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I think your portability point is a fair one and also what motivated 35mm photography about a hundred years ago. But I think the DSLR vs phone comparison is fla

by ninjin 5y ago

I think your portability point is a fair one and also what motivated 35mm photography about a hundred years ago. But I think the DSLR vs phone comparison is flawed. There are plenty of wonderful point-and-shoot cameras that easily fit in your handbag, satchel, or whatnot and can give any phone a run for its money with its bigger sensor and larger glass – without being a bulky DSLR. It is a spectrum is what I am trying to say I guess.

lawkwok 5y ago
Curious if you have such a camera on your person every day? It’s an extra thing to charge, you can’t edit and post directly to social media, getting pictures backed up is not automatic. It’s a totally different experience and for most people, they don’t want to hang large prints of their photos at home. They just need enough quality to show their friends and family.
- ninjin 5y ago
  Firstly, I feel I got a bit swamped with replies to my initial comment. So I will try to address it all here. I used to carry a small camera at all times in my bag, yes. Mostly a Canon G11 and at times an Olympus XA. But this was a long time ago as I no longer pass by any points of real interest (to me) on my commute. But, let me get back to what I am trying to convey. From my perspective, phones on cameras (combined with social media) created a new class of photographers that would be most closely related to those that previously had cheap point-and-shoot cameras (if even a camera at all) with fixed lenses that are easy to operate but gets the job done to document something. The results will be subpar, but that does not matter as the point is not something abstract like “bokeh”, the desire is to document something visually to have it become a memory or communicate an event to someone else visually in a less artistic sense than a “real” photographer. This is why I find discussions about how digital depth of field is not authentic largely to miss the point. This class of photographers do not care, they want good aesthetics – yes – but it is not something they actively seek out like a “true” photographer. But here is the kicker, I doubt that without a readily available camera in their phone these people would ever have become photographers in the first place and this is why the camera phone vs DSLR discussion annoys me. This new class of photographers did not make a conscious choice between shooting with a phone, point-and-shoot, mirrorless, or DSLR. They used what was already there to communicate and when a new camera phone comes around they enjoy the fact that they get better aesthetics out of it than their old one. In a sense, I doubt they even view their phone as a camera in the first place. So, it is a spectrum ranging from camera phone up to medium format madness. But I think most of these discussions are had by the 5% such as myself (and yourself) that consider weight, dynamic range, glass, etc. Rather than the 95% who probably do not even perceive themselves as photographers in the first place – although they certainly are.
whatever1 5y ago
But half of the magic of DSLRs is in the lenses, and unfortunately there is no single lenses that can work everywhere. Regarding portability, yes point-and-shoots are portABLE, but in reality you don’t have them in your pocket 100% of the time, like you have a smartphone. You need to think about packing one more thing, that you may or may not need, so you won’t bother. In summary, with a point-and shoot you are making two compromises: 1)photo quality 2)availability. In my opinion they are worse both than a DSLR and a good smartphone.
rootusrootus 5y ago
> handbag, satchel, or whatnot That's the thing, though. Many of us, especially men (but many women as well, including my wife) do not carry around a bag or wear a bulky jacket with pockets big enough for even the smallest mirrorless. So packing one along everywhere I go wouldn't be any more convenient than just grabbing the bag with my 7D.
- ansgri 5y ago
  What do you carry around then though? you need a laptop, documents and stuff, might as well put a compact ILC in that bag. No way I’d do that with an (outdated) DSLR though.
  - kemayo 5y ago
    Those aren't things you always need, though. If you commute to an office, sure, you probably take a bag with those things with you during that. But do you take that bag with you when you go out with friends? If you go to walk your dog in the park? Maybe you do, but I think most people don't. Speaking for myself, if I'm going out without any special goal, I'll just have my phone, keys, and wallet.
deleted 5y ago
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ricardobeat 5y ago
Do you have an example of that kind of camera? My impression is the iPhone will beat any P&S below the $500 mark in dynamic range, speed, features and image quality, except for resolution.

by ninjin 5y ago

lawkwok 5y ago

Curious if you have such a camera on your person every day? It’s an extra thing to charge, you can’t edit and post directly to social media, getting pictures backed up is not automatic. It’s a totally different experience and for most people, they don’t want to hang large prints of their photos at home. They just need enough quality to show their friends and family.

ninjin 5y ago
Firstly, I feel I got a bit swamped with replies to my initial comment. So I will try to address it all here. I used to carry a small camera at all times in my bag, yes. Mostly a Canon G11 and at times an Olympus XA. But this was a long time ago as I no longer pass by any points of real interest (to me) on my commute. But, let me get back to what I am trying to convey. From my perspective, phones on cameras (combined with social media) created a new class of photographers that would be most closely related to those that previously had cheap point-and-shoot cameras (if even a camera at all) with fixed lenses that are easy to operate but gets the job done to document something. The results will be subpar, but that does not matter as the point is not something abstract like “bokeh”, the desire is to document something visually to have it become a memory or communicate an event to someone else visually in a less artistic sense than a “real” photographer. This is why I find discussions about how digital depth of field is not authentic largely to miss the point. This class of photographers do not care, they want good aesthetics – yes – but it is not something they actively seek out like a “true” photographer. But here is the kicker, I doubt that without a readily available camera in their phone these people would ever have become photographers in the first place and this is why the camera phone vs DSLR discussion annoys me. This new class of photographers did not make a conscious choice between shooting with a phone, point-and-shoot, mirrorless, or DSLR. They used what was already there to communicate and when a new camera phone comes around they enjoy the fact that they get better aesthetics out of it than their old one. In a sense, I doubt they even view their phone as a camera in the first place. So, it is a spectrum ranging from camera phone up to medium format madness. But I think most of these discussions are had by the 5% such as myself (and yourself) that consider weight, dynamic range, glass, etc. Rather than the 95% who probably do not even perceive themselves as photographers in the first place – although they certainly are.

whatever1 5y ago

But half of the magic of DSLRs is in the lenses, and unfortunately there is no single lenses that can work everywhere. Regarding portability, yes point-and-shoots are portABLE, but in reality you don’t have them in your pocket 100% of the time, like you have a smartphone. You need to think about packing one more thing, that you may or may not need, so you won’t bother. In summary, with a point-and shoot you are making two compromises: 1)photo quality 2)availability. In my opinion they are worse both than a DSLR and a good smartphone.

rootusrootus 5y ago

> handbag, satchel, or whatnot That's the thing, though. Many of us, especially men (but many women as well, including my wife) do not carry around a bag or wear a bulky jacket with pockets big enough for even the smallest mirrorless. So packing one along everywhere I go wouldn't be any more convenient than just grabbing the bag with my 7D.

ansgri 5y ago
What do you carry around then though? you need a laptop, documents and stuff, might as well put a compact ILC in that bag. No way I’d do that with an (outdated) DSLR though.
- kemayo 5y ago
  Those aren't things you always need, though. If you commute to an office, sure, you probably take a bag with those things with you during that. But do you take that bag with you when you go out with friends? If you go to walk your dog in the park? Maybe you do, but I think most people don't. Speaking for myself, if I'm going out without any special goal, I'll just have my phone, keys, and wallet.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ricardobeat 5y ago

Do you have an example of that kind of camera? My impression is the iPhone will beat any P&S below the $500 mark in dynamic range, speed, features and image quality, except for resolution.