Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Compact camera…or better phone?
  • wait4me
    Full Member

    I’m off to the pyrenees in a couple of months, and am looking forward to capturing the wonderful vistas (& taking a breather half way up the hills). However the camera in my phone, a MotoG is utter rubbish. So Considering my options. I like the £14 a month the phone costs me, so an upgrade to one with a better camera doesn’t really appeal and think maybe a one off purchase of a decent quality compact, that I can keep in a jersey pocket might be the way.

    I’ve seen the canon s120 widely available for around £200 which looks like a decent bet. I was just wondering what others do when they’re snapping on 2 wheels.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    Personally I’d go for a compact camera over a phone.
    If you’re interested I’ve got a Fuji Finepix HS30EXR that im selling, but its a bridge camera not a compact. Takes cracking pictures and has an excellent long zoom.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Compact camera for me & some kind of pouch for it that attaches to your rucksack strap – Lowepro do a good range that get mentioned on here.

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    redthunder
    Free Member

    Dedicated camera for photos.

    Phone for ringing people and txt etc.

    What I would like is a decent camera with a bog standard phone built in. Just calls, txt etc. No reason why it could not be Android even the most basic does everything I need.

    PimpmasterJazz
    Free Member

    I have a Canon S90. Lo-res the HDR option is actually probably slightly nicer on my iPhone, but if you want to view at any sort of scale or print images out then a decent compact is by far and away the better choice.

    Malvern Rider
    Free Member

    Depends what you want to do with the pics afterwards.

    My iPhone 5 takes good landscape pictures for web use, and can edit/share right away. My compact (Sony RX100) zoom takes very, very good landscape pictures and portrait shots for prints or tight crops, even for possible stock photography. My DSLR takes lovely, natural shots of all kinds of subjects even action shots, yet I loathe lugging it about so it rarely gets an outing now.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    I’ll add a lone voice for a better phone. My (now old) Sony Z1 is a remarkably good phone, truly pocketable and allows photo sharing on the go.

    jimjam
    Free Member

    As above, it depends what you want to do with them. If you want to print them out then certainly a camera is the way to go. If it’s just for social media/web use then a good phone (like the xperia z1) is more than ample. Also has the benefit of many good photo editing apps and the ability to upload to your chosen site without transfering to another device.

    Sony Xperia Z1 compact pic edited in Snapseed for context.

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/vMAowV]DSC_1211-01[/url] by James Doherty, on Flickr

    beanum
    Full Member

    The Sony RX-100 would be the standard response but this is out of your budget (new). I have a Sony DSC-TX30 as well which I really like. It’s shirtpocket small but waterproof and takes really good pics.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    I used my z1 for lejog. I then printed a photobook. Quality wise I can tell they weren’t taken with my real cameras (big full frame cameras, not cheap compacts), but nobody else has spotted the difference.

    Sub-A4 I doubt anyone would tell the difference between a compact camera and a good phone. Phones use the same sensor as [cheaper] compacts and deliver the same output.

    The main difference is zoom range and ergonomics.

    docrobster
    Free Member

    I’m in a similar situation, the main camera on my aged battered iPhone 5 now let’s in light. I’m not sure I want to keep paying the apple tax (already on a sim only contract, don’t need to upgrade for any other reason).
    I reckon something like a low end Panasonic csc would be a good bet. A while ago I saw g6’s for £220 on currys or Jessops website but I think they may now be replaced by g7 models.

    traildog
    Free Member

    For 200 pounds then it’s going to be a dedicated camera. However, I really like my phone for taking pictures. You get to edit them on the go, share them with people easily and you always have your phone on you.
    However, a reasonable camera on a phone means you’ll probably be paying twice the 200 pounds you mentioned, or more.

    I have an SLR for when I want good photos and just use my phone for when on the go.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Not sure it applies to all camera phones, but the lens on my Xperia T isn’t very wide so landscape shots are OK, but aren’t particularly impressive as they look a little narrow.
    Yeah, there’s a panorama function on it, but that’s a faff.

    The lens on my Nikon compact is a lot wider, and obviously has the benefit of an optical zoom, if required
    .
    Having said that certain compact cameras don’t go particularly wide either, so it’s worth considering if you are wanting to ‘capturing the wonderful vistas ‘ in all their wide angle glory!!

    jimjam
    Free Member

    stumpy01

    Not sure it applies to all camera phones, but the lens on my Xperia T isn’t very wide so landscape shots are OK, but aren’t particularly impressive as they look a little narrow.

    I think my phone camera has a focal length of 27mm. My favourite “go to” lens on slrs is usually a 28mm for doing, well, whatever might occur.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Just got a S90 SH, not played with it yet but for £60 it seemed unbeatable for low light performance and overall picture quality.

    dpreview has comparison images and a really good tool for seeing them side by side.

    hb70
    Full Member

    I was the same. Went from a Moto G to an LG G2 which takes really very competent pictures at 13mp camera. Its 2 years old in “newness” so was top end 2 years ago, but now its not the latest version at all so the price is right down. I bought mine for £200 but my wife has just bought one from Hong Kong on Ebay for £140 to replace her Nikon J1 compact SLR and is really really pleased with it.

    Its about portability, havingitwithyouallthetime, connectivity. Unless you are a proper serious photographer it takes a ludicrously good picture for the money as well as automatically backing it up and making everything really easy to share it on FB/email etc.

