Phone vs camera

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Katie sure
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Hi all
Is there a digital camera that is far better than an iPhone? And under about £300-£500 It’s for my son, who only wants a phone for the camera! He has a lumix g1 but it’s not as good as my phone now. Thanks all
 
Most are incl your g1 with some effort, but is he willing to put the effort in to learn and produce better photography?
 
... I've owned the g1 and using a P30 Pro (supposedly the best phone cam), I'm fairly confident I can get nicer images with a g1 fast prime setup and I really didn't like that camera much.
 
I can guarantee the lumix will blow any phone out of the water..IF you learn how to use it and understand how photography works.

If you just see something and snap, then probably not, but a phone adds so much processing to an image, it’ll look nice small, but enlarge it any and it’ll look awful most of the time.
Take the time to expose the shot, choose the settings suitable to the environment, then the lumix will provide a much more detailed image that can be printed or displayed at much larger sizes than a phone.
 
I was a fan of the Panasonic G1 and had one for a few years and I haven't seen anything from a phone yet that could match it let alone beat it. I don't think you need a fast prime either.

I suppose if your phone is giving better pictures than a G1 it's most likely down to two possibilities, the in phone processing may be making the difference or it could be how you're looking at the pictures. For example my Mrs and her friends take pictures with their phones and they very often look absolutely lovely or stunning even on their phones and tablets but when I look at them on my pc the problems are there to be seen.

So, the way to get better pictures from the G1 may be to look at post capture processing. Personally I always shoot raw and process for best effect but tweaking the cameras jpeg settings might get you more pleasing results too.
 
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It is about the user - and understanding the limits. I’m using a Canon D30 and a Kodak DCS Pro SLR C and it blows every camera (the Kodak) our of the water for sheer detail and quality (apart form the canon EOS R and RX1R I have!).

Nearly 20 years old I think..
 
Yup - all of the top image-processing software talent will be hired by phone developers. That market is HUGE; the rewards far greater.

In the ever-shrinking camera market, creativity and problem solving has to come from the user.

Just buy him a better phone. Pixel?
 
1. The thing is that with cameras, to realise their potential you have to take charge of them. User intervention is the name of the game. To use a camera on full auto is a cop-out. In other words, it requires effort. So he'd have to be motivated for the scheme to work.

2. The number of megapixels doesn't matter much.

3. Your budget will get him a belting camera / lens. To compete with a phone for convenience, I guess it might need to be fairly compact? If you can get him to see some it should help - two issues are what it's like to hold, and what it's like to look through (or at, if it only has a rear screen).

I have no connection with the company whose page this is, but consider this: https://www.ffordes.com/p/SH-18-022942/fuji/finepix-x100s-silver
 
1. The thing is that with cameras, to realise their potential you have to take charge of them. User intervention is the name of the game. To use a camera on full auto is a cop-out. In other words, it requires effort. So he'd have to be motivated for the scheme to work.

2. The number of megapixels doesn't matter much.

3. Your budget will get him a belting camera / lens. To compete with a phone for convenience, I guess it might need to be fairly compact? If you can get him to see some it should help - two issues are what it's like to hold, and what it's like to look through (or at, if it only has a rear screen).

I have no connection with the company whose page this is, but consider this: https://www.ffordes.com/p/SH-18-022942/fuji/finepix-x100s-silver

He doesn’t need a new camera, he has a g1 that is more than capable. He just needs to learn how to use it.
 
Here is an interesting video..

The G1, 10 years later.. Granted this was shot last year but nothing has changed. When in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, it can produce great images.

View: https://youtu.be/FQ4UGk_2I9k
 
Maybe buy the son a £100 photography course, instead?

That would reap benefits whether he sticks with the phone or a camera.
 
Perhaps the issue is more that a phone can somewhat make up for a lack of ability through clever processing to produce a better looking *phone size* image than a better quality conventional camera can when viewed straight out of camera.

As said, if he wants to create great pictures then learning how to use a conventional camera like the G1 is the way to go.
 
Hi all
Is there a digital camera that is far better than an iPhone? And under about £300-£500
Yes absolutely, especially if you're happy to buy used.

He has a lumix g1 but it’s not as good as my phone now. Thanks all
As already mentioned the G1 is capable of much better results than any current phone, you just need to learn how to use it properly (y)

Have a look through several pages on here to give you a general idea of what the G1 is capable of (y)
https://www.flickr.com/groups/lumix-g1/pool/
 
1. The thing is that with cameras, to realise their potential you have to take charge of them. User intervention is the name of the game. To use a camera on full auto is a cop-out. In other words, it requires effort. So he'd have to be motivated for the scheme to work.

