home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

How well does a smart phone do for birds in flight?
I did use my iPhone 11 often in dark low lite areas while on vacation in Europe. I used the d500 and the 18 to 300 mm zoom most of the time when there was enough light as I did not take my flash. I also got some good landscape with iPhone but many times it was not much use. This vacation showed me that have the 2 cameras was useful. I have not loaded the iPhone shoots to the computer to examine them on a larger screen

The iPhone was nice for videos at children's school event last week when I was close enough

BebuLamar

"Fit my needs" is the reason. Back in the old days not too many people had cameras. At the turn of the century people started to buy a lot of cameras to fill their needs. Their needs were to document everything they do so they bought cameras but then the phones fit those needs much better than any cameras can.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

The ongoing development of smart phones is rapidly destroying the market for dedicated cameras. The pipeline of new users now funnels them directly into smart phones. Adding to the problem is attrition in the number of existing photographers using dedicated cameras is not being countered by sufficient new camera users.

OldTrojanFan

I'm less than 48 hours from traveling to multiple countries to visit Christmas Markets and still have not decided whether or not to take my Sony RX10 IV, I've already made that compromise from FF, or just go with the iPhone 14. My goal when I travel is to capture 2 or 3 shots that I like enough to put on my wall in 11x14 to 16x24 size. My prediction about the future is different than those that say these mini cams will never replace full frame cameras. I believe that in the not too distant future full frame cameras will become special use items. I'm guessing that if this board were around in the 90's the old timers (I'm 76) would have said "digital cameras are cute, but they will never replace film and darkroom", and a few still feel that way (special use). Don't bet against the march of tech, and if you doubt iPhones can make solid 16x24 prints you should look again.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

So if a given general discussion isn't important to you or your liking, it should not be brought up or continued?
You must be real fun at parties.

Yea, phone will never replace dedicated cameras,
but they will continue to work well in conjunction with them.

Had a calculus teacher in college. He would ask during review time "Any questions?"
People would ask to go over problem X on page Y.
He looked at it and replied "I already did that one. Any other questions?".
Yea, he already did it, weeks ago in a prior class......

As for the "pointless post (in your mind) and why do you even bother with it,
to complain maybe?

Yea, and in six months someone else (who hasn't seen prior discussions) will ask it again.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

A few years back I was fortunate to be able to go on a photo safari to Kruger NP and surrounding areas in South Africa. We passed a vehicle stopped near some rhinos in which almost everyone was using their phones to capture images of those creatures. I imagine that most of them want the photos to show their friends what they witnessed, and for that purpose the images will be fine. But SOME of them - maybe a few who would never have considered photography as a hobby - may get home and see other photos of wildlife taken with a traditional DSLR or newer mirrorless camera with a telephoto lens and decide that they want much better images in the future. I enjoy having my iPhone with me wherever I go, and for wide-angle shots it works very well (see today's post at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-757580-1.html ). But I enjoy wildlife photography, so I still use my "regular" camera.

The iPhone also does really nice portrait photos, and I have even added it to my arsenal in some model sessions. However, it does not allow you to sync a flash or flashes with it. I have tried a device and App that tries to do that, but could not really get it to work well at all.

anotherview Loc: California

From my experience, I maintain the same doubt.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

In short, the iPhone serves the same purpose my Kodak Instamatic 100 did, except some are slightly more flexible and at least have several lenses.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

George Limle

Sounds very familiar!

GeneinChi Loc: Chicago, IL

I’m not going to make many friends with this but here goes. I just returned from 3 weeks in Scotland and all I took was my IPhone. Great decision on many levels. And I may add friends just returned from a two week African Safari using only a phone and their photos are beautiful. There were days we walked 5 and 6 miles up a down hills, steps, rain, mist…and any picture I wanted to take the phone camera was at the ready and I didn’t have to fiddle with anything. Okay..,that being said. During our three week journey in which we covered pretty much the entire country, I counted on less than two hands the number of people I saw with traditional cameras. This is much different than I would have seen three years ago. Truth is that the camera phones of today are pretty much all anyone other than serious hobbyists, techies or professionals need. And they are just going to get better.

JohnH3 Loc: Auburn, AL

There are constantly changing consumer values continuously affecting the market place. For comparison, I look to Bose, which is a company that was built on making top quality hifi speakers and PA speakers, etc. Their flagship speaker was the Bose 901. Today, the company is alive and well, but they no longer make that speaker or one similar. As consumers no longer desire to purchase high fidelity component systems as they used to, they currently focus manufacturing computer speakers, compact surround sound systems, Bluetooth speakers, smaller speakers, headphones, earbuds, etc. The company changed as consumer values changed. Today’s consumer is far more concerned about convenience than quality. I mean, how many houses do you walk into today where the stereo system is the focal point of the entertainment setup? It used to be not that long ago.

Again, now shift to photography…

Did professional photographers ever use Polaroid consumer cameras, Kodak Instamatics and Pocket Instamatics, disposable cameras, etc. in the 1960s and 70s? The transition from film cameras to the digital age of photography was very telling. I for one had a Canon AE-1 that I loved. As a young teacher during that time period, I could not delve into replacing everything with digital. For many years, I bought point and shoot style digital cameras and was happy with them as cumbersome as managing files was initially with floppy disk, etc. One morning, I woke up and thought, I want to explore photography with better equipment again. I bought a Canon T6-S which led to a 6DMKII, to a 5DMKIV, then into the new mirrorless cameras. Without really trying, I started getting calls to do professional work although I don’t consider myself a professional because teaching is still my main source of income. My photography work supports my G.A.S. weakness I have. I also have a nice iPhone; however, I have never once sold a photo taken with it nor have I ever used it on a photo shoot other than to take a selfie with my clients to post on Instagram or Facebook.

For consumers, I suspect cell phone photos are fine and will continue to be. It goes back to the statement that convenience is more important to the average consumers today than quality is. However, there will likely always be those who want Rebels, and other cameras in those lines. Maybe fewer, but that market will exist for the entry level hobbyist. I really don’t expect you will ever see a true professional photographer shooting a wedding with a smart phone. To the contrary, most of us get tired of people standing behind us or jumping in front of us to snap a picture with one. I now put it in my contract that such behavior is not allowed.

No, I don’t think cell phones will ever replace professional level cameras. Will the affect the consumer camera market? Yes, they already have and will continue to do so.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Hi friend!

If that worked for you, excellent!

The important thing is you have pictures,
not what you got them with.
I've gone to some places and left my DSLR at home,
simply because I felt like doing so.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

I became a member of the "Yankee Air Museum" at Willow Run airport in Bellville MI. Anyways, they had a new member orientation luncheon yesterday, I was the only one using a "real" camera on our private tour of the museum and hanger, out of a group of ~30 people that were middle aged up to seniors. Everyone but me was using camera phones.

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