its not about the camera

[Paul Pless]

our neighbors and best friends here in az just returned from a month on the skeleton coast, namibia

this was taken with a several generations old samsung smart phone

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[Dave Wright]

2018 Samsung J3 ($59) taken today. My brother's iPhone 13 however, does take sharper and better color resolution though.

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[Paul Pless]

that water color!

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[lupussonic]

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[birlinn]

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They have found Liz Truss's magic money trees!

[Canoeyawl]

They have found Liz Truss's magic money trees!

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Alas, picked clean by the previous Maggie

[AndyG]

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I know a bit about photography.

So far, on this thread, the above is The Win. Framing, structure, depth, form. Bang on.

Would it be as good a shot from a phone camera? Maybe aye, maybe nae. But whatever the tool, it takes an eye to see.

Andy. Shoot me.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Apple iphones are doing a great job with in camera (in phone) processing, which is why Joe's photo in post no. 12 is 'Bang on' and isn't flat.

Awww thanks twodot, thats ultimate high praise coming from the likes of you.

[Paul Pless]

show off

[lupussonic]

Shucks I didn't take my Nokia 5210.

[Jim Bow]

IPhone X:

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[icyb]

LG g2 my panfish lake0920150752~2.jpg

[CWSmith]

Hard to find more contrasting photographs. Lovely shots! Thank you for sharing.

[L.W. Baxter]

i reckon a poor quality photograph of a nice subject is better than no image at all. the principle virtue of my phone camera is, it's always in my pocket.

i liked the view last evening looking west. cows raising dust at sunset. iphone se. there's enough in the image to evoke the ambiance.

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[elf]

There's a flatness to phone photos which is a nice conceit when it's your style (as in the first image), but leaves me regretting that I didn't get the real cameras out for shots when I was lazy.

And, over and over, phones are useless when shooting directly into bright light spots.

[Jack Loudon]

There's a flatness to phone photos which is a nice conceit when it's your style (as in the first image), but leaves me regretting that I didn't get the real cameras out for shots when I was lazy.

And, over and over, phones are useless when shooting directly into bright light spots.

Perhaps you are forgetting the title of this thread? The photos herein are (IMO) outstanding, and most would not exist if it wasn't for the ever-present cell phone/camera. I also think that flatness is more a factor of focal length than sensor size and that the latest phone cameras do great of retaining highlight & shadow detail in harsh light or low light.

For those of us who are no longer interested in carrying a full-frame DSLR with an assortment of lenses, nor into spending hours in post-processing, phone cameras are a marvel. They free us to get on with the important aspects of photography, framing and composition.

[Syed]

There's a flatness to phone photos which is a nice conceit when it's your style (as in the first image), but leaves me regretting that I didn't get the real cameras out for shots when I was lazy.

And, over and over, phones are useless when shooting directly into bright light spots.

Like;
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[Joe (SoCal)]

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Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Ultra Wide Camera —
4000 × 2250 JPEG
ISO 100 13 mm ƒ2.4 1/30 s
Dana Point⁩, ⁨California⁩, ⁨United States⁩

[Ted Hoppe]

Location and access is what matters

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[Canoeyawl]

Location and access is what matters

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I built a cabin within a half mile of that gravel quarry, to live in while we pioneered a small subdivision. Roads and building pads for the Bank manager in Weed,
1978? He never paid the final... declared bankruptcy. Ended up costing me a lot of money to pay my employees and transport a bunch of trucks and tractors back and forth.
The cabin which was "rustic" had the mountain framed in by the main window facing east. I took the whole crew up there for a little over a month. We cooked everything outside in a huge old Japanese ceramic Kamodo , unless we went into town to a great (affordable) family owned Italian restaurant. The river was close by (the quarry used it to wash the gravel, there were no rules then) and there was a good sized trout pond behind "The Cabin". We ate a lot of fish.

[Garth Jones]

http://forum.woodenboat.com/images/attach/jpg.gif

Harlech Castle, Wales.
Google 6 Pro

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

My best effort at an iphone 10 snap:

[peter1708]

Quick snap from old Galaxy AE10.
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[David W Pratt]

Might be easier to get a new camera than to go to Namibia

[John Smith]

I have to say that I've seen photos taken on cell phones that would have been quite challenging to take with my 35mm and get the various settings correct. I would have had to have taken my best guess and 'bracket' it; taking maybe 5 shots.

[Todd D]

GoPro Hero 9 captured from video

Day sailing east of Mount Desert Island, ME

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Jarvis Newman Pemaquid Friendship sloop

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Morris Justine 36 out for an afternoon sail

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Bar Harbor, ME waterfront

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Typical day on the coast of Maine

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[john welsford]

I've a friend who's hobby is taking black and white landscapes with a Box Brownie. She does her own D&P and some of the prints are stunning. She sells them in a local art shop, does very well.

Like you say, its not the camera.

John Welsford

[Stiletto]

That must be a compelling shot to take in Namibia. The same tree features in both shots!

[Jack Loudon]

I must've been to Namibia in the wet season

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Actually Sonoma County CA

[Dave Wright]

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Same old cheapy phone. I don't try to compose I just take a few shots for myself to remember the hikes.

[robertjhall1]

Sunset on the Palouse.20220924_190228.jpg

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

The old rule was "F8 and be there"

Now it's "Grab it with your phone".

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[Paul Pless]

so much for at least one foot on the ground at all times

[CWSmith]

I remember standing out in a field in 1990-something with a friend late at night and we were photographing a comet. We discussed it before, knew what the conventional wisdom was, stood maybe 10 feet apart, and still he got consistently better photographs that mine.

No, it's not the camera. He was just better at it than me.

[John Smith]

Sometimes the camera helps. Sometimes the camera doesn't matter as much.

My 35 Ricoh, back in the film days, had a depth of field preview. That helped me take a picture in the base of the Statue of Liberty of a scene diorama? of men digging a ditch. Playing with the depth of field some men were in focus some a bit not, kind of making it look as if they were in motion.

Sometime the scenery is just so nice that it speaks for itself.