Ok,I'm an idiot: I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go. I think photos taken with a cell phone should not...

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go.
I think photos taken with a cell phone should not be shown on this forum. They are not cameras and the operator needs to show minimum skill in using them.

firtree Loc: Florida, USA

Personally, I think a photo is a photo, regardless of the equipment used. I have seen quite a few cell phone shots that were better than what I have gotten with my camera and was surprised to learn that they were taken with a cell phone because the quality (great lighting, no noise, etc.) was so good. I think it is perfectly fine to submit them to this forum. You have to shoot with what you have, if all you have is a cell phone, why be excluded? Just one humble opinion.

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

uh anything with a lens and can expose a sensor or film is a camera, (and it doesn't have to have a lens either). There are amazing photographs that were taken with a cell phone...

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

viscountdriver wrote:

I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go.
I think photos taken with a cell phone should not be shown on this forum. They are not cameras and the operator needs to show minimum skill in using them.

This is not a camera forum, it is a photography forum. One can produce a photograph with a cell phone, and they definitely require very minimal skill to do so. Sounds like they meet your requirements.

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

viscountdriver wrote:

I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go.
I think photos taken with a cell phone should not be shown on this forum. They are not cameras and the operator needs to show minimum skill in using them.

So I guess pictures taken with a pinhole camera shouldn't be shown either since there is no lens and no viewfinder just a box or can with a hole and a piece of film in it. The cell phone cameras are quite good and even better than some cheap cameras today. Any device that records a point in time is a camera. One still has to compose the shot and take it. There plenty of people that just use auto on their cameras and never progress beyond that, but just because they took it with a "camera" they can post it here on the UHH forum.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

viscountdriver wrote:

I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go.
I think photos taken with a cell phone should not be shown on this forum. They are not cameras and the operator needs to show minimum skill in using them.

Any DSLR with an "A" setting also requires minimal skills. Same with most any less complex camera. Where should we draw the line? The primary purpose of a cell phone may not be as a camera, but it certainly has that capability so, yes, it is a camera when used in that manner. They are also not calculators but they do a fine job as such when used in that manner also. A surprising number of incredible photos have been taken with cell phones by pro's and amateurs alike.
Personally, I, like you, disdain the cell phone cameras but, you can't deny the results that are often achieved.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

viscountdriver wrote:

I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go.
I think photos taken with a cell phone should not be shown on this forum. They are not cameras and the operator needs to show minimum skill in using them.

I think they are, in the gallery where they belong (like everything else).

What you may want to do is to create a 'cell or smart device' section that will be used for this growing segment.

No you are not an idiot for suggesting anything. The nincompoops are the 'nay sayers' and god knows how many we have on UHH.

MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

I think the question we should ask ourselves is.....Are we more concerned with the final product (the image) or are we more concerned with the equipment we used to create the image?

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

firtree wrote:

Personally, I think a photo is a photo, regardless of the equipment used. I have seen quite a few cell phone shots that were better than what I have gotten with my camera and was surprised to learn that they were taken with a cell phone because the quality (great lighting, no noise, etc.) was so good. I think it is perfectly fine to submit them to this forum. You have to shoot with what you have, if all you have is a cell phone, why be excluded? Just one humble opinion.

MtnMan Loc: ID

I try to be nice when posting here. So I'll agree nicely with your thread title. And some of the comments that support it.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I never take a photo with a cell phone--unless it's all I have available, and that's rare. That said, I have seen any number of cell phone photos that one would never know were taken in such a manner; they are simply excellent. Such photos belong here just as much as those taken by any other means. I have heard others who don't think such contraptions are "real photography," and it is my firm belief that those who want to exclude them are either perhaps intimidated by the fact that they and their thousands of dollars' worth of equipment are sometimes outdone by a lowly cell phone or that they are simply snobs who resent a new way of doing things. I used to belong to a camera club that had members wanting to outlaw photos taken by one of those "damned digital things" because they weren't real photography. That's the same attitude I see about banning cell phone photography. Keep them in because they belong just as much as any other kind of image maker.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

MikeMcK wrote:

I think the question we should ask ourselves is.....Are we more concerned with the final product (the image) or are we more concerned with the equipment we used to create the image?

Me? Final product. I don't care what made the image or what mode was used.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

RWR wrote:

This is not a camera forum, it is a photography forum. One can produce a photograph with a cell phone, and they definitely require very minimal skill to do so. Sounds like they meet your requirements.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Rongnongno wrote:

...
What you may want to do is to create a 'cell or smart device' section that will be used for this growing segment.
...

Na, then someone will want a Canon, Nikon, or mirrorless section...

Quixdraw Loc: x

viscountdriver wrote:

I like thinking outside the box and as a consequence I get shouted at a lot so here is a chance to have another go.
I think photos taken with a cell phone should not be shown on this forum. They are not cameras and the operator needs to show minimum skill in using them.

I don't carry a cell phone, though there is one in the car. I would take photos of an auto accident involving my vehicle with one, but nothing else. I don't object to cell phone (or other non camera device) photos, but I do agree that they should have their own forum. I don't knowingly comment on cell phone photos, though frankly, it is getting hard to tell the difference from thumbnail views. The objectionable thing to me is not the device, or the photos, but a significant portion of the users, who are massively self involved, rude, or just completely clueless and endlessly clutter nearly every photo opportunity.