A Snapshot of Photography: The Changing Landscape

I was replying to a comment on a photography post today where someone was asking what kind of camera I use.

I had to stop and laugh for a second because it made me remember a conversation I had with my mother in law several years ago... She was complaining to me about how she just couldn't get her cell phone to take a decent picture. My response to her was "because it is a cell phone". My point being it's main purpose is to make phone calls, not take pictures. My opinion was, if you want to take a nice picture use a real camera.

My my, how the times have certainly changed, my reply to the user on Steemit was: "I mostly use my cell phone to shoot pictures".

I recall when digital cameras first came out. My dad being a freelance photographer ran out and bought a Sony Mavica. It was the camera that wrote the pictures to a 3.5" floppy disk. You couldn't get many pictures on one disk and the max resolution was something like 640x480 if that.

I never would have guessed that most of my dad's equipment, including his in-home darkroom would soon become nearly obsolete.

Cameras in phones have undoubtedly advanced over the years. The past two especially, the fight between Apple, Samsung, and Google to produce the best quality camera in a cell phone is a constant game of 1upping. You can find the current ratings here

I saw the estimate that an average of 1 Trillion photos were taken on cell phones in 2017. That is just an insane number to me. The availability and portability of cell phones is truly making an impact.

Remember selfies in the old days? It was called a cable release, or setting a timer and hoping you could run back quick enough to not look like an idiot in the shot. The small compact digital camera I do own now has wireless. I can take a picture remotely using an app on my phone!

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge believer in DSLR's. I wish I had one, but can't seem to justify the cost. I'm that guy who has to explain digital zoom vs. optical zoom to people when they try to take a picture from far away on their phone and it gets all grainy.

I will sit and stare for what could be hours at the crisp, sharp, clear picture from a DSLR that just "pops".

I have to appreciate the ease of just using my cell phone though. It's something I usually always carry with me anyway.
I never have to stop to change lenses or filters.

I feel that cell phones encourage the spontaneous. Those spur of the moment shots that can't be staged. That selfie or quick picture of a statue that you might upload to Steemit/Facebook to prove you were there, and then never look at again.

Thanks for following along with my through my ramblings Steemians. What do you think? Have you noticed or embraced the shift to mostly cell phone pictures? What drawbacks do you see? What benefits? Do feel there will always be a place for both?

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