Did Apple just join the Digital Camera Market?

Did Apple just join the Digital Camera Market ($100-$200 digital cameras) & will now crush that market too?

Apple entered the Music industry & literally crushed the portable music player industry and has dominated ever since.

Now apple just released an 8meg 1080p video recorder in its new Iphone 4S….Like many of you I have been buying my kids digital pocket cameras over the years to either keep up with quality or replace lost/broken ones…..I have also wanted to buy one for myself for years…..BUT NOT ANYMORE!!!!!!!

I have seen 1080p Video’s & pictures from the new 4S and it does look as good as any $150-$200 digital camera out there on the market….

Why would anyone buy a digital camera in that price range when they can have a phone/a device that gives you the ability to not only take quality Videos/Pictures but you can send them to an email address/upload them to a web site via wireless or your carrier?

Advantages of having a quality camera/video recorder on the Iphone 4S

• All in One device
• You can send your videos/pictures to an email address/web site to back them up after you take them to immediately free up space
o Even if you didn’t want to hook you Iphone 4S up to a carrier…you could use the wireless capabilities to email your videos/pictures
• Probably the biggest reason is never having to carry both devices

Now I agree that real photographers will not agree the Iphone 4S camera will do it all for them but the overwhelming majority of people use smaller $100-$200 cameras.

So do you think Sony, Canon, Nikon etc…..realize what just happened to them?

Sony, Canon, Nikon etc are in far more than just the sub $200 market (and you will note that all of the above, as well as others, are rapidly increasing their pro-end non-slr cameras currently.. the micro 4/3rds type and rangefinders are rapidly increasing in delivery to market). That said, I can think of many times I'd rather carry a digital camera than a cell phone. One simple example:

Backpacking.
I can carry a camera, spare batteries, spare SD cards. I do not need to recharge the built in battery, so I do not need to carry a solar charger. The batteries last much longer for the camera alone than the battery in my iPhone ever lasts. The camera also powers up MUCH faster than the iPhone ever will.

So there's an example of a time an actual camera is far superior to a phone camera.

Now, that being said.. is it convenient to carry the phone and use the phones camera? You betcha. There are even more than a few examples of iphone's imagery making it into the media as photojournalists tend to carry a phone as well.. (and the best camera around is the one in your hand).

I definitely think the iPhone as well as other smart phones will significantly impact the point and shoot market over the next few years, without question.

Its nice to have the camera and video recorder rolled into the phone but I agree with
Dysfunction when I am serious about my picture out comes the Nikon D80 and my lens along with my tripod and associated gear.

I would take it more seriously if it had a zoom lens and possible interchangeable lenses. It's still has come a long way though.

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Just join? You are really out of date tfalsetta as this camera business is old, old news.

Purchased my Apple Digital Camera way, way back in about 1993 and still use it with an LC original and system 7.0.1 so let the other companies worry about their products. Here is what the digital is like:-


File:Apple Quicktake 100 Camera.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have to add that the quality of the iPhone 4 (in my case) camera is excellent and I have had some surprising results where spontaneity and convenience were the driving factors, but the lack of a viewfinder and ergonomically suited body will always be a serious negative to anyone hoping to match a DSLR. The phone camera experience is a bit like holding a bullet in one hand and trying to hit the primer with a knitting needle.

Err... No control of ISO sensitivity, shutter speed or white balance to begin with = nothing but a camera phone. Granted, a darned good camera phone, but that's still all it is. Heck, Nokia's phones have such features. My own EVO 4G has a few of said features and an 8mp sensor, though I only ever use 5. The best camera is the one you have with you, but given a choice, I'd be sure to have a better camera than the one on the iPhone with me at all times if I was a hobby shooter.

The other points made here are extremely logical as well. Ergonomics, battery, replaceable SD card etc..

Doug

How did this thread evolve to focusing on pro or semi-pro cameras. The way I read the OP's question - he focused specifically on the P&S market - and absolutely - the proliferation of cameras on smartphones and immense strides in improvement WILL impact that particular market. There's no way around it.

BrianLachoreVPI said:

How did this thread evolve to focusing on pro or semi-pro cameras. The way I read the OP's question - he focused specifically on the P&S market - and absolutely - the proliferation of cameras on smartphones and immense strides in improvement WILL impact that particular market. There's no way around it.

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But most of us that pay attention to posts regarding cameras are enthusiasts and DSLR owners, hence our bias.

FWIW one of the reasons I am covetting the iPhone 4s is the improved camera. I like to have a small camera with me at all times and what could be better than having it built-in to my phone, and also FWIW I don't really consider the camera in the 3Gs to be a camera except under ideal conditions and even then it isn't much (but it is better than no camera at all).

BrianLachoreVPI said:

How did this thread evolve to focusing on pro or semi-pro cameras. The way I read the OP's question - he focused specifically on the P&S market - and absolutely - the proliferation of cameras on smartphones and immense strides in improvement WILL impact that particular market. There's no way around it.

Click to expand...

I addressed the point and shoot.. specifically ;P

Dysfunction said:

I addressed the point and shoot.. specifically ;P

Click to expand...

Yes - you did... Interestingly - one of the reasons for us finally switching to the iPhone is the poor performance of the cameras on our current phones. We're tired of wanting to grab a shot of the daughter and missing it because our current phones are incredibly slow and take terrible pictures. We do have a P&S that we've had for a while - but we never seem to have it with us. I don't see us ever buying another P&S.

Yea, I'll be upgrading to the 4s, and part of it IS for the camera. It'd be handy for those random shots, to be sure... but, I'll still likely always own a P&S of some variety.. Just one of those things.

I still don't think that ANY camera phone can or will affect the P&S market as suggested simply because you can't always rely on the battery in your phone to sustain an entire vacation's worth of shots, for one thing. This of course has zero to do with picture quality, but that wasn't really the point I think. I can agree that in optimal conditions (good light, slightly overcast perhaps and some blue in the sky) most camera phones produce very nice images.

Here are some from my EVO: ( Google Picasa compresses the heck out of images that are hot linked, so they're sharper when viewed directly fro the site)


The original, which was edited with the app Vignette (above) :







Doug

It'd help if the iPhone lens wasn't bottom right when pointing at the subject, see what happens when you orientate the phone to use the + vol button as the shutter release.
Still it's a good useable feature, but how many remember to clean the lens before shooting once they've smudged it during the initial composition and then re-positioned the middle finger? I like the camera, I really do and I use it for work related surveys, but it has it's place.