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Using phone camera


Turtle05
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This isn't a question but more of a statements. Feel free to log your own opinions, particularly related to different poplar cell phones on the market.

 

My mom, who is an avid amateur photographer, asked my opinion on taking her camera to Alaska. She was already leaning towards just using her iPhone camera. I did advise that I recommend just the phone camera. In this day and age we are all carrying our phones anyways, so a secondary camera is an added item to carry. My husband and I went to Hawaii this past summer, and I am still blown away by iPhone photos. I have an iPhone 6, so it's hardly the latest model. If you have an iPhone, enable the HDR on your camera. What it does is it takes two photos for every one, a regular and an HDR. The regular are probably better for sharing and posting because they take up less space, but the HDR are amazing for printing. I printed a few via Shutterfly, and they are just amazing, particularly compared to some of my older photos taken with my old Nikon Coolpix. Also, I have those nifty gloves that still allow me to use my touchscreen.



 

 

If you practice taking a few photos with the HDR feature, I've found the easiest way to see the difference on your phone is to look at the clouds. The clouds on a regular photo will just basically look like basic white clouds, but the HDR photos will actually show the lines and variations in the clouds.

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Unless you have an SLR, the camera on most newer phones is probably as good or better than the digital camera most people own.

The zoom capability may be the main reason to consider taking an actual camera.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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The zoom capability may be the main reason to consider taking an actual camera.

This. We have a super zoom camera, and it's differences make it arguably less suitable for everyday photography but make it especially suitable for taking photographs of majestic scenery.

 

 

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

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We just bought a DSLR and took it on our last vacation and used it in Boston and I would take a picture and my husband would take the same one on his iPhone. And his were just as good if not better in most cases. So I am thinking about taking the camera back.

 

But because of the zoom feature, I am torn. We did not have the DSLR in Alaska and while our pics are OK, they aren't great. We are going to Hawaii in January and I want to photograph whales which I can't do with a point and shoot and the iPhone isn't great for that either. Plus I feel like we will go back to Alaska too at some point.

 

So yeah I have to decide in 90 days. If I do keep the camera, I will have to take class for sure. Another thing is I feel like I can frame the pictures much better with the iPhone than I can with the camera.

 

OP, if your mom has the camera and is experienced with it, I would take it. I consistently see pictures in Alaska trip reports that are spectacular and more often than not, they are taken with a camera, not a phone.

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I bought a bridge/superzoom camera for our trip to Alaska. I’ve taken it a few places and love the pictures I can get with that zoom, but it is heavy and bulky. So it’s a matter of weighing pros and cons for you. I believe a basic point and shoot camera is obsolete with the newer phone cameras. Most of the people who love their DSLR cameras are at least hobby level photographers. I like photography but don’t have time or money for major investments, so I settled on that superzoom with 50x optical zoom. There are others with even more zoom.

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I know that this isn't a photography forum, but does anyone know of a good zoom add on for the iPhone (or even if there is such a thing)? I know my point and shoot (which takes fantastic pics, by the way) won't do it for me in Alaska, but the iPhone doesn't have enough zoom.

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I know that this isn't a photography forum, but does anyone know of a good zoom add on for the iPhone (or even if there is such a thing)? I know my point and shoot (which takes fantastic pics, by the way) won't do it for me in Alaska, but the iPhone doesn't have enough zoom.

 

CC does have a photo forum so you might want to also ask about this over there:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=118

 

Keith

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I know that this isn't a photography forum, but does anyone know of a good zoom add on for the iPhone (or even if there is such a thing)? I know my point and shoot (which takes fantastic pics, by the way) won't do it for me in Alaska, but the iPhone doesn't have enough zoom.
Do you mean "zoom app"? If so, you don't want to go there. The quality of a photo is dictated by the quality of the optics, the lens and the image sensor. Digital zoom does nothing to aid in taking great photos of far objects. It just robs the photo of fidelity.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

Edited by bUU
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I would never rely solely on my iPhone which is why I brought a Panasonic ZS-50 travel zoom camera on our Alaskan cruise a couple of months ago - even then, that 30x zoom was a bit lacking[emoji41]

 

 

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Thank you for this discussion. I have been wondering this very thing. I know nothing about a DSLR camera, but want to take good photos on this trip. I have an iPhone (either 7 or 8) and took amazing photos with it this past summer in the Black Hills and Yellowstone, but know the zoom is not fantastic. Maybe I can find a DSLR on a holiday sale somewhere?

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Thank you for this discussion. I have been wondering this very thing. I know nothing about a DSLR camera, but want to take good photos on this trip. I have an iPhone (either 7 or 8) and took amazing photos with it this past summer in the Black Hills and Yellowstone, but know the zoom is not fantastic. Maybe I can find a DSLR on a holiday sale somewhere?

