smartphone with the best camera?

[HantuBlauLOL]

Hi guys, I decided to buy a second one, because my current one sucks at taking pictures.

 

My primary picture object is trains and model trains. Well, so the camera criteria is fast-taking and less blur when zoomed (high resolution, perhaps?).

 

I'm thinking about Lumia 1020, any suggestion guys?

[katoftw]

if you want a good camera, then dont buy a smartphone.  buy a camera.

[railsquid]

Beat me to it. I've got a Nexus 5 which is great for taking baby photos/videos indoors as I always have it on me, but for outdoors/detail work even a decent compact camera is much much better.

[cteno4]

Yeah digital cameras are dirt cheap these days and have real lens elements.

 

Jeff

[bikkuri bahn]

Yeah, ditto for buying a real camera, preferably one with a proper viewfinder rather than a back screen for composing your shot(s). The only thing I can take with the cellphone camera is something that is dead still.

[1954G]

The 1020 is a nice smartphone (I bought one for my mother last year, and it's been quite reliable software and hardware-wise), but I agree with others' recommendations to seek out a digital camera.  One of the only complaints she has about the 1020 is that it takes photos slowly--not good if you're trying to capture a moving model train. 

 

You can get good deals on used DSLRs/lenses on Yahoo JP auctions. 

[Kabutoni]

I've been taking pictures for quite a while with a smartphone and it's starting to get very frustrating. The higher quality you want, the less satisfied you'll be. Like Mr. Squid, I have Nexus 5, but I use different camera software than the standard Android one.

 

The problem with that is the quality is too much for the processor to get good and quick snapshots, as well as drains the battery like crazy. Next to that, on warm days, the camera tends to overheat the phone... Still, I'm a cheapskate with weird priorities, so I stick to my smartphone and spend the money I can buy an actual camera from on model trains...  :confused5: It's a good thing I don't go out so much to snap pictures of trains. If I do so, it's more for taking in the atmosphere and the company of friends (if any).

[HantuBlauLOL]

Well, I actually wanted a digital cam at first, but I think its not really efficient in both space for the hardware and editing the pics..

 

I'm also going to replace my phone..

[katoftw]

You dont use the camera to edit pics.  You use editing software on a computer.

 

I would try someone's camera and see the difference versus a phone will make.  The difference is huge.  Once you've tried, you'll understand.

[Robert46]

I think if we are on limited budget, buying a smartphone for camera purpose is good option... so far I know Sony smartphone has the best image quality compared with others at the same price range.. but somehow Asus comes with cheaper price but with good quality too.. but with Asus we need to be careful as it is more fragile if you dropped it.. :P

[tossedman]

The iPhone 6S Plus has a great camera. 12 megapixel, shows great skin tones, high contrast and clear details. You can get lots of camera apps that let you adjust your exposure more than the Camera app that comes with the phone. It does amazing slo mo video as well. 240 fps. Cool!! And, you can edit the pics on the phone as well. Not cheap but well worth it. 

 

I've got the iPhone 6 Plus and love it. My buddy got the 6S Plus and it's head and shoulders above it. Google it and check out the reviews.

Edited November 5, 2015 by tossedman

[HantuBlauLOL]

I know but..

 

It's really out of my price range, sadly.

[Kb4iuj]

I would recommend getting a real camera and keep all your photo's on a SD or CF card. Apple is a closed system a bit like their music. They'll go into your computer and delete stuff. All in the fine print. As those free upgrades aren't all that great and you can bet their throttling the microprocessors to slowdown their operating systems. All in lieu for selling another computer. As that recent upgrade sure slowed down my MacBook. Do checkout the Canon Selphy printer.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Kb4iuj

[cteno4]

It's the same on all platforms, the rush to keep evolving the operating systems and add more features and bells and whistles leads to the need for newer, more powerful computers. Same goes with cell phones. Keeps the industry making money. It's true we have gotten pretty past what we need really and the upgrade loop gets crazy. It's also the cultural need to have to have the latest and greatest. You don't have to adopt the newer operating systems for quite a while and stay one or two back to allow older machines to keep speedy. Only need to upgrade if there is software you need that requires it or they stop releasing security updates for your current os.

 

Apple is not going in and delete your files, if you think that then put tape over the camera and get a foil hat. It would be suicide for them to mess with your files. Apple has actually been doing some of the strongest encryption that they or the government can't easily peak at on the iOS. Worry more about all the random meta data on you floating out there being mined and collated and sold...

 

But back to cameras, I would look at an inexpensive digital cameras, even the sub $100 digital cameras will have vastly better optics and higher resolution compared to cellphones. They will also let you fiddle with settings more than cellphones do for doing close up photos of models and such. To get a nice camera in a cellphone it will cost you!

 

Jeff

[HantuBlauLOL]

Well, you guys made me change my mind.. Lol.

 

Sadly sub 100$ cameras doesn't exist here.

 

Any suggestion about which cam should I get?

[Mr Frosty]

Look for a good second hand Panasonic Lumix LX7, or a Canon G series. G7 and above

[Kb4iuj]

Stay away from the FujiFilm S9900w. Just bought it for it's long lens. It works for that. But, I just did a time lapse movie and the playback isn't the whole window of the camera back or the viewfinder. But, the playback is this tiny space. I got a review at Amazon gave iit a one star. Switching from different modes is massively slow. Hence. It just a cheap toy of sorts - long lens. And that's it. I'm not going to fool with the wifi and controlling the camera remotely. If switch modes is slow. It's the internal processor hence a wifi packets thru error correcting must really be awful. Just something I'll pass on in the abortion department.