joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Firstly, I am not brand loyal and in the nearly 60 years of taking snaps I have owned cameras from all major brands and several brands of smartphones. I have never used a I-Phone.

My current favorite is the Sony Experia 1V, coming from the Samsung S22 Ultra. What I like about the Sony is that it has manual camera controls unlike the others I've used. And it has 16mm, 24mm and a 85-125 mm optical zoom lens and every thing in between and beyond but its digital. This phone not into digital magic like some, nothing wrong with magic as long as the result good. The Sony is smaller and lighter than the Samsung, which makes it nicer to carry.

What I miss about the Samsung is the telephoto capability out to 30X. Also on the Sony continuous shutter only works with jpg, but I think they are very good straight from the camera, and take adjustments well.

What is nice about smartphones which not a lot of people may know is you can buy them unlocked and place your sim card from the exiting phone in it, transfer your files and data and you are good to go.

Or you can skip the sim switch altogether and use it as a camera and set up just about everything but the phone related features, as long as you have a WiFi account. You just can't text or make calls. Considering what a decent camera and lens costs, a flagship phone camera is a bargain and far more versatile.

I don't know I-Phone my experience is with Android.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thanks for your very informative review, Joe. I agree with you on the versatility of a cellphone/camera. And you’re right, it is a bargain compared to the cost of a good camera plus lens. I have limited experience with the Android phones. A few years ago,when the iPhone 8 came out, we couldn’t get one because of the demand, so the lady at the AT&T store recommended a Galaxy phone because she thought it was more of a computer than a phone and was better than the iPhone. I don’t recall the model. I had to agree that the camera was better than the iPhone’s camera at the time, but we didn’t care for the phones themselves. Maybe that particular model just had bugs, so when the opportunity presented itself, we picked up iPhone 8’s and were happy with them. As for which one is better now, I think it’s a toss up. Each brand has its own set of features that makes it different from the others. I don’t have any experience with the Sony phones, but from what you’ve posted, I like what I see. Again, thanks for your thoughts.

This is developing into a good thread and I hope more will contribute. I think this sort of thing is helpful to anyone who is considering a smartphone for a camera beyond snapping a selfie or quick grab of the grandkids sort of thing. These things have a lot of potential.

Dbez1 Loc: Ford City, PA

I agree Wingpilot, they really do have a lot of potential, even for serious photographers now. Can you imagine what they’ll be like in 10 years??? Even now they’ll go up to 11x14 and beyond without losing sharpness.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

I have 2 16x24 hanging on my wall.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Actually, you can make calls and text if you use WhatsApp. When traveling I put my iPhone on airplane mode and connect to WiFi because it’s always available in hotels and ships. Then the app allows you to call and text to the people you know who also have the app. This app is what a lot of non Americans use to communicate because it’s so inexpensive.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Yep, it works really well. My dau and son in law were in Africa recently and that's how we communicated with them while they were there.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thanks for that info.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Good to know.

johnny1950 Loc: Palm Coast, Florida

Hi All:
I had a day off from work and went to the range. I used my phone (Samsung 23S Ultra) as a spotting scope at 15 yards. Used the 30 x and was clear as a bell. Saved a lot of walking to check the target.
Johnny

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Yet another use for a cellphone. Cool.

Dbez1 Loc: Ford City, PA

That’s a creative use of a camera/phone. Good thinking!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I often carry a camera with a normal to long zoom lens and my other camera that I always carry is an Iphone. Currently an SE. I use it in combo with the other camera. I use the iPhone for wide (or Pano). Sometimes I will take pictures of a scene for the Geo markers which the interchangeable lens camera doesn’t do. Sometimes I’ll use the iPhone for a night or dim light scene. It seems to do well in low light with much less effort than my interchangeable lens camera.

In fact, I use the iPhone quite a bit. Sometimes I don’t have another camera. Sometimes I do. The iPhone is a fine camera, it’s easily accessible and it also has a Phone included! I can quickly share images, having a phone included has many advantages.

Now, having said that. I have a friend who has a galaxy and she takes pictures and the galaxy camera kicks the iPhones butt every time.

I’m a firm believer that the most important contribution to image quality is the numb nuts behind the camera. 😄

And there’s more to the phone camera than just the IQ, there is the operating system to consider. I don’t want to learn android or whatever that operating system is it those things use. So I stick with my iPhone and when handled well it does fine.

Dbez1 Loc: Ford City, PA

I’ve noticed the same thing. It’s easy to get good low light shots with my iPhone. They’re not a total replacement for a DSLR yet, but my Nikon isn’t used nearly as much as it used to be.