point and shoot vrs phone cameras for 'those moments'

jamiebonline

jamiebonline

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Jamie
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Hi all,

The camera in the current iphone, how good is that compared to a point and shoot? What kind of money are we talking about? The point is that I want a camera for around 100 pounds just to have with me at all times. I can't carry around my D7000. It is totally impractical. The camera on my 4-year-old 'entry level' smart phone Samsung is dreadful. So with technology improving would this kind of money get me something decent enough? Equivalent to the camera in an iphone or Samsung Galaxy S (I don't know much about phones!).

I would like fairly high megapixels. Not less than 12. I don't need a viewfinder though I'd like one. I can survive without manual mode but some control over aperture and shutter would be terrific. Don't care about controlling ISO or white balance. No need for good zoom. Something like 35-50mm equivalent is fine. Thoughts please :) I guess many people have this question.

Thanks a lot!

J
 
My partner went to a concert last week and took her phone [Sony Z2] and her little Nikon coolpix s5200 - which was cheap as chips. The compact smoked the Sony [which costs almost 3 times as much as the camera] in terms of quality and usable images. And I'm sure there's much better out there for a little extra. The newer S5300 is on amazon for £126

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-Coolpix-S5300-Compact-Digital/dp/B00HQDBLJ8/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1410898078&sr=8-12&keywords=COOLPIX S5200

Now, it's not going to deliver dslr quality images, but from what I've seen from it, it's one of the better casual compacts when it comes to shooting in low light without flash. Too small for my personal liking, but she likes it.
 
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I have a d7000 - earlier this year after reading the thread Kev has linked above, I bought an xf-1. If I'm honest, I wasn't expecting much from a £130 camera but I've been really pleased with it - this year was the first time I didn't take a dslr on holiday in years and I didn't regret it for a moment.

Some of mine in the below album

https://www.flickr.com/photos/59954848@N07/sets/72157644754412681/
 
The Xf1 does look very good value, if you don't need much zoom :)
 
I thought the iphone 5S was supposed to have a pretty good camera or have I fallen for the marketing spiel ... again
 
lovely camera, the xf1 but i can't afford it. i see it for around 140 on ebay. i live in czech republic. delivery costs are high from Uk and local camera shops tend to be more expensive than back home. any other ideas? :)
 
The xf1 is a great lil camera. My 11 year old daughter got one last Christmas. Her pictures are so much better now compared to the iPad she was using and it's made her think more about her photography.
 
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jamiebonline said:
Hi all,

The camera in the current iphone,...
Click to expand...

My GF shoots pretty much non stop with her iphone :D I think that in good light whole image shots look ok but in low light much less so and probably pretty poor to be honest if you look closely. Also my GF has a habit of using the digital zoom and once transferred to a pc some of her pictures are tiny. I think that the big advantages of smart phones are always having them with you, being able to take still shots and video and being able to send them to other people/post on social media and to be able to show them to other people on the smart phone screen. I don't think pixel peeping shows them at their best.

I think it's just a different market and user group. Even if iphone pictures are relatively poor most people don't seem to notice and lots, like my GF, are happy to take pictures and vid with a smart phone but aren't interested in using a camera. So, if you can avoid looking too closely and value having a light multi use thing in your pocket which includes a camera they're fine but if you are going to be at all tempted to criticise the image quality you may be happier with a bulkier and other thing to carry camera.
 
I have two sigma dp1s to sell, there pretty decent with the newer firmware, you could read up on them and let me know if you interested.

there only 4.5mp, but! Foveon so its actually 8 to 11mp from a really good camera and lens in equivilence.
both have hoods and filter holder, one has hard screen protectot and lovely handgrip
 
Exactly. The camera you have with you is much better use than the one you have at home. I've had paid work from my iPhone but there is very limited adjustment over exposure - although saying that I read some months ago that IOS8 would bring more options to the user.
 
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