens reflex camera. It is much more flexible than the camera that is built into my cell phone. The camera is loaded with features that I do not use. There are two reasons for the DSLR:

I am more comfortable composing a picture using the view finder.

The lens I carry with my DSLR have far more range than the camera in my phone. I use telephoto quite a bit.

I have taken some nice photos with my phone camera too.

Phones have also eliminated the need for wristwatches. How you tell if someone is over 35. Under 35 no watch.

Peter you are right. 

I also have an IPhone 6 and love the camera on it. I have found that I take more pictures than ever partially because I have it on me all of the time. If my kids are doing some thing fun I take pictures right then or if I see something interesting in just my day. 

I have found that there is almost an expectation to have photo documentation of events loaded onto the Internet or people don't believe they happened these days. With my coworkers who all seem to be much younger than me every event or milestone is on Facebook or Instagram. I have pressure to do it it as well because it has become expected socially to do so. 

Great point. My recent cell phones are nearly as good as my digital camera (which is 10-15 years old). Only major benefit of my digital camera is the 24X zoom but, even then, when it's unstable at 24X.  More and more of my photos are from my phone.

Funny you ask this because, ironically, my wife asked me if I'd buy more trains if I get a year-end bonus.  Sine I have all I want/need, I suggest a new camera.

I have a nice Canon 60D that takes great photos plus a Canon  SX110 that  stays in the car. Have a flip phone that is never on and have never taken a photo with. yes, I am old, served in the brown boot Army and happy with it all. Also have a very nice but a little old now , Sony video camera. People rave to me about their phone photos but when enlarged they don't look as good. All pixels are not equal.

Yes I do. I am a board certified Luddite. Without exception, within seconds of someone handing me their "smart phone" I'm left holding a useless device with a blank, dark screen. Anything using a touch screen is counter intuitive to me. 

Need a computer? Got a laptop. Camera? Got a nice one. Cell phone? My trusty (flip) cell phone is in my pocket.

My 2005 Motorola Razor doesn't take very good photos.....so if I want photos I grab my camera.   I have zero interest in a new phone and have 3 backup Razors so I need a good camera.....and being a old school 35mm SLR only photographer even going to a digital camera was tough. 

Sorry Peter, but being retired and on a budget, I can't afford a smartphone, and really don't feel that social "need' to be like everyone else and run out for the latest one anyway. I have a newer Canon Powershot SX700HS that shoots fine 14 MP photos and still fits in my pocket.

OBTW, my flip-phone serves as my watch as well and I'm going on 69 very soon.

I and my equipment are "antiques" and gonna stay that way....cameras are 35mm film SLR's, with an  array of lenses, cell phone has no camera, vehicles are all manual, trains are all conventional, computer is a desktop (although I have a little used laptop) and all is right with the world. (everything works)

If I'm going out specifically to take pictures, I'll take either my DSLR or my pocket camera.

Smart phones are handy because we generally have them with us most times and we no longer have the "Wish I had my camera" moment.  But they have their limitations, particularly with the digital zoom.  This is a shot fully zoomed in of downtown Chicago from about 20 miles away:

The skyline looks OK, but is not well defined, even the trees nearby have been blurred by digital compensation.  The image also looks OK when viewed on the phone, but on a computer display the lack of sharpness becomes obvious.

So, I wouldn't ditch the good-old camera just yet.

Rusty

You bet!  A Nikon DSLR or a Lumix superzoom with a Leica lens.  And the best ever accessory for taking good pictures - a tripod!  You can bet your bottom dollar that THIS PICTURE was not taken with a "smart" phone!

I actively dislike phone pics, usually can spot them a mile away on my monitor, although I will reluctantly admit that the mephone takes halfway decent snapshots.

Pete

Cellphone cameras are great if all you do is look at them on the computer or post to forums and social media sites.  If you blow them up on a large screen TV or do much cropping or print them on anything bigger than a  4 x 6 then you start to see the limitations of cell phone cameras.  Zooming doesn't leave much  of a picture either. Most cellphones use a digital zoom not a lens zoom.  

I did a side by side comparison on my large screen TV a couple of years ago and there was a huge difference in quality.

Nothing like having a good piece of glass on the camera to work with.

