# I have never disliked a camera, until now. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033 "2020-03-06T23:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/21 "2020-03-08T06:30:57Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > And then Cellphones came out with better camera’s and those bridge camera’s went the way of the dodo. Cell phones do _not_ have better cameras. The 5 MP 2001 camera I mentioned above took better quality photos than the best current cell phones I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/22 "2020-03-08T09:35:59Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Cell phones do _not_ have better cameras. The 5 MP 2001 camera I mentioned above took better quality photos than the best current cell phones I have seen. There’s no way that’s true, sensors and image processing capabilities are much better today. And the pictures in that article don’t look too impressive to me even for the early 2000s, the landscape pictures look flat and anything with the least bit of movement is blurred around the edges. I guess it takes OK pictures of statues, if that’s your thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/23 "2020-03-08T10:41:43Z")
I’d say they’re about even: cell phone cameras today are only about as good as the best non-dlsr camera I used before my DSLR. My mom has a flip phone with a horrible camera and she asked me for recommendations, and I said that she should either get a smart phone with or without phone service or a DSLR, because they both have better battery life than a cheap digital camera, and when I had my near-bridge cameras I’d have to change batteries multiple times a day when on vacation. I don’t remember if I said that very good non-dlsr cameras might also come with battery packs and manual zoom or if I thought that would confuse her, but I think she’d also be happy with one of those as well if they exist. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/24 "2020-03-08T14:25:53Z")
Every cell phone camera that I’ve ever used does processing to the file that modifies/throws away information and there is no option to turn it off. Small details are smoothed out and there is some sort of sharpening or unsharp mask applied to edges. Which is fine if you are just looking at the whole frame from a distance–but the type of photography I like to do necessitates “pixel peeking” because they tend to involve lots of cropping, so effectively zooming in on the frame therefore each pixel matters more. In my 2001 camera, OTOH, every pixel “counted”–the details from it weren’t smoothed out. I have never been able to produce photos with a cell phone camera that are as good as with the 2001 camera when you pay attention to the details. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/25 "2020-03-08T20:14:28Z")
Comments: 1. I shake. This camera accounts for that fairly well. A phone, not so much. 2. I shake. Phones don’t have ways to mount them to a tripod. 3. Three Dogfights reruns in a row gave me time to get more accustomed to this and to learn which settings I can ignore, which is most of them. Aperture priority was the native mode of my beloved Yashica Electro 35, but here I don’t know how to change the aperture so I let the camera decide. Limiting, but I can live with it for now. 4. A bridge looks enough like a DSLR to not be embarrassing to use. 5. I hate it less. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/26 "2020-03-08T21:01:42Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > 1. I shake. Phones don’t have ways to mount them to a tripod. Not _built-in_ ways. But cheap kludges are available. Recently a local surplus store stocked selfie sticks (the kind operated through the headphone jack) for $1.00 each. I bought one just out of curiosity sense it was basically free. It turned out that the mounting bracket part attached to the “stick” part with a standard size tripod screw, so I bought a whole stack of them, and can use a phone on any of my several tripods (and use it for time-lapse videos.) ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/27 "2020-03-10T21:00:27Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Comments: > > 1. I shake. This camera accounts for that fairly well. A phone, not so much. > > 2. I shake. Phones don’t have ways to mount them to a tripod. > > 3. Three Dogfights reruns in a row gave me time to get more accustomed to this and to learn which settings I can ignore, which is most of them. Aperture priority was the native mode of my beloved Yashica Electro 35, but here I don’t know how to change the aperture so I let the camera decide. Limiting, but I can live with it for now. > > 4. A bridge looks enough like a DSLR to not be embarrassing to use. > > 5. I hate it less. I have a cell phone gimbal (like this: [Amazon.com](https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Lightweight-Portable-Stabilizer-Compatible/dp/B07RHJ7LWH/ref=sr_1_5?crid=5I1MKVN132H8&keywords=cell+phone+gimbal+stabilizer&qid=1583873878&sprefix=cell+phone+gimba%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-5)) It does several things: It pans smoothly, it reduces shake considerably (also, so does my phone, a Galaxy S9+), and has a tripod mount on the bottom. It also keeps me from accidentally covering the microphone hole with my hand while recording video…found that one out the hard way when I recorded on of my daughter’s concerts. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/28 "2020-03-10T21:45:00Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Cell phones do _not_ have better cameras. The 5 MP 2001 camera I mentioned above took better quality photos than the best current cell phones I have seen. Your preaching to the faithful here, but you also no longer see those bridge cameras either and that was the point. It just took forever for people to realize that an iphone was not going to replace a full up Dslr with attachments. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/29 "2020-03-11T03:23:37Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Your preaching to the faithful here, but you also no longer see those bridge cameras either and that was the point. You’re mistaken, there’s a plenty of non DSLR cameras on offer. Here, please peruse this. By my count more than a dozen non DSLR cameras were intro’d last year, and even this early in 2020 there’s several new models of that sort. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/30 "2020-03-11T15:36:29Z")
