OT: Cameras

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by colker

It´s interesting that while the rationale says buy cell phones instead of cameras Fuji´s huge success is largely based on the retro design of their cameras; it´s made to feel like a 70s canonet. Photo cameras are so much fun to play with... why take it away and hold a cell phone instead? It´s not only about the quality of the image.. it´s also about ergonomics and the experience of shooting w/ cameras. Don´t forget to get one w/ a nice viewfinder.

I don’t know. I’d say it is photo quality and ergonomics for me exclusively.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by joosttx

ergonomics for me ....

i am a hack photographer, and more clumsy than average.

personally, i find it hugely awkward and borderline dangerous to shoot photos one handed while riding with an iPhone. my old fuji compact camera is SO much easier to hold squarely and push the big button while riding. that's a biggie for me.

otherwise, the obvious huge advantage of the phone camera is that i always have it. i have always thought the iPhone cameras were pretty great for the average amateur photog, and they have gotten better and better with successive generations.

it's fantastic, and i do buy apple's latest marketing slogan "its getting harder to take a bad photo". i look forward to what the next decade will bring for compact cell camera advances!

[colker]

Originally Posted by joosttx

I don’t know. I’d say it is photo quality and ergonomics for me exclusively.

Once in a while i shoot w/ a medium format film camera, a rolleiflex.. or a Leica m3. The lens quality and the organic quality of film even w/ it´s "imperfections".. so nice. Medium format black and white shot w/ plannar and tessar lenses. I have yet to buy the 50mm for the M3.
I don´t know the sony model you have but there are a couple which accept old film lenses.. leitz or even old russian sonnar lenses, jupiters. A lot of fun.
I like manual focusing over autofocus. Out of focus by mistake can look great.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by colker

Once in a while i shoot w/ a medium format film camera, a rolleiflex.. or a Leica m3. The lens quality and the organic quality of film even w/ it´s "imperfections".. so nice. Medium format black and white shot w/ plannar and tessar lenses. I have yet to buy the 50mm for the M3.
I don´t know the sony model you have but there are a couple which accept old film lenses.. leitz or even old russian sonnar lenses, jupiters. A lot of fun.
I like manual focusing over autofocus. Out of focus by mistake can look great.

This is where the EOS mount rocks. I have a ton of wonderful Contax Zeiss, Pentax, Olympus and Leica R manual focus lenses I use on my Canon DSLRs. I've even adapted some Mamiya 645 lenses for this purpose. That shot earlier of the Kestrel was taken with an old Nikon 800/5.6 manual lense used on a Canon 5D body.

This was a test shot with the Mamiya 200/2.8 APO mounted on my 5D

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by colker

It´s interesting that while the rationale says buy cell phones instead of cameras Fuji´s huge success is largely based on the retro design of their cameras; it´s made to feel like a 70s canonet. Photo cameras are so much fun to play with... why take it away and hold a cell phone instead? It´s not only about the quality of the image.. it´s also about ergonomics and the experience of shooting w/ cameras. Don´t forget to get one w/ a nice viewfinder.

Does Fuji make a point and shoot or compact camera with a viewfinder? They've pretty much disappeared. I have an older Canon Power Shot with a viewfinder, but the viewfinder doesn't encompass the whole scene. My phone takes a better photo than it anyway.

I haven't figured out how to carry my camera or cell phone on the bike for easy access, so I put it in a plastic zip lock bag in my jersey pocket. The plastic bag is so sweat stays off the phone or camera or lens. That means I've got to stop and take the photo so I've got no need to take a photo while riding the bike, thus the ergonomics of a phone or small camera are the same, as I see it. I tried a top tube bag but it got annoying when my knees hit it while standing. That probably is the best place to put a camera.

My phone automatically uploads photos to iCloud. I've got to plug my cameras into my computer to upload, and it's a Windows box and I like viewing my photos on my iPad Pro. I rarely use my cameras so I haven't even figured out how to get the photos into iCloud. The only post processing I do with my phone photos is to straighten them out, they look so good.

Photo taken on a very clear day with an iPhone X (edit: re-uploaded the image at medium resolution):

[eddief]

This worked for my EM-10 Mark III with normal lens and works great for smart phone or point and shoot. No zipper to fiddle with means you can leave the top open, reach in, get camera...and holds small other stuff too. Tucks in nicely on rear of drops bars and stays out of the way:

https://www.revelatedesigns.com/inde...ountainFeedbag

Originally Posted by MikeD

Does Fuji make a point and shoot or compact camera with a viewfinder? They've pretty much disappeared. I have an older Canon Power Shot with a viewfinder, but the viewfinder doesn't encompass the whole scene. My phone takes a better photo than it anyway.

I haven't figured out how to carry my camera or cell phone on the bike for easy access, so I put it in a plastic zip lock bag in my jersey pocket. The plastic bag is so sweat stays off the phone or camera or lens. That means I've got to stop and take the photo so I've got no need to take a photo while riding the bike, thus the ergonomics of a phone or small camera are the same, as I see it. I tried a top tube bag but it got annoying when my knees hit it while standing. That probably is the best place to put a camera.

My phone automatically uploads photos to iCloud. I've got to plug my cameras into my computer to upload, and it's a Windows box and I like viewing my photos on my iPad Pro. I rarely use my cameras so I haven't even figured out how to get the photos into iCloud. The only post processing I do with my phone photos is to straighten them out, they look so good.

[colker]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Does Fuji make a point and shoot or compact camera with a viewfinder? They've pretty much disappeared. I have an older Canon Power Shot with a viewfinder, but the viewfinder doesn't encompass the whole scene. My phone takes a better photo than it anyway.

