Where are all the Real Photographers? We just got back from touring Europe and we probably saw at the most 10 people shooting with interchangeable lens cameras! Everyone else was using...

markwilliam1

We just got back from touring Europe and we probably saw at the most 10 people shooting with interchangeable lens cameras! Everyone else was using smartphones. Not saying that you’re not a photographer when using a smartphone! I use my Apple 14 Pro Max and I consider myself a photographer. I was even out of place using my little Sony RX100vii. Unbelievable! Not many years ago everyone who takes pictures were lugging around a big camera and lenses.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Could it be that a phone and small Sony make you more "real" as a travel photographer? You've learned that better travel images come when you are inconspicuous! You've learned that cameras with good stabilization built in let you leave the tripod behind!

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

markwilliam1 wrote:

We just got back from touring Europe and we probably saw at the most 10 people shooting with interchangeable lens cameras! Everyone else was using smartphones. Not saying that you’re not a photographer when using a smartphone! I use my Apple 14 Pro Max and I consider myself a photographer. I was even out of place using my little Sony RX100vii. Unbelievable! Not many years ago everyone who takes pictures were lugging around a big camera and lenses.

I agree. I think I was the only one on my river cruise that had a professional camera and lens. But because I have done this so many times, I did not feel strange, or out of place. I was amused by all the people using cell phones. Some day those will be up to par with the ton of equipment I carried. But not as of yet. You cannot get the DOF, and cropping ability with the cell phones.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Times change, equipment changes.
People like to travel light. People like simplicity.
Cells are the "Instamatic" of the future.

I was in Iceland a few years ago, I pulled out my camera when disembarking the tour bus, a person across the isle said "He has a real camera.".
Go figure...

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I'll trade DOF and cropping ability for inconspicuous anytime!

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

bsprague wrote:

I'll trade DOF and cropping ability for inconspicuous anytime!

You pay all that money to travel overseas, and being inconspicuous is your goal??

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Longshadow wrote:

Times change, equipment changes.
People like to travel light. People like simplicity.
Cells are the "Instamatic" of the future.

I was in Iceland a few years ago, I pulled out my camera when disembarking the tour bus, a person across the isle said "He has a real camera.".
Go figure...

I was on an "exclusives" small group tour bus. One of the people had a 'real' camera and tripod. He wouldn't take pictures without a full set up because he was a "real photographer". The entire group had to wait for him at every stop.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Why feel amused... Those folks with the phones who have some photo experience could post their pics on this site and NEVER announce what device created them and I would wager 90% of folks here would not even question the source; there is a lot of compression on internet photos. Most would even admit that even " right now " the quality is good enough ! At the very least, a phone cam should be in the kit and USED for more than phone calls.... Start getting used to it... IT'S coming.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

bsprague wrote:

I was on an "exclusives" small group tour bus. One of the people had a 'real' camera and tripod. He wouldn't take pictures without a full set up because he was a "real photographer". The entire group had to wait for him at every stop.

There is a midpoint between inconspicuous and being a jerk!!

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

azted wrote:

You pay all that money to travel overseas, and being inconspicuous is your goal??

Yes. One of my goals is being a good traveler. Too many tourists behave badly.

I think that the pictures I get are better because my subjects don't react to the camera. So, yes, small, but capable cameras have produced better travel images for me.

My first capable small camera was the original Sony RX100. I've upgraded to the VII version. In between I used a Panasonic LX100, now discontinued.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

bsprague wrote:

I was on an "exclusives" small group tour bus. One of the people had a 'real' camera and tripod. He wouldn't take pictures without a full set up because he was a "real photographer". The entire group had to wait for him at every stop.

Maybe he just had to do things the right way.....

JustJill Loc: Iowa

azted wrote:

I agree. I think I was the only one on my river cruise that had a professional camera and lens. But because I have done this so many times, I did not feel strange, or out of place. I was amused by all the people using cell phones. Some day those will be up to par with the ton of equipment I carried. But not as of yet. You cannot get the DOF, and cropping ability with the cell phones.

I was on a one day river cruise on the Mississippi river. Another gentleman and I were the only ones with cameras that that exchangeable lenses. That was before I had a zoom lens. He took his lens off and let me use it for awhile.

nedell Loc: Holland NY USA

I was at a state park recently and had my D750 that I always use. A man came up and said he was surprised that he wasnt the only one there using a dinosaur. I looked at him with a puzzled look and he explained we both were not using a phone like most everyone else in sight.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Having read the replies to the original post it makes me chuckle 🤭. I just had a month’s long trip in Europe and “lugged” around my 5Dsr outfitted with a 28-300 L lens. Some photos were actually easier to capture with the cell phone and came out as good if not better in quality when taken with the iPhone. Other times I just happened to have the iPhone and not the DSLR when something interesting was in front of me. While I agree that the iPhone camera doesn’t capture as many pixels as the “real” camera, it still can do one helluva good job at times. In fact, when set to the RAW function it puts out a fairly large DNG file for editing. As far as I’m concerned it’s just another camera available to me during my travels.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

pmorin wrote:

Having read the replies to the original post it ma... (show quote)

My cell has more pixels than my bridge camera, maybe even my DSLR.
OMG, my "cameras" are SO insufficient!