I've Seen the Future

"Beach Bum" wrote in message
...
"RJ" wrote in message

In fact, I don't know of any people who "camera up"
when they dress in the morning.

Now you know at least one person who does. My dSLR goes everywhere I go -
literally.

--
Mark

Photos, Ideas & Opinions
http://www.marklauter.com/gallery

Yep. I've always got one or the other with me. You just never know...

dwight

RJ wrote:
I don't carry a camera as a matter of course.
It's one more thing to fill a pocket and weigh me down.

In fact, I don't know of any people who "camera up"
when they dress in the morning.

And yet, we all want to take pics......

My son recently got a cellphone that takes pics.
Like so many people I see today,
his "cell" is with him constantly.

AND HE TAKES PICTURES !
Dozens of pictures......
Surprisingly good pics ( for a secondary function )
Pictures of events, activitys, people
( when I would be saying; "Wish I had my camera with me" )

I predict it'll be a matter of time when digital cameras dissapear !
And we'll all be clicking and saying :"Can you see me now".


rj
Until the cameras in cell phones reach the 3mp point, and an easy way
exists to transfer them to the computer without paying, I consider them
a 'gimmick'. That said, my cell phone has a camera (which is quite
useless as it is VGA resolution.)

In Ron Hunter wrote:

Until the cameras in cell phones reach the 3mp point, and an easy way
exists to transfer them to the computer without paying, I consider them
a 'gimmick'.

Actually, several phone makers actually have phones with more than 3mpx
out already - or coming out this year. So, I guss your statement should
have been: I used to consider them gimmicks.

My current phone has 2Mpx and connects to usb just fine, with no
special drivers. And the images are stored on a memory card, so you
could complement it with a bigger memory card for longer trips.

I am quite pleased with the quality, for point and shoot spur of the
moment kind of pictures. For sharing happenings, putting on your blog,
and even printing to small paper copies, it works just fine.

Of course my camera phone doesn't make me want a D200 any less, phones
are not primarily a photographic tool, and if you want to control the
fine details of your photos they are not for you. And this is why the
future isn't one of solely commodified cameras - in the phone or the
music player. Certainly, most people will have a commodified variant,
and be perfectly happy with that. But serious photographers will still
want cameras built primarily for photography, with all the control and
usability which that implies.

--
Fredrik Jonson

In article , Ron Hunter
writes
RJ wrote:
I don't carry a camera as a matter of course.
It's one more thing to fill a pocket and weigh me down.
In fact, I don't know of any people who "camera up" when they dress
in the morning.
And yet, we all want to take pics......
My son recently got a cellphone that takes pics.
Like so many people I see today,
his "cell" is with him constantly.
AND HE TAKES PICTURES !
Dozens of pictures......
Surprisingly good pics ( for a secondary function )
Pictures of events, activitys, people
( when I would be saying; "Wish I had my camera with me" )
I predict it'll be a matter of time when digital cameras dissapear !
And we'll all be clicking and saying :"Can you see me now".
rj
Until the cameras in cell phones reach the 3mp point,

And a much better lens, preferably the equiv. to a 35-100mm zoom on 135;
also a lower noise sensor would be desirable.

and an easy way exists to transfer them to the computer without paying,

I don't pay to use Bluetooth to transfer between my camera and my PC;
many of the newer mobile phones have memory card slots, I doubt that one
would have to pay to use a card reader.

I consider them a 'gimmick'.

Pretty well true, although it might be the only camera a lot of people
own. Don't forget that many people only get their 'proper' camera out
twice a year for their holidays.

That said, my cell phone has a camera (which is quite useless as it is
VGA resolution.)

Is 0.3Mpix as useless for recording incidents and as a notebook as zero
pixels? My mobile phone has a VGA camera, it is not very good, but it is
with me when nothing better is; the Canon 350D goes with me when I visit
anywhere I think will be interesting to photograph, the Minolta Xt is on
my belt most of the time, I leave them both at home when I go to a
restaurant, pub or theatre for an evening; but my mobile is with me all
times that the law permits. I have used the mobile to record name clips
and such. I wouldn't call the photographs taken with it great, but they
still carry the content.
--
Ian G8ILZ

"RJ" wrote in message
...
I don't carry a camera as a matter of course.
It's one more thing to fill a pocket and weigh me down.

In fact, I don't know of any people who "camera up"
when they dress in the morning.

And yet, we all want to take pics......

My son recently got a cellphone that takes pics.
Like so many people I see today,
his "cell" is with him constantly.

