• UPDATE



    The forum will be moving to a new domain in the near future (canonrumorsforum.com). I have turned off "read-only", but I will only leave the two forum nodes you see active for the time being.

    I don't know at this time how quickly the change will happen, but that will move at a good pace I am sure.

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Do you find yourself using your smartphone more than your SLR, MILC or P&S?

Do you find yourself using your smartphone more than your SLR, MILC or P&S?

  • Yes, my smartphone's always with me

    Votes: 9 14.1%
  • Somewhat, I just bring my dedicated camera when I need... (state reason as a reply)

    Votes: 17 26.6%
  • No, the smartphones aren't good enough... (state reason as a comment)

    Votes: 38 59.4%

  • Total voters
    64
iPhone 4S is always with me, but use it very rarely to take photos ... basically occasional snapshots or as a "sketchbook" ... when I see places/things I want to capture as "real pictures" using a "real camera". :-)

Smartphones/tablet cams will never deliver "good enough" in 4 aspects that are important to me:
1.) optical zoom/tele capability. Don't care for "everything in wide-angle only".
2.) viewfinder - prefer to take images with camera on my eye, rather than in stretched ourt hands
3.) image quality - especially when lighting is "less than ideal"
4.) good chance to get well-focused images of moving subjects, even in challenging capture situations

I sold my 7D and do not want to buy another DSLR. Currently I only use my EOS M set - which is ok, but also does not deliver on items #2 and #4 above. But it will tide me over until the smoke in the mirrorless area clears. It's going to be either Canon APS-C EOS M3 "Pro" or Canon FF mirrorless or Sony (A9). We'll see.
 
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I voted somewhat but that will change soon. I usually have my camera on me and I always have my phone with me. I am trying to make an effort to always carry my camera with me but at times its inconvenient. At times I take pictures with my iPhone but its for immediately sharing with family and friends and not something necessarily that I would put in my photo library. My wife takes a lot of pictures with her phone but she recently received the EOS M and I believe she will use that more often than not. When she's not using it, I will.
 
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Smartphone cameras just suck. What else can I say. They are fine for taking shots of your baby doing something silly but I've found if the conditions are even somewhat challenging, forget it. I've never liked touch screen cameras much either. The Eos-m is the only touch screen camera I use frequently. However I despise the touch screen interface. Takes way too long to make exposure adjustments...and with a phone, there are no adjustments that are of any real value.

Smartphone cameras may be only good for capturing the vehicle of the guy that just stole your DSLR...then again the quality is so bad it probobly wouldn't be of any use to anyone.
 
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I have a smartphone, but NEVER use it to take pictures. (At least, not intentionally! :-[ )
More than anything, it's because the quality could never come close to my DSLRs, as well as the fact that I can't set it. (I have a strong belief that input can improve results.)
Having been so used manually-adjusted cameras, I never liked the workings of point-and-shoot, with their reliance upon menus and their lack of good viewfinders, either.
 
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I do use the phone camera more often, and that's what the basic question is. I can't email or text a picture from the DSLR directly.

That said, the phone camera is no match for a real camera. Problem is, the real camera + lens(es) is quite a bit larger and more expensive than the phone cam, plus being an additional item to bring about.

Sometimes, I have wished to have had the "real camera" along.
 
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Its a no from me. BUT What happens to me a lot is being asked to take the same picture with someone else's phone whilst I'm using my camera, the results (from the phone) are usually but not always pretty rubbish. For example Xmas day, photo of wife and daughter at tree external window in background - DSLR... Quickly set exposure for external light and balance with manual flash for subjects, same photo with phone.... Oohh errrr!!

The other most common situation, any kind of movement/action.... Camera phone 'shutter' lag = fail
Having said that I've oftain thought that when they get that lag sorted out (and they will) I would probably start to use them more often.
 