Dan

As mentioned, it all depends on the application.    Cell phone cams will never offer the myriad of lens options available to me with my DSLR.   I have a lens for every situation, which especially helps in low light situations.   I find it almost impossible to get good low light photos without a flash with my cell phone.   When I'm going to cropping and resizing, there's no substitute for resolution/detail.  Also different file type options:  jpeg isn't the best, it's just the best COMPROMISE.   Of course, the downside it, it's a large piece of kit;  it has it's own backpack and I only have it with me when I KNOW I'm going to be taking a lot of pictures.   

I find the two complimentary.   

The iPhone6 camera was really the game changer for me, as the pictures that I take on my iPhone6 are coming out MUCH nicer than those I take on my Nikon point-n-shoot, which was not the case with my older iPhone5.

The video however I like better on my Nikon.  I also like the zoom capabilities with my Nikon better, but for most situations I'm just bringing the phone nowadays.  I take tons of pictures on the iPhone and just delete the ones I don't like.

I'm not a photographer so its the IPhone for me, nothing seems to capture what I see with my eyes.

Phone is all that is needed for

me.

I thought the same way.  My DSLR was too big and bulky so I left it home and used my phone.  However, I recently picked up a micro four thirds camera - small enough to pocket but has slr quality interchangeable lenses.  Its great for beginners to advanced users.  Within a few weeks of using it, beginners will be taking pictures that blow away your cell phone photos.  Because they are easy to use and so small and light you'll have no problem taking the camera with you everywhere.  Also, most can now send your photos wirelessly to your cell phone, computer, etc.

JSP posted:

I thought the same way.  My DSLR was too big and bulky so I left it home and used my phone.  However, I recently picked up a micro four thirds camera - small enough to pocket but has slr quality interchangeable lenses.  Its great for beginners to advanced users.  Within a few weeks of using it, beginners will be taking pictures that blow away your cell phone photos.  Because they are easy to use and so small and light you'll have no problem taking the camera with you everywhere.  Also, most can now send your photos wirelessly to your cell phone, computer, etc.

Hope you don't mind me asking, but which camera did you pick up?  I found this link and it appears they start at ~$400 and skyrocket from there:  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364044,00.asp

I bought an Olympus om-d em10 mark 2.  With a kit lens around $750.00.  That price should drop after the holidays.  Right now you can get the mark 1 for half the price and its virtually the same camera.

JSP posted:

I bought an Olympus om-d em10 mark 2.  With a kit lens around $750.00.  That price should drop after the holidays.  Right now you can get the mark 1 for half the price and its virtually the same camera.

thanks!  Merry Christmas...Rich

Merry Christmas to you as well.

F&G RY posted:

Phones have also eliminated the need for wristwatches. How you tell if someone is over 35. Under 35 no watch.

I'm younger than I thought, I haven't used a watch for years, it was a real plus when cellphones came along and I had one with me!

I don't routinely carry a camera, though I still have a real camera for some shots, having a much longer lens is sometimes useful.

Well, as I make my living with my Nikon DSLR I have plenty to say on this one...

First, when it comes to what options you have and ability to take the best possible photograph, nothing beats a Single Lens Reflex camera, digital or film, in my opinion. BUT that doesn't mean everyone will take better photos with one.  You actually have to know what you're doing to get any better of a photo out of it than using a webcam looking through wax paper.    The number of people I see with relatively expensive cameras set to automatic settings is woefully disturbing.  Mine may as well have come out of the box with the only three setting choices I ever use. Full manual exposure 85% of the time, and Shutter or aperture locked exposure the other 15%

Next, the day of the point and shoot camera is almost gone.  They now only offer one feature not found on modern, current generation smart phones and that is optical zoom.  More on that next.  

The major drawback of the smartphone camera is that the "zoom" isn't.  Digital zoom is not really zooming in on anything, it is only cropping the picture smaller.  Optical zoom actually act as if you were moving closer to the subject and no information is lost.  On the market now, ASUS recently released a smartphone with optical zoom, and I believe Samsung has had one for a few years, but both of these devices are niche products as anyone that actually wants to take top quality photos will still use a proper camera.  