AND HE TAKES PICTURES !
Dozens of pictures......
Surprisingly good pics ( for a secondary function )
Pictures of events, activitys, people
( when I would be saying; "Wish I had my camera with me" )

I predict it'll be a matter of time when digital cameras dissapear !
And we'll all be clicking and saying :"Can you see me now".


rj

When people get older and their tastes become more refined they're more
likely to accumulate component type gadgetry, or "separates" if you will.
But there will always be all-in-ones available at, say, Wal-Mart.

mark_

Hi RJ

Boy, that is a controversial post. My personal take on this? Digital
camera phones will NEVER replace digital cameras.

The answer is simple: due to this: 'Optical Zoom'. Handheld phones
cannot build in camera optics like a 10x optical zoom - simply because
the form factor is not large enough.

If we want to take simple pictures for fun, a digital camera phone is
fine. But for professional or enthusiast photo taking, you still need a
proper digital camera.


Best Regards,
Gary Hendricks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Powerful photography techniques in your FREE report:
"7 Digital Camera Tricks Used by The Pros"
http://www.basic-digital-photography.com/report
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article .com, Gary
Hendricks writes
Hi RJ

Boy, that is a controversial post. My personal take on this? Digital
camera phones will NEVER replace digital cameras.

They might never replace dedicated high end digital cameras but they
will equal or surpass the lower end.

The answer is simple: due to this: 'Optical Zoom'. Handheld phones
cannot build in camera optics like a 10x optical zoom - simply because
the form factor is not large enough.

Maybe not a 10x optical zoom, but since they are poor anyway do you want
one. It should be possible to build a smart phone with a three or four
to one optical zoom like that in the Minolta Xt without increasing the
form factor.

If we want to take simple pictures for fun, a digital camera phone is
fine. But for professional or enthusiast photo taking, you still need a
proper digital camera.

That is also true of any simpler stand-alone camera, it does not have to
be built in to a mobile phone to be unsuited to the task.
--
Ian G8ILZ

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...
RJ wrote:
I don't carry a camera as a matter of course.
It's one more thing to fill a pocket and weigh me down.

In fact, I don't know of any people who "camera up" when they dress in
the morning.

And yet, we all want to take pics......

My son recently got a cellphone that takes pics.
Like so many people I see today,
his "cell" is with him constantly.

AND HE TAKES PICTURES !
Dozens of pictures......
Surprisingly good pics ( for a secondary function )
Pictures of events, activitys, people
( when I would be saying; "Wish I had my camera with me" )

I predict it'll be a matter of time when digital cameras dissapear !
And we'll all be clicking and saying :"Can you see me now".


rj
Until the cameras in cell phones reach the 3mp point, and an easy way
exists to transfer them to the computer without paying, I consider them a
'gimmick'. That said, my cell phone has a camera (which is quite useless
as it is VGA resolution.)

I just looked at a couple of phones at Cingular that were 3mp and use an SD
card for memory. So, I guess they're not a gimmick anymore, right?
Actually, they were a tad on the expensive side, but the day is coming that
there'll be no reason to buy those sub-$200 digital cameras, the phone you
already use will do just as good of a job with photography.
OTOH, there are people like my wife and me who just want a phone to be a
phone, if we want a camera, we have some of those laying about the house...
These phones that take photos, video, play music (entire songs, not just
ring tones) and download and play music videos and video games have gotten
to the point of silliness. If all that memory and circuitry were devoted to
the job at hand, talking to people over distance, the phones could be
better, with smaller size and/or better reception.
--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

In article wpiOf.190$123.133@fed1read09, Skip M
writes
These phones that take photos, video, play music (entire songs, not
just ring tones) and download and play music videos and video games
have gotten to the point of silliness. If all that memory and
circuitry were devoted to the job at hand, talking to people over
distance, the phones could be better, with smaller size and/or better
reception.

My mobile phone with MP3 and video player along with agenda function is
about the size of two matchboxes, if it was any smaller it would be even
harder to operate. The reception is as good as the signal path will
allow, the sound fidelity is as good as the sampling will permit;
omitting the camera might make it a few pounds cheaper, but it will not
make the speech communication performance any better, nor will it be
much smaller.
--
Ian G8ILZ

"Skip M" wrote in message
news:wpiOf.190$123.133@fed1read09...
OTOH, there are people like my wife and me who just want a phone to be a
phone, if we want a camera, we have some of those laying about the
house...
These phones that take photos, video, play music (entire songs, not just
ring tones) and download and play music videos and video games have gotten
to the point of silliness. If all that memory and circuitry were devoted
to the job at hand, talking to people over distance, the phones could be
better, with smaller size and/or better reception.
--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com


My sister-in-law signed up for a year contract for cell phone service so her
daughter could call home from college and she was assured of service at that
location. Need I say more? She's still fighting to get her money back
without being penalized.