Time to lose the P&S's!

tkbslc wrote in post #12152572
If the picture is not for art, I don't think photo quality is really a factor in the quality of the memory. I enjoy a good photo, but crummy head-on flash Polaroids from my youth bring back great memories and smile to my face. It just depends on your goals for the photos you take.

All I can say is that you never know when one of those random shots will end up being keepers.

Our pictures of old have nostalgic value, but are good for little else. I'd rather have the best camera available (within reason) for the shot. Otherwise, I'll end up burying the image until the end of time--and what good is a picture that's never seen?

I agree, but I am not the other 95% of the population that doesn't know what aperture or ISO means. Those people are going to use auto mode no matter what, and neither a terrible cell phone picture, nor a mediocre auto-mode compact shot are going be magazine cover worthy. People that know what they are doing enough to make good use of a compact, would also know when they could make good use of a cell phone, too.

enrigonz wrote in post #12151922
I think the sad part is that most will look back maybe 15-20 years from now and if they're lucky, they will have the crappy photos they took with their smartphone somewhere in a storage media and wish they would have taken better photographs of their now dead relatives or family members or worse yet not have anything at all because they kept all the photos in the phone memory, never transfered the images because they got a new phone or lost their phone with all the images in it. Don't get me wrong, I've seen people take hundreds of photos perhaps more on their P&S and only keep them in their memory card until it's full and then they realize they must download them to a computer somewhere but the chances of this happening with a smartphone are much greater.
...

This makes a very good point. To some extent, I undestand how people don't care much about the quality, but I just cringe at the thought of losing so many memories permanently. I don't know anyone who properly backs up images off their phone and most people I know don't even have a real system for saving full res pics after they've uploaded them to facebook.

Betcha that most people with smart phones back up the contacts, and most phone backup software will back up images as well as contacts, music, messages, . . . So they've got those backups whether they realize it or not. And if they're photographing for memories, it doesn't matter what the IQ is; they'll remember the event and that's all they care about.

enrigonz wrote in post #12151922
I think the sad part is that most will look back maybe 15-20 years from now and if they're lucky, they will have the crappy photos they took with their smartphone somewhere in a storage media and wish they would have taken better photographs of their now dead relatives or family members or worse yet not have anything at all because they kept all the photos in the phone memory, never transfered the images because they got a new phone or lost their phone with all the images in it. Don't get me wrong, I've seen people take hundreds of photos perhaps more on their P&S and only keep them in their memory card until it's full and then they realize they must download them to a computer somewhere but the chances of this happening with a smartphone are much greater.

I'm a serious photographer so it's hard for me to understand this mentality of not wanting good quality memories, I often visit the Disney parks and see many people from all over the world using a smartphone and that's all, nothing else, they get mislead on how the image looks on the tiny 3.5" screen. I guess like you said, they are just fine with that and really don't care for quality and I guess at the end..... it's better than nothing.

elogical wrote in post #12157971
This makes a very good point. To some extent, I undestand how people don't care much about the quality, but I just cringe at the thought of losing so many memories permanently. I don't know anyone who properly backs up images off their phone and most people I know don't even have a real system for saving full res pics after they've uploaded them to facebook.

I very much agree that those tiny screen previews can be highly misleading. I can only imagine that most people aren't seriously scrutinizing their shots (or post-processing), and they're assuming a much higher quality than what they're actually stuck with. Years later, they'll end up being disappointed...

As far as uploading images to photo sharing sites and then downloading at their original resolution... I don't know of any sites that actually allow that--I would very much like to know if if I'm wrong though.

I know from experience that it's very easy to forget you've got images on your phone that you've forgotten about. With my dedicated cameras, it's become something of a habit to transfer images after every day or trip. With a cell though, I'll snap a shot and ultimately forget about it. I always check before discarding or upgrading to another phone, but I imagine a lot of people neglect to do that. When it comes down to it though, every cell phone on the market with a camera allows you to download directly to a computer, so failing to backup images is more of a personal problem than anything else...

Jon wrote in post #12158122
Betcha that most people with smart phones back up the contacts, and most phone backup software will back up images as well as contacts, music, messages, . . . So they've got those backups whether they realize it or not. And if they're photographing for memories, it doesn't matter what the IQ is; they'll remember the event and that's all they care about.

Not me--I'll want images that are worthy of being printed out and blown up The same goes for my family members, none of whom are as heavily invested in photography as I am.

At some point, memories locked in your head just aren't enough. This very much applies decades down the line, when you want to share those memories with future family members. Your garden variety "back in my day" story just doesn't cut it without visual aids with kids of this generation. 4"x6"-quality shots and 640x480 video just won't cut it either. I was going through my grandparents old photos and WWII shots, and I could hardly discern who was in them or what was being shown. 50 years down the line, cell phone shots of today will be regarded as such I'm sure

I thought we'd already established that POTN members are a self-selecting bunch of gear fanatics, unlike 95% (or more) of the population. What you or I would do is irrelevant to the situation defined in the original article.