 

If you know nothing about DSLR's, don't buy one for the trip unless you plan on investing significant time into learning how to use it.

 

Get a travel zoom or bridge camera

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We each have iphones, but take point & shoot cameras along for serious pics. Two reasons - really just one: The cameras we each have possess eye viewfinders as well as the screen. I need it because I still cannot see the screen in daylight to frame the pic. My sister needs it for that, plus she has bad essential tremors, and need to be able to plaster the camera to her face to stabilize it. They are long zoom cameras, mine is Sony DSC-HX80 and hers is a Lumix ZS50 (I think). EM

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We each have iphones, but take point & shoot cameras along for serious pics. Two reasons - really just one: The cameras we each have possess eye viewfinders as well as the screen. I need it because I still cannot see the screen in daylight to frame the pic. My sister needs it for that, plus she has bad essential tremors, and need to be able to plaster the camera to her face to stabilize it. They are long zoom cameras, mine is Sony DSC-HX80 and hers is a Lumix ZS50 (I think). EM

 

Really liked my Panny ZS-50 and it did well on our Alaskan cruise a couple of months ago.

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We just bought a DSLR and took it on our last vacation and used it in Boston and I would take a picture and my husband would take the same one on his iPhone. And his were just as good if not better in most cases. So I am thinking about taking the camera back.

 

But because of the zoom feature, I am torn. We did not have the DSLR in Alaska and while our pics are OK, they aren't great. We are going to Hawaii in January and I want to photograph whales which I can't do with a point and shoot and the iPhone isn't great for that either. Plus I feel like we will go back to Alaska too at some point.

 

So yeah I have to decide in 90 days. If I do keep the camera, I will have to take class for sure. Another thing is I feel like I can frame the pictures much better with the iPhone than I can with the camera.

 

OP, if your mom has the camera and is experienced with it, I would take it. I consistently see pictures in Alaska trip reports that are spectacular and more often than not, they are taken with a camera, not a phone.

 

Get some training (and then practice) on how to use the camera and you'll have better results.

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We each have iphones, but take point & shoot cameras along for serious pics. Two reasons - really just one: The cameras we each have possess eye viewfinders as well as the screen. I need it because I still cannot see the screen in daylight to frame the pic. My sister needs it for that, plus she has bad essential tremors, and need to be able to plaster the camera to her face to stabilize it. They are long zoom cameras, mine is Sony DSC-HX80 and hers is a Lumix ZS50 (I think). EM

 

I also like having the view finder. I bought a Lumix Bridge camera (forgot model) on clearance and it is amazing.

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I openly recognize that I'm on the upper end of the spectrum, but the only way I'm not taking three DSLRs and at least four lenses to Alaska is if we have a kid.

 

I couldn't imagine not taking my gear either and surprised that someone who is an "avid" photographer would consider using a cell phone.

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This isn't a question but more of a statements. Feel free to log your own opinions, particularly related to different poplar cell phones on the market.

 

 

 

My mom, who is an avid amateur photographer, asked my opinion on taking her camera to Alaska. She was already leaning towards just using her iPhone camera. I did advise that I recommend just the phone camera. In this day and age we are all carrying our phones anyways, so a secondary camera is an added item to carry. My husband and I went to Hawaii this past summer, and I am still blown away by iPhone photos. I have an iPhone 6, so it's hardly the latest model. If you have an iPhone, enable the HDR on your camera. What it does is it takes two photos for every one, a regular and an HDR. The regular are probably better for sharing and posting because they take up less space, but the HDR are amazing for printing. I printed a few via Shutterfly, and they are just amazing, particularly compared to some of my older photos taken with my old Nikon Coolpix. Also, I have those nifty gloves that still allow me to use my touchscreen.



 

 

 

 

 

If you practice taking a few photos with the HDR feature, I've found the easiest way to see the difference on your phone is to look at the clouds. The clouds on a regular photo will just basically look like basic white clouds, but the HDR photos will actually show the lines and variations in the clouds.

 

 

 

If you are serious about getting quality images, there is no comparison. If you use a quality digital camera, especially a DSLR with interchangeable lenses, you will always get better results than you will get with a phone camera. The versatility and and capabilities of cameras make it worth the while of carrying a little extra weight.

 

That said, you also need to be familiar with and practice the operation of the camera to take advantage of its capabilities, the same as anything else.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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That said, you also need to be familiar with and practice the operation of the camera to take advantage of its capabilities, the same as anything else.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Unfortunately (for them) there a lot of people that spend the money on a DSLR camera and just set it to Auto mode. While most DSLRs in Auto mode will take fantastic pictures, knowing how to use the camera to it's fullest will allow you to capture in better pictures.

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