Camera to complement your phone

dolina

dolina

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Are you looking to buy a camera to complement your smartphone but dont know what to get? Then read on!

If size & weight are important and you have no plans to buy a 2nd lens then a point & shoot with a large image sensor like those found in a Four Thirds, APS-C, Full frame camera may be of interest to you.

Large image sensor allows for better image quality than any and all smartphones.

Their built-in lens tends to have faster f-number than the kit lens of mirrorless or dSLRs.

They also have WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC to complement and connect to your smartphone.

Listed below are some of these cameras that are smaller & weigh less than their mirrorless counterpart. These are accurate as of the date of this posting.

Full Frame
- Leica Q (Type 116) < looks like a Leica M camera but with auto focus and auto aperture
- Sony RX1R II
- Sony RX1R
- Sony RX1

APS-C
- Fujifilm X100F
- Ricoh GR II
- Canon G1 Mark III
- Fujifilm X70
- Leica X-U (Typ 113)

Four Thirds
- Leica D-LUX (Typ 109)
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100

Another option that offers higher utility may be buying a flagship phone like a Google Pixel 2 or iPhone 8.

You may leave your new camera at home but never your phone.

The best camera you can ever own is the one with you always.
 
You said it best when you said the camera with you is the best one and smartphone cameras are becoming so capable these days that they are more than likely going to eradicate segments of the camera market. The Samsung Note 8 looks excellent for example, I'd probably ditch the idea of buying an APS-C or 4/3 and buy the phone.
 
Laudrup said:
You said it best when you said the camera with you is the best one and smartphone cameras are becoming so capable these days that they are more than likely going to eradicate segments of the camera market. The Samsung Note 8 looks excellent for example, I'd probably ditch the idea of buying an APS-C or 4/3 and buy the phone.
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Check also the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

I have a bias against non-stock Android phones. The quality of the software often ruins otherwise good hardware.
 
Laudrup said:
You said it best when you said the camera with you is the best one and smartphone cameras are becoming so capable these days that they are more than likely going to eradicate segments of the camera market. The Samsung Note 8 looks excellent for example, I'd probably ditch the idea of buying an APS-C or 4/3 and buy the phone.
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I think this will spawn a market for high end expensive cameras in phones - see my thread on RED's Hydrogen One.
 
My Mrs and all her friends shoot with smartphones and some of the pictures can look very very nice indeed on the smartphone or tablet screen but once I start to look a little closer on my screen they soon start to show weaknesses, and the results don't get better in lower light. The lovely picture soon becomes a smudgy mess. Even my 1" camera gives much better image quality than any smartphone picture I've seen to date for anything other than smartphone screen viewing.

PS.
MFT simply crushes any smartphone picture for image quality.
 
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woof woof said:
My Mrs and all her friends shoot with smartphones and some of the pictures can look very very nice indeed on the smartphone or tablet screen but once I start to look a little closer on my screen they soon start to show weaknesses, and the results don't get better in lower light. The lovely picture soon becomes a smudgy mess. Even my 1" camera gives much better image quality than any smartphone picture I've seen to date for anything other than smartphone screen viewing.
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There's a phone or two with a decent sensor, just the market isn't big enough for household names to care about it.

Nokia's pureview 808 is supposed to be very good, as is Panasonic's big sensor CM1. Both getting long in the tooth now though.
 
The decent sensor will still be tiny though and how about the lens?

I'm sure smartphones can take pictures that look lovely as whole pictures on the smartphone and even on a tablet as that's what I see every day but start to look at them a little more closely and quite quickly they look relatively awful. I see pictures every day like this.

Taking pictures that look great on a smartphone screen is one thing but most people on this forum want something more than that.
 
Thus camera makers moving reducing their point & shoot cameras to those with (a) significantly large image sensors for better image quality or(b) focal lengths beyond a standard zoom that almost all smartphones have.

All other type of point & shoot that does not fit into that mold is phased out because of smartphones.
 
woof woof said:
The decent sensor will still be tiny though and how about the lens?