I haven't figured out how to carry my camera or cell phone on the bike for easy access, so I put it in a plastic zip lock bag in my jersey pocket. The plastic bag is so sweat stays off the phone or camera or lens. That means I've got to stop and take the photo so I've got no need to take a photo while riding the bike, thus the ergonomics of a phone or small camera are the same, as I see it. I tried a top tube bag but it got annoying when my knees hit it while standing. That probably is the best place to put a camera.

My phone automatically uploads photos to iCloud. I've got to plug my cameras into my computer to upload, and it's a Windows box and I like viewing my photos on my iPad Pro. I rarely use my cameras so I haven't even figured out how to get the photos into iCloud. The only post processing I do with my phone photos is to straighten them out, they look so good.

The Fuji x100 even has an optical VF meaning you can use it like an old leica but w/ electronic focus: image is viewed through glass... no screen. It´s as trendy as it gets and sells quickly in shops. Not very small though and has a fixed (high quality) lens.
The Xe3 is an awesome camera... small, high tech, great sensor and has an electronic VF besides the rear screen. It changes lenses! It´s a big camera in the body of a charming little one.

[colker]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Photo taken on a very clear day with an iPhone X:

The iphone has a small sensor and thus a short focal length so it compresses perspective and does not separate well planes and perspectives. Look at the branch right off the tree: a camera w/ a bigger sensor will make it stand much better against the background. This is not a small nitpick.. it´s a huge consequence of small sensors.

[colker]

I have used cellphones and mini sensor camera on personal pics where i wanted the flattered perspective without depth or tonal gradation. It wasn´t intentional: i was too lazy to pick the dslr and shot w/ the phone. I made the limitations work somehow when post processing.. but i much rather have a bigger sensor. The game on digital photography is about sensors: size and architecture determine the look of the pictures just like film type and size determined a look in the past. The bigger the sensor the better the picture. Older sensors which had lesser low light capabilities otoh give a desirable color rendition w/ richer primary colors. It´s about the sensor.

[colker]

Done w/an old motorola phone. I used the poor gradation and detail as a punch. Done w/ a bigger camera may have looked worse: i want the color blocks and geometry to stand not detail.

[colker]

Same motorola. Same light.

[charliedid]

[QUOTE=MikeD;2640866]Does Fuji make a point and shoot or compact camera with a viewfinder? They've pretty much disappeared. I have an older Canon Power Shot with a viewfinder, but the viewfinder doesn't encompass the whole scene. My phone takes a better photo than it anyway.

I haven't figured out how to carry my camera or cell phone on the bike for easy access, so I put it in a plastic zip lock bag in my jersey pocket. The plastic bag is so sweat stays off the phone or camera or lens. That means I've got to stop and take the photo so I've got no need to take a photo while riding the bike, thus the ergonomics of a phone or small camera are the same, as I see it. I tried a top tube bag but it got annoying when my knees hit it while standing. That probably is the best place to put a camera.

My phone automatically uploads photos to iCloud. I've got to plug my cameras into my computer to upload, and it's a Windows box and I like viewing my photos on my iPad Pro. I rarely use my cameras so I haven't even figured out how to get the photos into iCloud. The only post processing I do with my phone photos is to straighten them out, they look so good.

Photo taken on a very clear day with an iPhone X:


Posting this image at this size doesn't bolster your case much. It's a stretch for many cameras to be fair. At this size and resolution it shows the shortcomings in broad daylight. You'd need a large format camera (FF or MF at least) and a tripod to do this.

Now repost this at 1000 px wide

[MikeD]

[QUOTE=charliedid;2640890]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Does Fuji make a point and shoot or compact camera with a viewfinder? They've pretty much disappeared. I have an older Canon Power Shot with a viewfinder, but the viewfinder doesn't encompass the whole scene. My phone takes a better photo than it anyway.

I haven't figured out how to carry my camera or cell phone on the bike for easy access, so I put it in a plastic zip lock bag in my jersey pocket. The plastic bag is so sweat stays off the phone or camera or lens. That means I've got to stop and take the photo so I've got no need to take a photo while riding the bike, thus the ergonomics of a phone or small camera are the same, as I see it. I tried a top tube bag but it got annoying when my knees hit it while standing. That probably is the best place to put a camera.

My phone automatically uploads photos to iCloud. I've got to plug my cameras into my computer to upload, and it's a Windows box and I like viewing my photos on my iPad Pro. I rarely use my cameras so I haven't even figured out how to get the photos into iCloud. The only post processing I do with my phone photos is to straighten them out, they look so good.

Photo taken on a very clear day with an iPhone X:


Posting this image at this size doesn't bolster your case much. It's a stretch for many cameras to be fair. At this size and resolution it shows the shortcomings in broad daylight. You'd need a large format camera (FF or MF at least) and a tripod to do this.

Now repost this at 1000 px wide

I see I'm swimming against the tide here, so I'm out of this thread. Have fun guys.

[joosttx]

Regarding carrying a camera on a bike. I carried my rx100 in my jersey pocket for many years without issue. I did try and keep the lens pointed away from my body. If it rained I would keep it in a ziplock bag. I do the same for my phone. For my RX1r I carry it in an oveja negra chuckbucket for easy access.

[brownhound]

Different question but good location to pose question:

I'm taking safari next year. I'm not much of a photographer, frankly, with only a 15 year old DSLR and older iPhone 7.

Should I (a) invest in new iPhone 11 OR (b) invest in mid-level digital camera (say $500)? I'm leaning towards iPhone because of weight, space, and I know I'll eventually need a phone. But does anyone want to make case for new camera?