rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Like many others I curse from time to time, but I don’t consider myself or wish to be a blasphemous guy. So if I buy a medium format digital camera* and use it a good percentage of the time to create social media “check in” images, such as “lunch with a friend at xxxx restaurant”, am I denigrating the medium format and committing blasphemy? By medium format, I mean the likes of Pentax 645Z, Fuji GFX 50S, Mamiya 645DF, Leica S3 (coming soon) or other as yet unreleased. Will welcome your opinions. /Ralph

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

One issue for me is taking the most expensive camera's I have (not medium format) with me
to lunches and places I go. I have cameras I take like the Sony a6300. I don't have a body over
3k but with lens will not go to lunch with the leave them in my car or a hotel.
The camera's you are talking about are great and quite expensive.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

It is what it is...Hopefully you did not spend that kind of money on a camera to take only this kind of photo...but i sould use my smart phone for this type of shots...

Alafoto Loc: Montgomery, AL

I think that when you buy something, it's yours to do with as you wish. Nobody else's opinion should matter. Now having said that, Any of the mentioned cameras seem a bit heavy and inconvenient for the uses you mentioned, not to mention expensive.

For a year or so, when just starting my own studio, I shot weddings weekly with an RB-67 and Metz flash. Quite heavy for hand holding, but provided excellent images with a bit of room for cropping. When I banished it to the camera room in the studio and could afford a Bronica 6x6 to replace it with for on site work,I was a happy camper.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

I just traded my smartphone in for a basic flip phone. I use a tablet 90% of the time, and realized I wasn’t getting much use out of the smartphone despite its many features and very good camera.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Did you take those camera's to the beach. Or a wine and fun lunch with friends in a restuarant.
You can do anything you want with your camera. Most who cherish these good camera's
are very protective of them. It is like the sunday cae a lamborghini.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I used to shot medium format film. Wouldn't have even dreamed of using it for that purpose. But, hey, once you have the camera and lens with digital, the photo cost is zero. I say go for it, you might even get an admiring glance from the rare citizen you might run into who would know how and what you are doing. Or maybe a smirk.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

I’ve long thought medium format cameras should come with a Lamborghini as a standard accessory.

BebuLamar

I don't think think so rjaywallace! No difference from taking the Lamborghini to McDonalds. Perhaps you simply don't know how to use the cell phone or perhaps you don't want to use products made in certain place of the earth.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I use my smartphone more for directions and listening to music more than anything else.

bleirer

Big and heavy, poor depth of field at a given focal length, draws attention to yourself, hard to put in a pocket or even around your neck, expensive, you won't want to leave if on a table while you picnic, but would take nice Facebook shots, but you might not be able to tell the difference.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

I had no geographic prejudice against the smartphone and I did understand how to use it, I just prefer the much larger screen of the tablet. Now using my phone just to make/receive calls.

Quixdraw Loc: x

I don't carry or use a cell phone, I do take relatively expensive cameras / lenses nearly everywhere. Though I certainly don't NEED it, I'm even considering another expensive camera. There is an age when, if you can afford it, you take your pleasures where you can. Go for it, use it as you care to, most of all, enjoy!

19104 Loc: Philadelphia

Its your gear use it like you want. I use to do a lot of street shooting with a hasselblad 500C. Then i bought a Mamiya 6 i thought it would be great i didn't have to carry a light meter any more. But tge in camera meter sucked so i went back to the Hassy. I have a lot of friends who only shoot with cell phones . But i come from using large format and im lookinh for the very best image quality. So im with you 100 percent. Im looking to get a gfx 100 soon.

Happy shooting

le boecere

Long ago, I was in the first corporate class designed to teach us to help wireless telephone company customers troubleshoot the first so-called "smartphones" on the market. I never bought one (too dumb for a "smart" phone"), and have continued to carry a "flip-phone" since they were first marketed.

In those first classes, the technical wizards from both the manufacturer and the carrier "drilled" that smartphones were not designed for "voice" (though we were not allowed to convey that message to customers) ~ they were designed as digital data communication devices that could be used for "talk", secondarily.

I carry a pocket camera with me daily. About a year or so, ago, I got jealous of my friends showing off their snaps of grandkids on their cellphones, but still could not abide those little display screens ~ so, I bought an 8" tablet for the purpose. Does it fit in my rear pocket? No, but I could never imagine carrying a smartphone that way, either (and, besides, it appears to me that most people carry their phone in their hand ~ I carry my camera in a pocket).