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1. The answer is no since I don't own a cell 'phone. My wife does and makes me take it when I'm out in the country taking pictures in case I run into trouble. Very, very occasionally I'll borrow it to take a snap. I mean, 'very occasionally'. Almost to the point of never.
2. No interest in owning a cell 'phone, so the answer will always be no. No interest in posting shots on Facebook or any other social media with the exception of CR, of course.
3. I don't mind lugging my DSLRs around. In fact, I find it comforting having the bricks at my side.
4. I recognize that I'm out of step with most people who take pictures, but I don't care a whit.
5. The 'immediacy' of shooting and sending has no interest for me whatsoever. Zero. I'd never use wi-fi in a camera if I had it.
 
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I've tried, I really have. I've seen people do great stuff with camera phones - admittedly mostly street photograpy, which isn't my thing anyway -, and I did sort of like the idea, so I got myself a photography app for my smartphone, but I hardly ever use it and get no joy from it. I don't even enjoy using my P&S much anymore, and ended up getting myself an EOS M for those occasions when it's not worth taking the whole 7D-plus-lenses shebang. I guess there's just something about a proper piece of gear, for me.

The phone camera does come in handy for snapping things like timetables or stuff I'll want to look up when I get home, but for photography proper it just ain't for me.
 
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People take absolutely horrible pictures with their cell phones. They also look ridiculous while taking them. On my Sony Android the photo app has lots of functions. I can make a selfie of myself surrounded by elves or dinosaurs. On the other hand, taking a decent photo in contrasty lighting is not possible. The flare kills the shots.

I have tried several P/S cameras. The best was an Ixus some seven years ago. It died. The IS280 died also. The Sony RX100II is too complicated with too many switches that are too small for my fingers. I liked the LX3.
I would have got the LX100 but there are some alarming notes about it dying right out of the box.
Then? The Fuji X100T is bulky and is very sensitive to backlight flare. Ricoh users love their GRs.

I don't know. Elves and dinosaurs....
 
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Hi,
The smartphone camera is very useful and I use it to take a lot of photo for work... you know those photo showing the model and series number of PCs, laptops and equipment that are difficult or too small to see under dim lighting... :P I also ask my client to use their phone to take photo of the computer screen if any error or issue appear on their computer as many of them do not know how to take a screenshot... smartphone camera is very useful for this purpose... Other than that, I use my DSLR.

Have a nice day.
 
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I took this pano with my iPhone 6 today while snowboarding. Worked out pretty well. A DSLR is a bit cumbersome up a ski slope and sometimes you have to use what you can. Amazing how good technology is these days. A few years ago this would have taken me ages stitching it together in Photoshop!
 

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I voted "Yes"; however, there is a caveat.

It is not that I find myself using my 5D3 less, it is that I find myself taking more photos because I have the iPhone 5s with me at all times, most significantly times when I would never have had my camera with me in any event (business trips, simply out shopping, etc.)

The person who's signature says the best camera is the one you have with you is quite correct. The iPhone may suck as a camera, but it beats having no camera at all... (it does, however, make a superb copy machine for things like business cards, prescription bottle labels, and directory listings, none of which the 5D3 would be very useful for, since you'd never had the camera when you need to look up the info in the image)
 
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TAF said:
The person who's signature says the best camera is the one you have with you is quite correct.

I just hate that expression. It's just wrong.

The best camera is the one best suited to the job.

The one you have with you might well be the worst camera for the job, just the only camera available.

This expression is like saying the best tool is my pocket knife. Well, if the job is to drill a hole in a slab of concrete, you can't tell me that my knife is the best tool because it's the one I have with me. The best approach is to go and get the best tool, a hammer drill.
 
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More than a few PJs use their phones for news. Check-this-out! A story from Ireland's RTE tv news, filmed entirely on an iPhone 6 Plus. http://vimeo.com/114265059

I'm planning to shoot some tests to see if I can use an iPhone for paid advertising work. For video, meant for the web, iPhone/iPod video is more than good enough. Ads are submitted to a magazine as 300 DPI PDF files, I'll test to see if iPhone quality is good enough for 1/2 page or even 1 page ads.

BTW sometimes I use my Canon EOS Elan 7n film camera, but most of my fun shooting is done with an iDevice. The DSLRs only come out for paid work.
 
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