    CraigW
    Free Member

    For cycling, I’d go for a waterproof compact. So you can keep it in your jersey pocket all day, and not worry about it getting wet from rain or sweat.
    Also much easier to use proper buttons than a touchscreen, especially in the wet or if wearing gloves etc. Plus doesn’t waste the batteries on your phone.

    I’d look at the Panasonic Lumix FT30, its available for about £120. I’ve got the older version of this, its pretty good.

    wait4me
    Full Member

    Cheers, all interesting stuff. Still undecided to be honest. I guess in all honesty it’ll be rare that I actually print so is a dedicated camera necessary? I’d be carrying a phone anyhow, so do I use the camera pocket for gels & bars instead?

    And whilst the cost of a phone contract seems pricey, it does mean you can upgrade technology instead of having an outdated camera in a few years time.

    cranberry
    Free Member

    A Panasonix Lumix TZ60 would be a slight stretch of budget – they are around £230 – it’ll give you far better results than a phone.

    mogrim
    Full Member

    I find my Xperia Z3 great for pretty much everything… until the light starts to go. It’s useless, for example, at shooting my kids’ end-of-term shows – it’s just too dark, and the flash too weak.

    But the main advantage is that I always have it with me, and it’s not another thing to carry around.

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    What I would like is a decent camera with a bog standard phone built in. Just calls, txt etc. No reason why it could not be Android even the most basic does everything I need.

    Samsung do a range of cameras with smartphone functionality built in, but *possibly* not an actual phone. Might be worth looking at if you want the convenience of connectivity and apps for sharing/editing photos on your camera.

    The main reasons I have a separate compact camera are the 20x optical zoom that I used a lot and a bigger/better flash. it has GPS for tagging location data on photos and I can share wirelessly to my iDevice (although it’s a faff). If the zoom and flash were not so important I’d probably be happy with the picture quality of my phone.

    In summary you need to decide what features are important for you and what you can sacrifice.

    40mpg
    Full Member

    My daughter is a photographer and does a lot of work with bands. When she’s not ‘working’, ie at frstivals for fun, she just takes a little Canon SX600 which takes some great pics (to my untrained eye).

    Its tiny, has 18x optical zoom, 13MP, but importantly (for her) has wifi so connects to her iphone – she can edit and upload photos anywhere. Cost just over £100 I think.

    I’ve got a little Olympus waterproof/bashproof job which I use for cycling, kayaking – basically anywhere I wouldn’t want to get my camera out for fear of dropping it, getting it wet or losing it. Also quality is MUCH better than my Moto G (especially in poor light etc).

    So seperate phone/camera for me 😀

    CountZero
    Full Member

    I’ve got an iPhone 6+, and a fairly old Lumix TZ30, and I wouldn’t be without either. The phone has a terrific camera, and takes beautiful landscape photos, and good close-up shots as well, but there are plenty of times when I ‘see’ a photo that absolutely requires a good zoom, and that’s just not really possible with a phone, whereas the camera lets me get shots of distant objects properly cropped without loss of detail.
    I’m replacing the camera very soon with a TZ70, a real jump in performance for me from a compact; 30x optical zoom, sensor has been reduced in pixel count but pixels are larger, for better low-light performance, it has a really good electronic viewfinder, wifi, and various other improvements over my TZ30.
    Even if the camera doesn’t have wifi, you can get a Toshiba 32Gb SDXC card with wifi for less than £30, so you can download photos to the phone on the fly and edit as well, so you get the best of all worlds.
    Just one quick example, this is James, taken with the phone at the IoW Festival, no phaffing around:

    [/url]James, IoW Festival 2015 by Adrian Hillier, on Flickr

    This is Tim of James, taken with the TZ30 from exactly the same spot at the crowd barrier:

    [/url]James, IoW Festival 2015 by Adrian Hillier, on Flickr

    This is where the camera really comes into its own.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Taken on a phones – 1st a Galaxy Note 4 SOOC (no editing), 2nd a Galaxy Note 2, 3rd an edited panorama from the Note 4 (not a particulary enthralling pic)

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/uGuoKh]20150621_160634[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/eD7tgR]Moo![/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/u1MGtR]20150607_152139[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    Sony Z3 compact. Like you, I wanted to keep my £15 a month contract so got the Z3 for £270 I think from Vodafone, £15 to unlock it.

    Fairly good camera, waterproof, and a dedicated camera button that will wake the phone, open the camera app, and then a half press to focus and then near instant response to take the pic.

    And its properly waterproof, took it swimming in the sea recently 🙂

    dobo
    Free Member

    The RX100 mk1 is hard to beat for size/cost/quality and just about squeezes into your shorts pocket. i take it on the MTB.
    Great camera but i actually get less keepers with the camera than other including my Tx5 below. It shoots raw so has room for more editing if needed.

    I also have an old battered Tx-5 water shock/proof sony camera which takes decent pictures and can be taken anywhere.

    I’m not a fan of super zooms, i prefer more low light ability.

    Anyway, its not about the camera its about the photographer, just like its not the bike its the rider that makes the most difference.

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    Just bought a Canon Powershot SX610, £130 with Canon cashback. 18x zoom, 1080p video, all that wifi bollocks, enough features to keep me busy. Bought a new LowPro case & can carry it on my Dakine chest strap. You can get some awesome photo’s on a phone but then you pay a premium for a contract.

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