Low Budget Dave

Apple alone sells 210 million phones per year. That is about 10 times bigger than the total camera and accessory sales of every company on your entire list combined.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

You did not read my post, please go back and re read it. I did not mention the number of phones a company makes, I was talking about the number of PHONE MANUFACTURE COMPANIES vs. the number of Camera Manufacturing Companies. Please read posts carefully before responding next time. You completely missed the point also.

Low Budget Dave

I understood your post, I was making a point.

Just because people don't want to play Google games does not mean that we are confused.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Just thinking about 2 family weddings I attended this past year. The only cameras I noticed was the paid photographers. Everyone else used there cell phones. Not one person at either wedding had a camera with them, including me. This was not always the case.

Just a few years back, I went to a wedding reception and they had those cheap throwaway camera's at every table and asked people to take pictures and turn them into so they could get as many pics as they could of the reception. Many people, including me, had their own camera's with them as well. No more. This, regardless of statistics (although stats certainly bear this out) show that while real cameras may still be sold, there use has tumbled drastically among the populace. In other words, look closely before buying stock in any DSLR camera company.

Also, while I'm at it, billnikon seems to be out of touch with what cell phone cameras can do these days.
For example, In 2016 before I used my cell camera, my daughter had me take a couple pics with her phone. I guess I held the "button" down a second or so and the she had 2 sets of 30 pictures in burst mode.... She laughed her butt off that I'd do something so "dumb". The other thing I always yelled at my kids for takings pics w/o the flash in dim lighting.... wrong again, those damn things take low light pictures surprisingly well, with no effort. My DSLR does better with the flash than my cell, but it takes effort and all that rot.

Are they better than a DSLR, well yeah, for lots of things, not so much for a few things. For the general populace that used to carry around cameras at parties, picnics, weddings, and so on, cameras are finished, done, kaput. For the professional that sells his work or hobbyist that likes to take pictures of bees, flowers, birds, sunsets and such, "real" cameras will be there for a good while, or forever, whichever comes first.

I'd still think twice on stock purchases....

Haydon

I've also heard stores where those disposable cameras left at every table have a few guests in a drunken stupor snapping images in the bathroom. Not a wedding I would want to remember by the pictures taken. Good idea in premise, bad idea executed. Just call me old school, weddings and special events are better left for the appropriate tool and photographer.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

It appears you were.

74images Loc: Los Angeles, California

This Past Weekend (September 14th/15th) I Attended Two Events here in the L.A. Area, a Baby Shower & a 40 Year Class Reunion from My Old High School.

The People who Shot the 2 Events Put them On Facebook, & the Photos from the Camera Phones that they Shot from, Most were Lousy, Underexposed, Dark, & Out of Focus.

I Shot from 2 Canon Powershot Cameras, a SX-50, Bridge Camera & a Powershot SX-150 Pocket Camera, my Photos Came Out Better on Facebook than the Camera Phones.

Now I don't know if they had Apple Phones or Google, or Samsung Camera Phones, & some of my Photos were Poor, but I Have a Feature on Both Cameras that Correct Darken Photos, I don't Know if the Elite Camera Phones have the same Device on those Phones.

Anyway... with the Class Reunion which Graduated a Year Before me in 79, Most of the Camera Phone Shots were from Phone Cameras, I Didn't See One Damn D.S.L.R or Bridge, or Pocket Digital, I Crashed the Reunion After 10:30, & I'm the Only One in the Elks Lodge where the Reunion was Held at with a Bridge Camera, & my Photos Came Out Better than the Camera Phone Shots.

I Viewed a Lot of Camera Phone Shots of the 40th Class Reunion that was Put on Facebook, & Most were So S@#tty Looking, Underexposed & Dark, & Out of Focus!

What the Hell Happend with the Camera Phone Shots, I can't Explain?

Some Camera Phones Work Well... Some Don't!

The Photos I Put Out on Facebook Look a Little More Better I Shot from my SX-50.

To Me I'm Still Mixed with the Camera Phones & Love & Hate Issue!

74images

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Well they also had a "real" photographer taking pictures, but pretty sure he didn't get any bathroom pics. I assume the thinking is the real photographer can't be everywhere all the time, so a camera at every table is probably going to get some good ones, maybe even in the bathroom, who knows.