I'm sure smartphones can take pictures that look lovely as whole pictures on the smartphone and even on a tablet as that's what I see every day but start to look at them a little more closely and quite quickly they look relatively awful. I see pictures every day like this.

Taking pictures that look great on a smartphone screen is one thing but most people on this forum want something more than that.
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I'd disagree. Shot in well lit conditions, I think phone camera pics look fine blown up. In fact Apple had the 'Shot on iPhone' campaign with photos blown up to billboard size
 
Ste_S said:
I'd disagree. Shot in well lit conditions, I think phone camera pics look fine blown up. In fact Apple had the 'Shot on iPhone' campaign with photos blown up to billboard size
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I'm struggling to find the link, but apparently in recent months, someone was admitted to RPS with a presentation of images shot on iPhone.
 
Ste_S said:
I'd disagree. Shot in well lit conditions, I think phone camera pics look fine blown up. In fact Apple had the 'Shot on iPhone' campaign with photos blown up to billboard size
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That's the thing, the lighting conditions need to be idea. That's where point & shoots with better hardware fills in that gap.
 
@dolina Tools to do the job isn't it ? A phone camera is fine in everyday situations. It's the outliers where a more specific tool can help.
My minor issue with phone cameras is the wide angle they all seem to have, and I end up cropping a lot of photos. If one came with a 35-40mm (35mm equiv) focal length, I'd probably ditch the digital compact.

UKmitch86 said:
I'm struggling to find the link, but apparently in recent months, someone was admitted to RPS with a presentation of images shot on iPhone.
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I wouldn't be surprised, If you can find the link I would love to see the images.
There was a guy in B&W Photography this month who shot a bunch of stuff on iPhone and his images looked superb.
 
 
Ste_S said:
@dolina Tools to do the job isn't it ? A phone camera is fine in everyday situations. It's the outliers where a more specific tool can help.
My minor issue with phone cameras is the wide angle they all seem to have, and I end up cropping a lot of photos. If one came with a 35-40mm (35mm equiv) focal length, I'd probably ditch the digital compact.
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Agree. I try to steer friends to point and shoots that share large image sensors with dSLRs and mirrorless as I know they probably are only aware of mirrorless as a smaller and lighter alternative to a dSLR.
 
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Flagship phones are more expensive by far than decent small compact system cameras, for what you get. I'm always amused when people say "But my phone was free!" then they go on to tell you how much they pay per month, oblivious to the fact they are paying for the phone, often more than the original value. Some of these new phones are hitting the £1000 mark, and I don't care how good they are for a phone, they still can't touch even the most budget larger sensor cameras.
 
Cagey75 said:
Flagship phones are more expensive by far than decent small compact system cameras, for what you get. I'm always amused when people say "But my phone was free!" then they go on to tell you how much they pay per month, oblivious to the fact they are paying for the phone, often more than the original value. Some of these new phones are hitting the £1000 mark, and I don't care how good they are for a phone, they still can't touch even the most budget larger sensor cameras.
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If you put it that way then it makes sense.

In terms of utility can you text, call, browse, word process, spreadsheet, presentation, teleconference, email, message, navigate traffic with a decent small compact system cameras?

Will your telco finance your decent small compact system cameras on a 2 year contract?

Will the decent small compact system cameras always be with you and the flagship phone be left at home on a shelf only to be brought out during scheduled ocassions?

In 2007 the original iPhone came out.

In 2010 compact system cameras shipment peaked at 108 million while iPhone shipments reached 46.6 million.

In 2016 compact system cameras shipments dropped to 12 million while iPhone shipments peaked at 215.4 million.
 
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dolina said:
If you put it that way then it makes sense.

In terms of utility can you text, call, browse, word process, spreadsheet, presentation, teleconference, email, message, navigate traffic with a decent small compact system cameras?

Will your telco finance your decent small compact system cameras on a 2 year contract

Will the decent small compact system cameras always be with you and the flagship phone be left at home on a shelf?

In 2007 the original iPhone came out.