This comparison of DSLRs with bridge cameras is much like comparing a $400 iPhone with my $70 LG: You run what you can afford. IOW, completely irrelevant to me. You might as well spend my thread telling me that a Ferrari is a sweeter ride than my 2002 Malibu. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/31 "2020-03-11T16:16:41Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > This comparison of DSLRs with bridge cameras is much like comparing a $400 iPhone with my $70 LG: You run what you can afford. True, but complaining that a 12 year old camera exhibits the traits of all 12 year old cameras isn’t going to get you much sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/32 "2020-03-11T16:41:13Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > For the longest time I’ve wished for a digital version of my favorite film cameras. I’m thinking interchangeable lens SLR, but can ask for the same thing in a bridge camera. > > Let the focus, aperture and shutter be manually set. Include a light meter, but only for information’s sake (and when you can move to subject position for an incident light meter, there’s little better than that anyway). > > And hyperfocus when you’re just walking around, anyway. Pick a fairly narrow aperture that still makes shutter speeds practical for the ambient conditions, and focus so the lens infinity marker is against the corresponding f/ stop marking on the long end of the focusing scale. For many shots, you can point the camera in the right direction and shoot, even before you get it to your eye. You don’t have to adjust anything as long as the subject distance is above the corresponding f/ stop marking on the short end of the focusing scale. > > Light is completely cool and fun to play with, and there are all these simple degrees of freedom to do it with. It was always easy to understand – and I can’t make much sense at all of the 20 or 30 different modes on the last digital camera I bought, much less the little icon language they use to mark them. I’m not sure what you’re looking for that isn’t common. You’ve described basically any digital SLR. You could just put them in “M” and shoot them like you did your favorite camera. (I shoot almost 100% in M). And same with many non-DSLR cameras, as well. (DSLRs are actually being somewhat overtaken by mirrorless cameras even in professional photo use. I haven’t bit the bullet yet, but a lot of people in my industry are starting to use gear like the Sony a7 series, the Nikno Z6, etc. ) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/33 "2020-03-11T16:43:12Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > True, but complaining that a 12 year old camera exhibits the traits of all 12 year old cameras isn’t going to get you much sympathy. Ah, but this isn’t my first twelve year old camera. The comparisons I draw are between it and other older and even shittier cameras. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/34 "2020-03-11T17:57:58Z")
I mentioned that I love my Yashica Electro 35. After many years of use my right hand molded to it, and I was thinking of adapting a point and shoot to the back of my spare E35. Apparently there are other fans of that camera and Yashica answered their prayers: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TzwenXbTIm8/maxresdefault.jpg "Expect the Unexpected. digiFilm™ Camera by YASHICA") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzwenXbTIm8) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/35 "2020-03-11T18:37:35Z")
Ooh, those are not happy reviews! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/36 "2020-03-11T19:12:11Z")
This is a good as time as any to mention the Pentax K1000 I had in the 80’s. Doubled as a mallet to pound in tent stakes when I went camping. No complaints though, it was a great camera. Finally broke when I lent it to a friend who used it as a jackstand while working on his Ford. Well, the camera part broke, it still made a pretty good jackstand. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/37 "2020-03-11T19:56:07Z")
Yeah, I’m thinking of going back to film. My Yashica needs an oddball battery or an adapter which might be in it. Dead Brother’s '71 Mamiya has a torn shutter curtain and I can get one that might fit for $13 plus shipping, spending $20 to make a $20 camera that is completely nonautomatic. I have a light meter but maybe I can retrain myself to eyeball f-stops. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/38 "2020-03-11T20:28:26Z")
Man, I miss black and white film. Somewhere in my house is a bulk film loader with probably fifty feet of Tri-x. Or maybe Plus-x. Eh, split the difference and expose the first roll at 200, and figure it out from there. Well, that’s a dream. I used to have access to a darkroom at the nearby college. College is still there but I suspect that darkroom is long gone. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/39 "2020-03-11T21:10:21Z")
Y’see, that’s the thing about digital. There’s no popping in some Panatomic-X 32 ASA, setting up the tripod, stopping down the lens all the way so that very few photons get thru per second, and kicking back for a leisurely thirty second exposure. My Yashica excels at that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033/40 "2020-03-11T21:23:42Z")
Not true. Plenty of digital cameras allow long exposures. My aforementioned Sony DSC F707 from 2001 allowed exposure times of up to 30 seconds. (For any exposure of longer than IIRC 1.5 seconds, it would take the exposure then take an equal length [dark frame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-frame_subtraction) then compute them together for 37 hours.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-disliked-a-camera-until-now/849033.md?page=3)