I can still remember a time before smartphones when the only way to capture a random event, an interesting building or some great food was to walk around with an expensive film camera or a clunky, cheap point and shoot. Film cameras produced beautiful work, but they were expensive to work with, required bulky gear, and required time to develop the film. Point and shoots, like the Fuji Quicksnap among others from Kodak, were cheap but they took horrible photos and still required a trip to the pharmacy to drop off and the second trip to pick them up. The odds of all the pictures coming out were about fifty-fifty.
The rise of smartphones
As an adult, cellphones arrived on the scene first in the form of Blackberrys and few other 2 ways devices. They were great but they were still not as reliable as a good camera or DSLR. Fast-forward a few years and smartphone are now commonplace. Someone decides to add a camera and the rest is history. Modern smartphone cameras have come a long way, they have driven the cheap point and shoots into obsolesces and have managed to keep DSLR powerhouses like Canon and Nikon on their toes.
The new point and shoot
I am a photographer and I am somewhat biased when I say this, that there is something about holding a DSLR, the weight, the lenses, the look you get from onlookers, that will always hold a special place in my heart. But when I am traveling, in a pinch, or just wanting to avoid paying for that extra bag fee on Frontier, I’m already set with my IPhone XS. On my recent trip California, I decided to forgo the DSLR, and I have to say I was impressed. The smartphone camera is the new on the fly, point-and-shoot for amazing sharable photography.
Read more of my thoughts. See more of my images on Instagram.