As to the tech in the camera, if one doesn't know what they are doing, the tool won't help much.  My iPhone 6 has a fantastic camera, and I find that I use it quite often for all sorts of things.  It has built in HDR, and shoots at 8 megapixels.  I shoot at 6 megapixels on my DSLR for work because anything higher is a waste of space for the images I am working with (My photo printers print no more than 300dpi, which equals about 2.2 megapixels  on a 4x6 print. )  The new iPhone6s shoots at 12 Mpx, and the other brands are all right up there in the 6-20 Mpx range.  As for HDR, if you don't know what it is, than it won't matter to you.   Internally the image computer is fantastic in the iphone, and routinely composes great pictures and rarely under/over exposes so long as there is plenty of ambient light.  Things get spotty when there is not much light.  

As said above the choice of camera above is only a tool.  In a post above someone said something to the effect that 'you can bet this wasn't taken with a cell phone', so I clicked the link to another thread.  I looked at the photo and thought to my self, 'looking at this photo, I have no way of knowing that'.  I don't want to criticize the fellow that took the photo, but think that I have to to make the point in this case that the phone camera would do an equally good job.  At that close of range there is not going to be much difference, and the lack of depth of field blurring from a wide open aperture makes it look as if it was taken with a point and shoot or a cell phone. (it may be an artistic choice, but in this case one that leaves the composition looking in a way that allows the use of much less camera.)   It is a great photo, but it could be done with a current generation phone.  

Anyway, I'm sure folks will light me up for this last section, but for the folks that think technology is the devil, talking about your flip phone brings exactly as much to this conversation as talking about conventional control does to a thread comparing things between DCS and Legacy...Nothing.  

JGL

I like a date on my printed picture.  so if it is something I am going to print I use a regular camera.

37 and I still wear a watch, and always will.  I feel naked without one.  I hate pulling my phone out if I want to look at the time.  I even get a smart watch so that I could pull the phone out even less.  As for photos, if I know I'm going to want to take photos, I pull out the camera.  I only use the phone if it's the only thing I have on hand and there's no time to come back and get my camera.  I also have a micro four thirds and love it.  I can still use all my old Canon FL/FD glass, and my Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 is my most used lens on it when it come to model train photography.

Gentlemen,

    I do believe JGL has covered the reason for using a good digital Camera rather than the phone camera, I also like the fact my good digital camera is water proof down to 20 feet, I do a lot of fly fishing and take pictures as I fish Pine Creek and many of the smaller mountain streams, I am not giving up my good digital camera!  I also use my camera when Grouse hunting in some pretty harsh weather, I want to know I am getting high quality pictures when photographing my dogs in the Grouse woods.

Some pictures don't come along but once in a life time.  

PCRR/Dave

Peter, you are receiving some good input on this thread. I have been hanging a camera over my shoulder since 9th grade. I subsequently worked for Kodak for 17 years and now Canon for 4 years.

Both a quality cell phone and a Quality P&S (Point & Shoot) or DSLR have their place.

I don't portray myself an expert, my opinion is the cell phone works very well with people in the foreground (or stationary trains) and the Camera is better at most other applications.

The camera, as one poster noted, almost compels one to compose a better image than a phone, and the image quality (sharpness and color rendering) are better on the cameras. If your intent is to enlarge a picture for hanging on your wall, you need to either shoot at 1/1000 of a second or use a tripod. Flaws show up exponentially the larger you blow up an  image.

With that said, literally 99% of all images are shared in a small cell phone, tablet, or at best desktop screen. When is the last time someone handed you a bunch of pictures "developed" at a drug store?

Todays cell phones take very good images for most of what we need. If you want to expand your talent in photography, a cell phone is not your tool.

Interesting subject Peter.

Paul

The iPhone 6's do take some very impressive pictures, my daughter has one. I think we are going to trade in the old flip phone for one next year. There are lots of times I am out and wish I had a camera and I hardly ever have one. I think the phone will be great for that kind of stuff. It will always be ready.

DSLR's are nice, but I am no photographer and don't know how to properly use them. I find the digital cameras these days take very good pictures and all you have to do is aim and push the button. Point and shoot cameras have come a long way in the last few years. The camera review websites are now adding cell phone camera reviews to their regular camera reviews.

I guess I'm behind the times. All my cameras must be antiques in that they require film to record an image. My flip phone is so old, it has a rotary dial. I did all my own B&W work, sent the color stuff out. The lab that did my color stuff has long since folded up their tent, and my darkroom has been packed-up for what seems like decades.