In 2010 compact system cameras shipment peaked at 108 million.

In 2016 compact system cameras shipments dropped to 12 million.

In 2016 iPhone shipments peaked at 215.4 million.
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That,s the whole point. The smart phone has many applications,and the camera is just one small part. Yes they can give a nice image in the right circumstances, but their functionality in this area is not of the same quality as that of a dedicated enthusiast camera whether a compact or a DSLR. You,re right, there is a trade off , yes you must carry a camera around if you want good quality images under most circumstances. Or you can use a smartphones and not alway have the quality that you are striving to achieve.
 
dolina said:
If you put it that way then it makes sense.

In terms of utility can you text, call, browse, word process, spreadsheet, presentation, teleconference, email, message, navigate traffic with a decent small compact system cameras?

Will your telco finance your decent small compact system cameras on a 2 year contract?

Will the decent small compact system cameras always be with you and the flagship phone be left at home on a shelf only to be brought out during scheduled ocassions?

In 2007 the original iPhone came out.

In 2010 compact system cameras shipment peaked at 108 million while iPhone shipments reached 46.6 million.

In 2016 compact system cameras shipments dropped to 12 million while iPhone shipments peaked at 215.4 million.
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That's my plan Dolina, want to have something with a solid sensor always in my pocket. Limited choice at the moment, just the Panny CM1. Nokia and iPhone to a lesser extent.
 
A friend of mine gained his fellowship with the BIPP with none other than an iPhone . I saw the prints for his panel and they were quite stunning . I was really surprised with the detail in them . This very much is a case of its not the camera but the piece of meat behind it .
 
Ste_S said:
I'd disagree. Shot in well lit conditions, I think phone camera pics look fine blown up. In fact Apple had the 'Shot on iPhone' campaign with photos blown up to billboard size
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Disagreeing is fine but I'll believe it when I see it and I've yet to see a smartphone picture that's as good as I can get from my 1" or MFT if I go looking closely. Don't look closely and just look at the whole image and I'd agree that smartphones do a good job and are very probably better than a few digital compacts I've had but my 1" Panny and MFT are IMHO better.

My Mrs gets some absolutely stunning looking pictures from her friends, stunning on her smartphone and disappointing on my screen when looked at closely. They're more than good enough for looking at as whole pictures on a small screen though.
 
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stumac said:
A friend of mine gained his fellowship with the BIPP with none other than an iPhone . I saw the prints for his panel and they were quite stunning . I was really surprised with the detail in them . This very much is a case of its not the camera but the piece of meat behind it .
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Now that I'm much more willing to believe but the hardware and software must still impose limits.
 
The Camera to compliment the phone is one that is on the other spectrum in pretty much everything, otherwise why bother?

What is the point getting a £200 compact to go with an iPhone 8?
What is the point getting a GoPro 6 to go with a Galaxy S8?

Get as large a sensor camera as you can, as FAST lens as you can, as BIG as you can bear it.
 
woof woof said:
My Mrs gets some absolutely stunning looking pictures from her friends, stunning on her smartphone and disappointing on my screen when looked at closely. They're more than good enough for looking at as whole pictures on a small screen though.
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A few questions

* What phone is she using?
* Was the lens clean before taking the image?
* What display are you looking at it on?
 
dolina said:
If you put it that way then it makes sense.

In terms of utility can you text, call, browse, word process, spreadsheet, presentation, teleconference, email, message, navigate traffic with a decent small compact system cameras?

Will your telco finance your decent small compact system cameras on a 2 year contract?

Will the decent small compact system cameras always be with you and the flagship phone be left at home on a shelf only to be brought out during scheduled ocassions?

In 2007 the original iPhone came out.

In 2010 compact system cameras shipment peaked at 108 million while iPhone shipments reached 46.6 million.

In 2016 compact system cameras shipments dropped to 12 million while iPhone shipments peaked at 215.4 million.
Click to expand...

The ability do get something over a 2 year plan is not a positive, i prefer to pay for any gear up front. I certainly would not like to be tied to any company just to get a camera. My Fuji is pretty much always with me, yes .... and it'll smoke ANY phone camera in any situation. It's a 4 year old model too.