2. The number of megapixels doesn't matter much.

3. Your budget will get him a belting camera / lens. To compete with a phone for convenience, I guess it might need to be fairly compact? If you can get him to see some it should help - two issues are what it's like to hold, and what it's like to look through (or at, if it only has a rear screen).

I have no connection with the company whose page this is, but consider this: https://www.ffordes.com/p/SH-18-022942/fuji/finepix-x100s-silver


1: As you say learn to use the camera. Fully auto is a cop out.

2: The number of megapixels only matters for enlargements but then quality relies on lens etc. etc. Most people using high megapixel phones only view the result on a HDTV (2mp) or a 4kTV (8mp) or get printed on 7x5 paper. In those cases anything more than 8mp is wasted.

3: That budget would be better saved up for top of the range camera IF/WHEN he out grows the G1 he already has if he want to take photography further. If all he wants are snaps then just stick with the phone. I have (as a spare) a 7.5mp supercompact/bridge camera which produces jpgs that will knock the spots off most if not all of the current phone cameras but it won't superimpose bunny ears, whiskers, glasses etc. on the photo.

Phone cameras are designed to sell phones to the majority rather than to 'take photos'. It's like fancy baits catching more anglers than fish.
 
As others have said, its all down to how you use it.

There is a big difference between camera phones and cameras, in that camera phones are designed to be used by someone with absolutely zero skill in photography, there is a ton of sensors, AI, and processing going on to ensure that the user gets a pretty decent image every time. Phone companies have invest a lot of time and money into producing these systems.

And whats more 'pretty decent' is way good enough for the average user and most of them wouldn't know or care about better photography anyway.

However if you want to go above pretty decent, then you need a proper camera, but just as the phone companies invest time in putting all that AI software in, you need to invest time in knowing what you are doing with that camera.

Even if you went out and spent £30K + on a top end professional camera setup, it most certainly wouldn't mean that you'd instantly get professional grade images. You need to invest a lot of time into studying a lot of different aspects of photography before you'd even get close.
 
Perhaps the issue is more that a phone can somewhat make up for a lack of ability through clever processing to produce a better looking *phone size* image than a better quality conventional camera can when viewed straight out of camera.

As said, if he wants to create great pictures then learning how to use a conventional camera like the G1 is the way to go.
This - the camera in the phone is 90% software - any half decent camera is better in the right hands.

Unfortunately to the man in the street - it doesn't matter that what's coming out of the phone isn't really a photograph if it looks better than what they perceive comes out of their camera.
 
I get to work some pretty awkward and space limited dark places where the phone is the logical option. Once out of those cramped conditions then nothing beats the proper camera. I could use it in the dark places too, but work is all about getting the result swiftly. Time is money as well as the need for safety considerations.

Enlargements on the phone are dreadful beyond a certain limit and not worth bothering with. Trouble is the camera phone I use is well beyond the budget mentioned, the camera would come in cheaper, but is often seen as cumbersome and awkward by the younger generation who rate convenience over quality.
 
An average 2019 Android phone can't give a decent A4 print. A 30D from 2 decades ago, can easily do A3 and with some effort a lot more...

By 2029 they might just about get even.... Their best hope is making the whole back of the phone into microcamera array.
 
An average 2019 Android phone can't give a decent A4 print. A 30D from 2 decades ago, can easily do A3 and with some effort a lot more...

By 2029 they might just about get even.... Their best hope is making the whole back of the phone into microcamera array.
Whilst I agree with the bits about image quality- the 30d is only 13 years old.
 
Smartphone software already outruns camera software. Once Apple/Google connects AI and Big Data to in-phone image editing, it's over:

  • Siri, I've split up with Ellie, remove her from Contacts
  • Siri, find all photos with me and Ellie
  • Siri, remove Ellie from all of those images
  • Siri, find most-liked pictures of me on my SM accounts
  • Siri, take those photos and apply -20kg filter
  • Siri, now apply the -10 years filter
  • Siri, add those photos to my Tinder account
  • Siri, you'd better order me some new underpants, too
Only us dinosaurs will bother with digital cameras, manual settings and IQ
 
I don't think the op's coming back. Anyway, I hope she's getting something sorted for her son.
 
The OP is probably completely perplexed by the discussion, she only wanted a camera recommendation for her son!

And was told they already had a perfectly decent Camera. Why waste money buying another when they haven’t tried learning with the one they have.
 
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