I always have my iPhone 6 on me. That said a digital camera is still my favorite for picture clarity. I look at my iPhone as the instamatic of its day. I'm not a professional photographer and I had my share of SLR's I.e. Pentax K1000 with all its bulk back in the day.

I recently purchased the smallest DSLR on the market the Canon REBEL SL1. I purchased directly from the Canon USA website. It's a refurbished camera with 2 image stablized lenses for $269 with a year warranty, a great deal that based on supply and demand when searching the Canon website. At the price point I paid even if the camera body fails me I still have 2 quality quiet motorized lenses.  As DSLR's go its a beginner camera that suits me fine. The big difference is its ability to take quality photos in lowlight and the clarity is much better and the zoom capibity is good even with the a small 18-55mm lense. I can put the whole thing into my jacket pocket, all be it not as small as an iPhone or point & shoot, they all have their merits.

Here is the DPR review link for the Canon Rebel SL1

When we travel on cruises and other "real" vacations, I pursue one of my other hobbies, photography. For that, I use my Nikon DSLR, and 18-105 and 85-300 zoom lenses.

The iPhone 6, while an excellent tool for snapshotting, just doesn't measure up to a dedicated DSLR with an optical zoom lens for the flexibility to take both grab shots and also do "serious" photography.

However, for the infrequent times that I want to make quick a video, I choose the phone over the Nikon because it's just easier to change the phone to video mode than it is to do so with the Nikon.

My wife, for whom a camera is a tool for taking snapshots and pictures for posting to her various club and social media web sites, her iPhone 5s does a great job. It's also what she uses to get the rare picture of yours truly.

Considering my cell phone is a ten year old brick that makes phone calls and that's about it, well, it's up to my trusty GE A950 to take happy snaps! 

Mitch

bigdodgetrain posted:

I like a date on my printed picture.  so if it is something I am going to print I use a regular camera.

As a note, all digital cameras made that I have seen since the 90's record what is called EXIF Data (Exchangeable Image Format).  this includes not only the date and time, but all details including aperture, shutter speed, focal length, flash settings, and on properly equipped DSLR's and almost all smart phones, they even record the exact GPS location the photo was taken.  Any photo lab still in business can make prints with this information.  I'm unsure what the offerings are for PC as I use a MAC for all my photo work, but Mac's default photo program, iPhoto allows prints with date and time on them.  

2:  

Sinclair, that is a pic I would look at and say "Yep, that was done with a wide open 50mm. "

Random fun:  

These are pretty low quality as they the finished files for postcards are all I have on my computer at the moment.  My favorite, despite it being a bit grainy is the image of my Lincoln in reflected fire light, with the sky spinning over head in a 5 minute exposure.  

Speaking of antiques, I have a film camera that still has some exposed film of trains running through Chillicothe, ILL in 2010 that requires developing.  I'd like to know if anyone is still using film based cameras and if so where you are buying and developing the film?

Here is my smaller not tiny Canon DSLR SL1 with 18-55mm lense it fits into the palm of my hand. 

Not a photographer, never claimed or wanted to be! So for me the Galaxy S6 works fine!

I have the second point and shoot. Cannon A 520, old, and a Cannon SD630.  Both take the abuse and dirt of backpacking.  Older point and shoots had a time delay, to store images on the card, before you could take the next shot.   That could develop an adrenaline rush, all part of the experience. 

Brain transplant pictures with a point and shoot.  Don't get this close.

South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Oxbow Bend Snake River Teton National Park.

Jenny Lake tent site, Teton National Park.

Yellowstone, our tent site.

 I found a very cheap lens set and adaptor tube for the Cannon A520. works well for close-up.  I'm not sure how well the phone cameras do on Close-up. 

These tripods also work with both my point and shoots, though the right rock or limb also works.  Both are backpack friendly.

 Another consideration when remote from power is either battery replacement or ????  Not too difficult with a camera,  Changing batteries in a cell phone is slightly different. IMO.   Camera, especially with flash, sucks a battery down pretty quick. 

Yes    I have  a separate  camera , a small Cannon a 480 which i take with me when i think i might  want to take pictures 

I  do not have  cell phone  .........

I have a I Phone but seldom use the camera. My wife always carries her camera in her purse.