Also, phones are getting bigger, meanwhile cameras are getting smaller. If anything phones are becoming more of a nuisance. Everyone has their phone on them no matter what , so what they can do besides is irrelevant. Most people into photography however, have been carrying cameras in their bag daily for decades, only nowadays you can get the same quality in much lighter, tidier packages.
 
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Cagey75 said:
The ability do get something over a 2 year plan is not a positive, i prefer to pay for any gear up front. I certainly would not like to be tied to any company just to get a camera. My Fuji is pretty much always with me, yes .... and it'll smoke ANY phone camera in any situation. It's a 4 year old model too.
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You sir are a serious photog and this thread is obviously not for you. :)

A lot of people have a more lean cash flow and if they can get something on installment then it's an advantage for them.
 
Aren't phone camera's a bit of a one trick pony? Would it make a good sports, wildlife, studio, lowlight (gig photography) camera?
No it won't.
 
dolina said:

A few questions

* What phone is she using?
* Was the lens clean before taking the image?
* What display are you looking at it on?
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My Mrs and most of her chums seem to use iphones but what vintage I don't know as I have no interest in phones what so ever. There's also a smattering of other makes when I look at the details. They're viewed on the phone, a Samsung tablet and now and again on my Samsung laptop.

I've no doubt that a talented person can take award winning pictures with a phone but do wonder if the chip, lens and software combinations in smartphones can produce the image quality you can get from MFT or even a 1" camera no matter what lens they're fitted with but as I keep saying, they do look lovely as whole pictures on the smartphone or tablet.
 
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Nostromo said:
Aren't phone camera's a bit of a one trick pony? Would it make a good sports, wildlife, studio, lowlight (gig photography) camera?
No it won't.
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Obvious it wont do those things but iPhones are known to be used for some magazine covers. Goes to show how far these phones have come.

For 99.999% of the planet a point & shoot then and a smartphone today is more then enough for what they do.

Mind you, this thread is about the casual photog and not serious photog who creatively express themselves.
 
Nostromo said:
Aren't phone camera's a bit of a one trick pony? Would it make a good sports, wildlife, studio, lowlight (gig photography) camera?
No it won't.
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Out of your list a phone camera could probably do good studio photography. It's fixed (wide) focal length and small sensor would work against it in the other areas though.

I don't think anyone is claiming phone cameras will replace more specialist tools. But as a tool used within the limits of it's capabilities, it's perfectly fine and can produce good images.
As I said earlier in the thread, if the focal length was around 40mm (35mm equiv) I'd be using it as my walkabout camera. When my iPhone 6s plus dies a death i'll be interested to try one of the newer iPhones with the dual 28mm and 56mm (35mm equiv) lenses.

Regardless of if you actually use the camera on a phone, I think they're nigh on indispensable for a photographer :-

I use my mine to edit, catalogue, back up to the cloud, share my photos and order prints. Often done from a cafe at the end of a walkabout with a digital camera
I use a light meter app when I'm out shooting with my Mamiya C330
I use the Google scanning app for scanning old photos
 
I've seen a selection of portraits using the Pixel 2 phone (on "portrait" mode to simulate shallow dof) and I must admit, for a smartphone, I'm incredibly impressed!
 
Ste_S said:
I'd disagree. Shot in well lit conditions, I think phone camera pics look fine blown up. In fact Apple had the 'Shot on iPhone' campaign with photos blown up to billboard size
Click to expand...

Heavily tweaked and cleaned in post though, especially for noise.
 
Nostromo said:
Aren't phone camera's a bit of a one trick pony? Would it make a good sports, wildlife, studio, lowlight (gig photography) camera?
No it won't.
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I'm waiting for the iPhone with a 600mm. A bit awkward for phone calls mind.
 
Ste_S said:
Isn't everything that's blown up to Billboard size ?
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Probably. The point being it's not really the usual output. Even more so with a telephone.
 
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