Jon wrote in post #12158308
I thought we'd already established that POTN members are a self-selecting bunch of gear fanatics, unlike 95% (or more) of the population. What you or I would do is irrelevant to the situation defined in the original article.

I tried to point out in my last posting (probably poorly), that my family members (extended included) are very much like-minded when it comes to the importance of quality images. No one else in my family even owns a DSLR--most of them at least recognize the importance of having a dedicated camera and bulk-sharing the original images.

Just because they could be considered casual photographers does not mean they can't appreciate the subtle differences between shooting with a cell and dedicated cam. They don't have the time or interest to learn the ins and outs of photography on their own (my family is in perpetual auto-mode), but they still take the effort to do the best they can, within reason.

The line here is not between novice and pro photographers, but between those who care and those who don't. You can't just say that most of the populace won't care about the difference in image quality, simply because they don't know better. Unfortunately, there are some major barriers to entry when it comes to learning the basics of photography. And that perceived difficulty is what stops many users from comparing the differences between dedicated cameras and all-in-one cell phones. It's unfortunate--nothing more.

My family members (who I've forwarded the article to) remain skeptical as well. I get more comments on the dedicated GPS bit than the camera bit though!

MOkoFOko wrote in post #12158209
With a cell though, I'll snap a shot and ultimately forget about it.

With a cell I will never snap any kind of a shot. Though I have been known to take a real photo and upload a copy to the phone.

Simon_Gardner wrote in post #12160269
With a cell I will never snap any kind of a shot. Though I have been known to take a real photo and upload a copy to the phone.

[GIFS ARE NOT RENDERED IN QUOTES]

Unfortunately, there are times when I either forget my S95 or don't have a DSLR handy (example being going to/from work, shopping, etc)--and sometimes an interesting shot does demand that I rely on my cell, which I have practically 100% of the time. There are plenty of times I've been out browsing in stores and snapped pics of products to do further research later--it sure beats having to carry around a notepad and pencil! Super-handy in the event you get in an automobile accident (capturing the scene itself, contact information, VIN, etc). In that regard, cell phone cameras are a handy and versatile tool--just not for important occasions.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #12160474

Simon_Gardner wrote in post #12160269
With a cell I will never snap any kind of a shot. Though I have been known to take a real photo and upload a copy to the phone.

[GIFS ARE NOT RENDERED IN QUOTES]

Unfortunately, there are times when I either forget my S95 or don't have a DSLR handy (example being going to/from work, shopping, etc)--and sometimes an interesting shot does demand that I rely on my cell, which I have practically 100% of the time. There are plenty of times I've been out browsing in stores and snapped pics of products to do further research later--it sure beats having to carry around a notepad and pencil! Super-handy in the event you get in an automobile accident (capturing the scene itself, contact information, VIN, etc). In that regard, cell phone cameras are a handy and versatile tool--just not for important occasions.

I forget my phone quite often. I never forget my pocket camera.

Simon_Gardner wrote in post #12160802
I forget my phone quite often. I never forget my pocket camera.

[GIFS ARE NOT RENDERED IN QUOTES]

I'm exactly the opposite. Even for something as simple as a shopping-run, what exactly are you to do if your car breaks down or you get into an accident? There are many positive points for having a cell phone to cover a traffic accident (photograph license plate, VIN, drivers license, accident scene, call cops, etc). Living in a crime capital where it's freezing a good deal of the year, I've learned to never leave home without my cell. I feel naked without it

MOkoFOko wrote in post #12163279
I'm exactly the opposite. Even for something as simple as a shopping-run, what exactly are you to do if your car breaks down or you get into an accident? There are many positive points for having a cell phone to cover a traffic accident (photograph license plate, VIN, drivers license, accident scene, call cops, etc).

One of the most useful things I found last time I witnessed an accident was having the SatNav to pinpoint precisely where I was. One of those involved borrowed SWMBO’s phone. There’s always someone around with a phone. In this case, it wasn’t me. Meanwhile, she used her camera, camera.

A huge advantage of NOT having a phone with you is that nobody can call you.

MOkoFOko wrote in post #12163279
Living in a crime capital where it's freezing a good deal of the year, I've learned to never leave home without my cell. I feel naked without it

Presumably most of the crime is people stealing other people’s phones...

MOkoFOko wrote in post #12163279
There are many positive points for having a cell phone to cover a traffic accident (photograph license plate, VIN, drivers license, accident scene, call cops, etc). Living in a crime capital where it's freezing a good deal of the year, I've learned to never leave home without my cell. I feel naked without it

+45

Simon_Gardner wrote in post #12163693
Presumably most of the crime is people stealing other people’s phones...

Ummm... no, not quite.
http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Flint,_Michigan​#Crime

2007--2nd most violent city in the USA
2008--5th most violent
2009--5th most violent
2010--top-5 ranking (not sure which)

All of those kidnappings, rapes, and homicides were not the result of cellular(phone)-envy.