alexol

Unless your photos have to please someone else, for professional or other reasons, then you are taking photos for your own pleasure.

And if it pleases you to use an iPhone or Android phone, then use it. If it pleases you to spend multi thou$ands on camera gear, go for it. It's your pleasure, your hobby you are catering too.

For myself, my photos are only ever to please myself and I find that over time I'm drifting more toward the ease and simplicity of cellphones and cameras like the XPro3 and x100v. Sold the D850 and the many pounds/kilos of lenses and miss them only rarely.

And, of course, YMMV.

Racmanaz Loc: Sunny Tucson!

Interesting, I'm actually seriously considering the purchase of the Fuji X-T4 this week.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I wish the author had delved into what he classifies as "computational" photography.
--Bob

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I was thinking about this as well. What is the definition of computational photography?

In it's most basic definition, a digital image is computational photography. Because there is no inherent image in a digital sensor, the image is created by processing the digital data, 100010111, etc in the raw file. Sometimes it's done in camera and exported as a JPEG. Sometimes on the users computer. Either way the sensor data is processed by a computer to create the image file.

And yet there is more to it as well.

"As yet, there is neither a clear boundary nor a concrete definition of computational photography. As a loose description, computational photography accounts for studies for the extension of film-like photography and digital photography, which both capture only a 2D projection of visual scenes. The difference is that computational photography aims to acquire much richer visual information, to generate images with compelling visual results or assist with specific tasks, e.g. computer vision or medical science."
From: An overview of computational photography, SUO JinLi, JI XiangYang & DAI QiongHai∗, Nov 26, 2011
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11432-012-4587-6.pdf

So it comes down to how much processing is done by the hardware, vs that done by the user. The old "auto" vs "manual" option, again.

Racmanaz Loc: Sunny Tucson!

Maybe this will help, I was reading it last night and it includes a ton of information.

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/9828658229/computational-photography-part-i-what-is-computational-photography

Paul Diamond Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA

My cell phone was the top one about two years ago. It does not have something I choose as my 'focus point' and it does not select the eyes or even head of animals or people as the focal point. In fact, I'm never in control of what is and is not in focus in my cell pics. This is what I'd call a point and shoot. - OK, but it does not duplicate what I see and what I want to photograph, nor will it allow me to choose.

Is my cellphone and my camera 'computational photography' - Absolutely, but..... Your images are digital, they must be 'read' digitally or viewed on the computer digitally until they are printed with dye or ink. It's a package deal.

alexol

Depending on your phones' OS there are a number of photo apps which will allow - even require - considerable control over equivalent shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal point etc.

There's even one which mimicks 645 film cameras.

There are dozens of photo apps, probably way more than is useful, but with some research (if it interests you), you will find one to do what you want.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

With most cell phones, touching the screen will change the focus point, the phone will meter and focus in the area that is touched. Your's doesn't work that way?