Cameras vs Phones: Brief Insights from Consumers Reports
Oct 1, 2019 00:03:38 #
Whatever I have at hand. Have a Canon 80D with full panoply of lenses. But there are times when I only have my cheapo cell phone with me. Have gotten adequate pics, not of the highest quality but are adequate for many uses. Yes, inferior quality but useful.
Oct 1, 2019 05:15:13 #
aphelps wrote:
CR has some funky scoring system that generally doesn't tell you much.
It does? This is not a full report, those test results are usually on a 100 point scale or a 10 point scale. This one is more qualitative using words and some general numbers to go with it. I can follow what they are saying. And it is about TYPE of camera not about BRANDS of cameras.
Oct 1, 2019 05:17:07 #
PeteWeez wrote:
Main point about this CR report. There essentially is no report in the magazine. Look closely and you'll see that to get full report you need to be member of CR digital club which cost another $40/yr. Cr is starting to use the paper magazine as a teaser to get signups for their digital information. Sad. 
Yes, I could not even see the full report. It seems a lot of Mags are going that way.
Oct 1, 2019 05:23:19 #
wetreed wrote:
At least I didn’t belittle the person who started the thread, like you.
Interesting. I only provided the post for others. I have my own view before it or seeing the feed back. I was not trying to convince anyone in any direction, I just thought the mags approach was different.
Oct 1, 2019 05:26:49 #
rmalarz wrote:
I wish people would quit this comparison nonsense. Both take photos. That's where the comparison stops. They are two very different pieces of equipment.
--Bob
--Bob
That is obvious to you and I but some people barely what what a DSLR or MILC, so they need all the basic info they can find.
Oct 1, 2019 05:35:11 #
BebuLamar wrote:
Now I don't know if CR would make the OP takes the post down. I know CR doesn't want people to see their articles without paying.
It was scanned from my paid subscription for copy and anyone in a store carrying CR can read for free there. This is certainly not the first time someone has posted information on the UHH. It just seems to be too boring for some people that they have to carry on about the post it self. The UHH has links to all sorts of commercial information daily.
Oct 1, 2019 05:37:23 #
BebuLamar wrote:
I read CR before I do not make decision based on their recommendation but I do not think they are a scam or inaccurate. I do not use their recommendation because they give price too much weight in their ratings.
Actually, I fully agree with that.
Oct 1, 2019 05:45:32 #
In CR reviews I pretty much look at Dependability and Quality vs Price. Yes, they often are comparing Apples to Oranges with camera, stereo components, and computers.
Oct 1, 2019 09:14:46 #
wetreed wrote:
If you don’t like the thread, don’t read it. I have never seen this subject presented in this manner and find it very interesting. It’s not always about You. If you have something constructive to add do so, otherwise leave us alone. That is all I have to say about that.
👍👍👍
Might note that it would be very, very, very difficult to find any photography subject that has not been beaten to death on this forum. Otherwise you would be looking at dead air. The more interesting the subject, the more messages appear, and the longer the threads.
Oct 1, 2019 09:38:10 #
rmalarz wrote:
I wish people would quit this comparison nonsense. Both take photos. That's where the comparison stops. They are two very different pieces of equipment.
--Bob
--Bob
You got that right, Bob.
Every tool has a different scope of purpose. The scope of a smartphone encompasses — potentially — a couple of million wildly different applications. The scope of a dedicated camera encompasses a more targeted selection of use cases.
I own a few Swiss Army Knives. I always have one in my car, and another in my desk drawer. I use them when I have no access to better, dedicated tools. Yesterday, I tightened the screws of a switch plate in the bathroom across the hall. I used the Swiss Army Knife flat blade screwdriver. I was too lazy to go out to my tool shed and get the electrician's screwdriver.
Yesterday, I also photographed the label of a wine bottle with my iPhone, so I'd remember to buy it again, sometime. I often whip out the iPhone to take pictures of products and prices in stores, or document something I'm doing. It's great for gathering visual ideas to use later, during the process of planning a presentation. It's great for taking notes at a lecture. It's great for family snapshots. But it is also my:
phone, GPS, weather checker, calculator, email communicator, browser, radio, music player, cable TV over WiFi, alarm clock, news reader, and about 100 other things.
I wouldn't normally use my serious camera kit without a plan, even if that plan were simply to go on a photo hike. Usually, I know pretty clearly what I'm going to create with it.
My iPhone upholds the Boy Scout Motto (Be Prepared). My camera kit supports part of a sequence or thought process similar to Business Analysis and Project Management... turning worthy thoughts and goals into carefully crafted words and grounding, arresting images — for the purpose of leading people to some desirable action.
Oct 1, 2019 12:09:50 #
burkphoto wrote:
You got that right, Bob. br br Every tool has a d... (show quote)
Burkphoto, thank you for your cogent analysis of smartphone vs DSLR comparison!!! Superb and sublime! I think most of us use smartphone cameras in similar fashion as you.
My thought is, my iPhone camera is so much better than my first camera; a Kodak Instamatic with Flash Cubes! Anyone else here started with something similar? Any Kodak Brownie users?
Oct 1, 2019 16:52:46 #
DrewP wrote:
Burkphoto, thank you for your cogent analysis of smartphone vs DSLR comparison!!! Superb and sublime! I think most of us use smartphone cameras in similar fashion as you.
My thought is, my iPhone camera is so much better than my first camera; a Kodak Instamatic with Flash Cubes! Anyone else here started with something similar? Any Kodak Brownie users?
My thought is, my iPhone camera is so much better than my first camera; a Kodak Instamatic with Flash Cubes! Anyone else here started with something similar? Any Kodak Brownie users?
I have an Instamatic with flashcubes, too. I also have all my old negatives made with it in the mid-1960s.
Thanks for your compliment!
Oct 1, 2019 19:19:05 #
CR has interesting viewpoints and inherent biases. It is interesting to read and it provides a generally qualitative guidance without considering possible individual preferences. As an example at one time many years ago I purchased a car that CR rated as poor. It may have had some flaws but I owned it for seventeen years and sold it to my brother who donated it to some charity after owning it for three years. Read CR for general info but consider your own experience and preferences.
Oct 1, 2019 23:15:05 #
burkphoto wrote:
...........
But hey, they’re probably accurate about
most products 80% of the time...
But hey, they’re probably accurate about
most products 80% of the time...
Just for fun, I'll quantify your terms:
"probably accurate" .... 85% sound OK ?
"most products" .... how about 75% on that ?
"80% of the time" .... easy, 80% :-)
OKay .... 0.85x0.75x0.80=0.51
Sooooo .... then they are 51% accurate ....
IOW, they're accurate as often as they're not.
On that basis, can't see where a $40 per year
subscription beats tossing a coin ! And even if
the subscription were free, a coin toss is much
faster, and less eye strain, than reading CR ;-)
========================
Another perspective: Whatever we might think
about their reviews as being inadequate for a
buyer with specialized needs or interests, you
must allow that they do wear a bold badge of
honesty-of-purpose: It's in their very NAME !
That word, "CONSUMER", says it all.
Oct 1, 2019 23:42:46 #
Just about every magazine does that today...
PeteWeez wrote:
Main point about this CR report. There essentially is no report in the magazine. Look closely and you'll see that to get full report you need to be member of CR digital club which cost another $40/yr. Cr is starting to use the paper magazine as a teaser to get signups for their digital information. Sad.
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