Are point and shoot cameras obsolete

[Texashiker]

With the innovation cell phones / smart phones with integrated digital cameras, has this made the standalone point and shoot camera obsolete?

My daughter was asking about a digital camera for her birthday. But the thing is, she uses her phone more then anything else. Her computer rarely gets turned on anymore - unless its to play a game.

My wifes droid has a built in camera, either a 3 or 5 megapixel. Its easier and faster for her to take a pic with her phone and upload it to facebook, then it is take a pic with a standalone camera, go home, load the image to the computer, and then upload.

If you want HD video, or 12+ megapixel images, then the standalone digital camera is the way to go. But for everyday use, is the standalone digital camera obsolete?

 

[Anteaus]

I don't think so. Phone cameras fill a void in situations where you likely wouldn't have had a camera at all or for quick shots where quality isn't of concern. I'll admit it's very convenient having phone cameras around, but I wouldn't trust it to take reliable pictures on vacation or even serious family pictures. The IQ is just too limited and their sensors are way to small. Megapixels aren't everything. They are more convienant than standard cameras, but thats about their only real strength if you compare them to any solid p&s.

 

[dougp]

No freaking way are P&S going away. The IQ difference between a entry level P&S and camera phones can be close in daylight conditions, but throw in cloud cover and the phone goes to crap. ISO performance is terrible, not to mention that LED flashes are REALLY terrible compared to P&S flash.

 

[twistedlogic]

With the innovation cell phones / smart phones with integrated digital cameras, has this made the standalone point and shoot camera obsolete?

Not yet but we are getting there.

The problem I foresee is there is no way to add optical zoom without a motorized lens, adding bulk to the phone.

Also on the other end, I don't see a way for a P&S to offer the feature to instantly upload to a social network service without adding cell phone service.

It would be nice to see a two product combo that lets you combine a DSLR/P&S with your cell phone to instantly upload.

 

[Texashiker]

ISO performance is terrible, not to mention that LED flashes are REALLY terrible compared to P&S flash.

With all things technology related, its sure to improve overtime.

Its not that digital cameras are going away, but I do foresee them losing a large amount of the market share over the next few years.

Lets take the Droid phone for example, there might come a point when we see a droid phone + built in nikon camera. Or maybe some company like Sony release their own phone with built in camera, and use their name to leverage the phone + camera market.

 

[dougp]

Not yet but we are getting there.

The problem I foresee is there is no way to add optical zoom without a motorized lens, adding bulk to the phone.

Also on the other end, I don't see a way for a P&S to offer the feature to instantly upload to a social network service without adding cell phone service.

It would be nice to see a two product combo that lets you combine a DSLR/P&S with your cell phone to instantly upload.

Already exists if you have a wifi capable camera, or one of the wifi capable SD cards. I believe there's also cameras with BT that support file browsing.

 

[dougp]

With all things technology related, its sure to improve overtime.

Its not that digital cameras are going away, but I do foresee them losing a large amount of the market share over the next few years.

Lets take the Droid phone for example, there might come a point when we see a droid phone + built in nikon camera. Or maybe some company like Sony release their own phone with built in camera, and use their name to leverage the phone + camera market.

Doubt it. The censor is not large enough in a phone, and will likely never be the size of a P&S because people want their phones to be small devices. Most people will use their camera phones to take quick snaps, like something neat or perhaps a traffic accident.

 

[corkyg]

Obsolete, no. Convergence, yes.

 

[Kaido]

Not yet but we are getting there.

The problem I foresee is there is no way to add optical zoom without a motorized lens, adding bulk to the phone.

Sure - once they hit 100 or 200 megapixels, you'll just need to crop to zoom in

 

[Munky]

I recently went on a week-long vacation with only my Nokia N8 for pictures, and brought back some nice-looking shots. The N8 is the exception, however, and most phone cameras are still inferior to even an average P&S. I saw plenty of tourists hauling around superzooms around their neck, so no, I don't believe P&S camera's are going away anytime soon.

 

[ElFenix]

until we start manipulating the photons with electric fields rather than glass/plastic lenses P&S's will offer superior IQ. but, does that matter to most people who want to share a tiny pic on facebook? nope.

i would like more cameras to offer bluetooth so that they can be tied to your phone and upload to fb/flickr/whatnot

 

[Cattykit]

I think we're in that progress. P&S will be around but they're going down.

 

[Zargon]

With all things technology related, its sure to improve overtime.

Its not that digital cameras are going away, but I do foresee them losing a large amount of the market share over the next few years.

Lets take the Droid phone for example, there might come a point when we see a droid phone + built in nikon camera. Or maybe some company like Sony release their own phone with built in camera, and use their name to leverage the phone + camera market.

they wont shoehorn a big enough CCD for it to be that nice I dont think

my curve has a 5mp I think, and my P&S is a 8MP, but its so much better than the crappy cameraphone pics.

 

[Anteaus]

As others have touched on, this isn't a matter where technology will simply get better. There is a physical limit to the amount of light a sensor of a given type at a given size can register. Current cell phones use CCD sensors which are shared with most low to mid range P&Ss, but the best P&S used CMOS sensors as do DSLRs which are superior but larger.

As tech gets better, things usually get smaller. If this trend continues, the quality of the camera and the size of the phone will be contra to each other, with the most likely scenerio being that the smaller size will win. P&S cameras will just get better and better. The LX-5 and S95 are examples of amazing P&S cameras that no cell can even think of matching.

