For years I carried around a bulky Canon SLR camera with me during my travels. Last year, I downsized to one mobile phone. Now I’ve got two…
Go back to my older trip reports and you’ll notice fairly nice photos (not to pat myself on the back). When you have a decent camera and nice lens, pictures tend to turn out nicely no matter how good (or bad) the photographer is.
But the problem with bulkier cameras is two-fold. First, they are bulky. Not only do they take up valuable space, but they are quite annoying to carry around. Second, they attract negative attention. Flight attendants and especially ground staff get suspicious. I’ve only once been told to stop taking pictures with my mobile phone, which bloggers and non-bloggers alike use when boarding a flight. But over and over I have been scolded to put my SLR away.
As the iPhone has steadily improved, I wavered on whether to transition to a mobile phone only approach. Last year, I did it and hope that my trip report pictures are still acceptable. Frankly, I find the iPhone takes much better pictures than smaller point-and-shoot cameras like the Sony RX100, but maybe that’s just me.
But my business partner recent acquired a Samsung Galaxy S10+ and I took it for a spin on my lat trip. While I think the iPhone XS Max still takes better photos in natural light, I instantly fell in love with wide-angle feature on the S10 5G.
Take a look at the pictures below. In each pair, the top picture is taken with an iPhone and the bottom by a S10.
I just love how the wide-angle lens draws in so much more. It is amazing how far mobile phones have come. Sometimes these wide-angle shots can distort perception, but you’ll be seeing more of them in my upcoming trip reports.
CONCLUSION
Technology had advanced to a degree that bulky camera are no longer necessary for nice pictures, even wide-angled ones. Until the iPhone adds a wide-angle lens (rumored to be this autumn), I’ll be using a Galaxy S10 5G and iPhone for upcoming trip reports.
So much distortion on that s10 tho
America is losing so much by not allowing Huawei to be in our market. Man their phone takes spectacular photos
I confess that I am a traitor for having a Huawei phone but it is from 2013 and about to be retired. I used it for the UK, not in the US. I do it so that if police or customs want to inspect my phone, I will be fully cooperative and say “sure!” I hope that the People’s Republic of China People’s Liberation Army Spy Agency doesn’t have a backdoor to the phone but if it does, the phone has little info.
Well we are just naive thinking that without their physical hardware they can’t spy on us. Look at the elections in 2016, the Russians did it without even having a person physically in the US.
It’s just a lame excuse for trade retaliation. I proudly confess that I use my Huawei phone stateside l and I am not ashamed of it. I love my country more than a selfish lunatic that has possessed our beloved nation.
Call me crazy but I find it amusing that people willingly carry devices with built-in cameras and mics for every waking second, only to simultaneously have any expectation of privacy, either from government or corporations.
Samsung overdid the wide angle feature. A classic example of “more can be worse”. There is so much distortion that it actually makes it “harder” to view the photo because it is not like how our eyes view things. A good wide angle lens will show more with minimal distortion.
I love wide angle lenses and use one for my iPhone when I need one and it is very good. If you want a wide angle lens Matthew, I highly recommend getting one like the one made by Sandmarc. It is a high-quality lens and has eliminated my need to bring a larger camera. I do bring a Lumix pocket camera when I need a telephoto lens. (it has a 30x optical lens).
I much prefer the iPhone photos. The S10 images make me feel slightly dizzy.
Hey Matthew,
I work in the “cell phone” industry for a an OEM I will not mention here. One of my colleagues purchased a Google Pixel 3A and we went on a short road trip from Buffalo, NY-Niagara Falls-Toronto, CA-Niagara Falls- Back to Buffalo in a 3 day period. The pictures he took on the Pixel 3A were just amazing. I mean, so good that they looked like they were Photoshoped. The low light pictures cannot be compared to and we work in the industry. The S10 and it’s derivatives are also on par but for the price of an 3A (~400USD) you cannot go wrong. If you would like to see some examples let me know. You have my email address.
regards,
AeRoSpaceman
I agree with the distortion criticism.
Why a story about camera phone turned into political issues? Crazy….