The point is, no one has a need for any of this as cell phones are everywhere, one for every person, and my last two weddings saw no or almost no personal camera's, only cell phones. Of course the professional wedding photographer had real camera's, just no one else did.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Generally speaking, people taking cell phone pictures know zip about photography, and are not taking pics for display at the museum of fine arts. Think about the times you went to an event at a 50,000 seat stadium, and people are taking flash pictures in the dark, 1000 feet away with everything from point and shoot to a D850. Most cell pictures are not about quality, but subject matter, sort of like newspaper photographers used to do.

Someone in this thread posted a link to fine art pictures taken with cell phones. To know what can be done with cell phones today, you probably should look at these rather than face book postings by non-photographers that care little about picture quality.

My daughter sends all her cell pictures to google photo site. Most of them suck big time, all the things you just mentioned. Some however are straight up fantastic, some fantastic after some post work. I asked her why she uploads ALL of them, even the sucky ones, she gives me the look and like what do you mean, "sucky"? Really? Blurry, out focus, underexposed, terrible composition is what I mean. It does NOT register.

I've been taking pics for many, many years, with real cameras, and most of my pictures also suck. Many of them go to digital heaven, many I keep for no determinable reason, and a few I consider good, very few really good.

Like people constantly repeat on the hog, it's not the camera, it's the shooter. Cell camera's haven't changed this concept at all, even though personally, like you, I have some reservations about it.

74images Loc: Los Angeles, California

I Do Look at the Cell Phone Photos on Facebook & on UHH, & Half are Good Maybe 70%, the 30% are Crap!

I don't know about you Fella I Take My Photography Very Serious when Shooting Photos, Again... I Look at the Camera Phone Photos & Photos from Digital Cameras & the Phone Shots are Damn Sharp! & With a Hi-End to Medium D.S.L.R.

The Reunion I Attended this Past Weekend had "Pictures & Memories" but I saw The Photos on Facebook From the Reunion & Again they Looked S@#tty!

The Day After the Reunion A Handful of Of Class of 79 Members met a A Small Restaurant A Couple of Blocks from the Beach & they Posted Pictures from that Event &They Looked Damn Good from their Camera Phones, Sharp & Rich!

So in the Case of the Reunion Photos that were Shot from Camera Phones from the Events, Most that I Saw were Crap, a Handful of Mine were Crap from My Canon SX-50 & It was No Excuse for the Camera Phones to Act Like that!

Again... I don't know what Model Phones they were Using when they Took their Reunion Photos, or Other Features, I know that They (The Classmates) Shot within 2 to 5 Feet with their Phones & Most were Dark, Out of Focus.

& The Reunion wasn't the Only Photos I've Seen Camera Phone Photos that Look Like Crap, some of my Facebook Friends have Camera Phones & Posted Events on Facebook & Most of Their Photos are Dark, Out of Focus, & Crap, & some of the Photos were Events, a Kodak Moment that the Photos Came Out Crap & these were Apple, Samsung & Google Phones.

Another Issue is the Flash Range on the Camera Phones, Despite Lenses that have F-Stops Under 2.0, Some Indoor Photos from Camera Phones that I've Seen Are Crap & Some are Damn Good.

That's Why I Won't Touch a Camera Phone, & why should I have to Pay a Freaking Grand for an Apple 10 or 11, or its Rival that Half Ass won't Bring Clear Quality Shots Indoors Or Out.

No Thanks Fella... I'll Stay Old School with my Regular Cameras, Despite the Size Weight, Etc!

My Photos that I Shoot i Take "Very Serious" when it Comes to Quality, I Carefully Look Hard on the Sharpness of My Images that I Shoot, & Most Likely you do the Same!

74images

74images Loc: Los Angeles, California

Do these High-End Camera Phones Have Creative Filters Like Fish Eye, Miniature, HDR, Vivid, Color Accent, Where you Can Shoot in One Color & the Rest is in Black & White, & Color Swap, & Poster Effect, my Two Canon Powershots Have them.

What Kind of Creative Filters do The Apple's & Samsung Phones have?

74images

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I don't use a tripod, make prints, or adjust exposure by 10 stops on any of my cameras. However, I do use my smart phone to photograph an object in our house and ask our daughters about it in less time than getting a camera bag would take.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

What is the point of having lots of companies?
I'm guessing a lot of money that used to go to Nikon now goes to Apple.