Taking Pictures

Will my Iphone 8 be good enough to take decent pictures? Or does everyone bring a good real camera? I want pretty pictures but don't want to haul around a large camera the whole time and worry about it getting stolen.

My fiancé used her iPhone 6s on our last cruise and that was sufficient for pictures. Actually, some of the pictures turned out really great!!

We've used our cell phones for picture taking for the past 3-4 cruises. The quality is just as good or better in my opinion and its alot easier than lugging around a nice camera. Granted I am not a photo fanatic.... but it easily met my expectations and gave us alot of nice memories...plus made it easy to send pictures to family during the cruise!!

I use my cell phone for some & my little sony cybershot for others where I want to zoom in more. Depending on what I am doing ashore, I may not want to take my cell phone and just take the camera.

I've never gotten the hang of taking pictures with cell phones. Call me phone challenged. :) I use a point and shoot camera (Nikon Coolpix). It's not that much bigger than an iPhone. And in terms of getting stolen, the camera cost less than my iPhone.

I've seen some beautiful pictures taken with phones though so go with what you are comfortable using.

I can't take a decent picture with even the best camera.....and I'm no good with a phone camera, either! I just figure that if I can't remember something without a photo, it's not worth remembering. I no longer stress about getting the "perfect shot"!

I prefer a stand alone camera but many people use the iPhone excessively.

Keith

I’ve carried at least a pocket digital camera for years until I got the iPhone X. It’s flat amazing for photo quality. I just used it for stills and video at Disney while my girls ran the half-marathon and the photos are some of the best ever.

The other side is cameras are cheap. A decent digital camera can be as little as $150 and a new mirrorless is $400. I love my Olympus OMD.

On every cruise since the first Canon Digital Rebel in 1995 I’ve carried a DSLR, but the next one the Nikon 5600 will probably stay home.

.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I get good pics with my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (And Note 3 before that) but I also have a Nikon coolpix with a 20x optical zoom I like. My phone cam was fine for everything up close enough and I only took out the nikon a few times.

BUT we are doing a costa rica and Panama Canal partial transit in April and I am bringing my DSLR for what I hope to be some great shots in Costa Rica and on the canal. I'm bringing a fast short-medium lens and a zoom.

I'm comfortable using any of the 3 but this is the first time I've felt the urge to bring my "good" camera. It will be our 3rd Carnival cruise and I think I've done enough of the noobie cruiser things that now I can get back to obsessive photographer things. (lol, I knew I would miss out on new cruise stuff if I brought my DSLR on the first couple cruises because I would be paying more attention to trying to line up the perfect artsy-fartsy shot instead of just enjoying the cruise).

We lock the phones in the safe except for St Thomas and San Juan. We find no burning need to use the Hub app while on board. I stick the Fun Times in my pocket when I leave the cabin so I don't miss anything :D

For pics I have a Sony Cybershot that ran about $275 which takes very good pics. It zooms easily if needed for scenic shots and takes decent night and indoor shots. Best thing is that it fits in my pocket when not needed. (Yes, all the shorts/slacks/jeans I take on cruises have pockets)

Camera phones have gotten much better over the years but I still use point and click ones for my vacation. The quality is been much better from my comparisons.

iPhone 8 has one of the best cell phone cameras out there. It takes AMAZING sharp pictures. Many photographers compare it to near DSLR quality. I think you'll be just fine with the iPhone camera, If your worried about roaming charges whether on the ship or in port then just put it in airplane mode and problem solved. I have the new iPad pro and its said the iPhone 8 has a better camera then it and my iPad takes incredibly sharp vivid pictures.

If it's just for Facebook or Instagram, then it's fine.

If you don't know how to use a dslr, then you may be better off with just an iPhone.

Once you put even a tiny bit of effort into learning photography, then you learn the limits of an iPhone. It's a big fork in the road at that point. Many see the differences, but just don't care enough to bother with learning more, possibly buying something other than the kit lens, etc. Others feel it's worth the effort, but it is effort. It's more to think about, carry, etc. Cost can ramp up, etc.

We like to travel, so we put up with it. And it is a pain. We have roughly $6,000 in gear. Even just with the camera body and one lens (which we try to do to save weight), it's a little worrisome to be carrying around $2800 in gear all the time. And if you're hiking or walking around all day, it gets tiring having a decently weighted backpack just for the camera. It also takes noticeable effort to unpack and get ready to shoot. I just spent $150 on a new strap and clip (Peak Design Slide strap, Capture clip v. 3, and Pro Pad) to make carrying the camera easier and quicker to get ready to shoot. That's the cost of a cheap point and shoot.

But, we have family photos better than many "pro" photographers (the photos we took at my sister's wedding are better than her paid photographer ones, and they had way more and better gear than I brought), beautiful picture books, gorgeous large framed family photos, etc. So, we feel it's worth it, but we have traveling companions who definitely don't think it's worth it.

Where are you going, what are you doing, and how picky on pictures are you?

There’s a lot of different answers to this question. I’m looking into an Antarctica cruise right now. I would say no, it’s a once in a lifetime trip and everyone wants to see pictures.

When I’m on a cruise to Catalina island in the fog and Ensenada with no shore excursion, an iPhone 6 is fine for me. I’m also picky about pictures and love my zoom.

Etc.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Last 2 cruises I took pics with both my stand alone camera and Samsung Galaxy. The cell phone pics were better. This time leaving camera at home.

I used to pack a DSLR and a variety of prime lenses for cruises. I carried a large backpack loaded with them on port days.

Then I switched to just the DSLR and a Tamron 18-270 superzoom travel lens along with a wide angle lens in a smaller over the shoulder bag and added a handheld gimble stabilizer for video.

Now I take a Sony A6000 mirrorless with a superzoom and a wide angle lens along with the gimble stabilizer and have also added a DJI Mavic Air to my cruise photo bag.

I’ll take selfies and Instagram type photos with my iPhone X but sunset portrait, telephoto, and landscapes with my Sony.

I leave my Canon DSLRs at home.

along with the gimble stabilizer

Oh my gosh. I just got one. The improvement that thing makes to your cell phone videos is incredible.

DJI recently released on for only $130. They basically went for $200-300 before that. The new Osmo Mobile 2 is pretty plasticky feeling and the buttons aren't in the best spots for ease of use, but you can't beat the price. All those sacrifices are worth it.

Where are you going, what are you doing, and how picky on pictures are you?

 

There’s a lot of different answers to this question. I’m looking into an Antarctica cruise right now. I would say no, it’s a once in a lifetime trip and everyone wants to see pictures.

 

When I’m on a cruise to Catalina island in the fog and Ensenada with no shore excursion, an iPhone 6 is fine for me. I’m also picky about pictures and love my zoom.

 

Etc.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly what I was going to say, except i am not looking into Antarctica. I have been on 4 European cruises and have another planned for this summer. I bring my good camera. I also average 300 pictures a day when in port.