It's always possible that a new sensor tech will be invented, but as of now there really isn't any way to improve ISO short of installing larger sensors in phones, which isn't likely. I guess only time will tell.

 

[Munky]

As others have touched on, this isn't a matter where technology will simply get better. There is a physical limit to the amount of light a sensor of a given type at a given size can register. Current cell phones use CCD sensors which are shared with most low to mid range P&Ss, but the best P&S used CMOS sensors as do DSLRs which are superior but larger.

As tech gets better, things usually get smaller. If this trend continues, the quality of the camera and the size of the phone will be contra to each other, with the most likely scenerio being that the smaller size will win. P&S cameras will just get better and better. The LX-5 and S95 are examples of amazing P&S cameras that no cell can even think of matching.

It's always possible that a new sensor tech will be invented, but as of now there really isn't any way to improve ISO short of installing larger sensors in phones, which isn't likely. I guess only time will tell.

You know that the LX5 and S95 use CCD sensors, right? And back when Canon released the CMOS-equipped SX1, it was inferior in image quality than the otherwise equivalent CCD-based SX10? The reason most upscale P&S cameras use CMOS sensors is because they're cheaper, and easier to enable features like video recording and other effects. Image quality is not in their favor, and if anything, I'd argue CCD's are more likely to deliver better quality.

 

[Anteaus]

You know that the LX5 and S95 use CCD sensors, right? And back when Canon released the CMOS-equipped SX1, it was inferior in image quality than the otherwise equivalent CCD-based SX10? The reason most upscale P&S cameras use CMOS sensors is because they're cheaper, and easier to enable features like video recording and other effects. Image quality is not in their favor, and if anything, I'd argue CCD's are more likely to deliver better quality.

You're right. I got the sensors for those cameras confused. Why do you think CCD is better than CMOS? Given that pretty much all DSLR cameras use CMOS.

 

[Munky]

You're right. I got the sensors for those cameras confused. Why do you think CCD is better than CMOS? Given that pretty much all DSLR cameras use CMOS.

For the same reasons - cheaper to produce, lower power consumption, and they can enable more features like video recording, sweep panorama, or instant HDR, because some of the processing is done directly in the sensor. Arguably, CMOS sensor technology has progressed far enough that they have better high ISO performance than CCD's. However, it can also be argued that CCD's have better low ISO performance. The really expensive medium format cameras, mostly used in studios and professional landscape photo, also continue to use CCD sensors.

 

[magomago]

meh putting a zoom is a waste of tie on a cellphone. get a decent sensor and throw on something around 50mm (on a 35mm setup) and that'll make most happy

btw: decent means P&S quality in this context

 

[speedy2]

I find it funny that a person with a higher end phone will try to compare his camera to a dedicated P&S. The fact that it is integrated into a phone, somehow makes it so much better in every aspect.

Take that camera feature out and put it in a camera that is ONLY a camera, and people would hate it. It's like they somehow tolerate it more and even hype it up, because "hey...my phone has a camera!!"

Also, my sister is dating this guy. He has an iPhone. He bought her one. Now they constantly take pictures every time I see them. You know...the typical "myspace pose" type pics. To them, it's more like a toy anyway.

 

[shortylickens]

Repost
troll
wrong forum
etc, etc.


Also:
no.

Next question?

 

[bigboxes]

No. However, I did have a friend insist that his iPhone 3G camera took great pictures. How do you educate the uneducatable? I realize it's a matter of convenience. You have your cell phone with you all the time and who wants to carry another device. But if it was me and I was on a family vacation or other memorable moments I'd want a decent P&S at the very least. It all boils down to sensor size and lens quality. You can only shrink the lens and sensor so much.

 

[Lonyo]

With all things technology related, its sure to improve overtime.

Its not that digital cameras are going away, but I do foresee them losing a large amount of the market share over the next few years.

Lets take the Droid phone for example, there might come a point when we see a droid phone + built in nikon camera. Or maybe some company like Sony release their own phone with built in camera, and use their name to leverage the phone + camera market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Ericsson_products#C_Series:_Cyber-shot
Like these?

 

[LR6]

I recently took my son roller-skating. About 1 half of all of the parents taking pictures or videos of their children were using their cell phones.

I love my DSLR and can get much better pictures than any cell phone, but a lot of people are satisfied with cell phone images.

 

[LostPassword]

Only if they start putting in cameras like in the n8. But I don't see it happening cause people like small phones. Obviously a crappy picture is better than no picture though.

I think we will see p&s merge with camcorders. My p&s shoots pretty good 720p video. Sucks that Panasonic bought Sanyo cause Sanyo was a big promoter of hybrid cams
I also hope panny doesn't abandon their ts model waterproof cameras because i'm not a fan of sanyo styled pistol grips that panny is coming out with.

 

[Rustican]

I was in the market looking for a nice point and shoot and was busy comparing the Cannon s95, LX5, and Cannon G12. In the end i got a Sony NEX-3. Why? Because it wasn't as bulky as a full blown DSLR and was much more capable than a high end point and shoot.

I would agree that point and shoot cameras are becoming obsolete. I would argue that for most peoples typical usage, a camera phone offers enough quality for quick snap shots or informal gatherings or outings. If you're planning a trip or going to some formal event then a point and shoot is better but then again a 4/3s or a DSLR is better still.