Point & Shoot Advice

[Black Pearl]

Tough camera don't protect the lens from finger prints when not in use or in use.

[Antonio Correia]

From some of the well meaning advice given, I'm sorry, but it appears I haven't made myself very clear.

The usage for the camera will be for taking a record, for example, of boundary conditions or the detail of an existing building component or a record of some works in progress. The photo's will only act as a useful reference back in the office and are not intended for any other purpose.

As it could, potentially, be used by 20 different members of staff, holding and trying isn't a practical option. Raw capability wouldn't be required. WiFi isn't required although GPS could possibly be useful. The flash capability would only be needed for something like recording, close up, the condition or detail of some structural timber within a loft.

Thanks Andre, Robin and Ted. I'll have a look at those.

And Dave. Of course it needs to be capable of taking good images of sheep in the rain.

Again me ! I really suppose that the smartphone can make the job.
See: pictures taken on the spot and sent immediately to the office, exchange of solution on the go if necessary, the picture can be shared from one computer by all the members of the office, cheap solution, no learning curve, monitor large enough, walk if details needed.
Later you buy a camera if this doesn't work.
Who has NOT a smartphone ?

[mrinmoyvk]

Again me ! I really suppose that the smartphone can make the job.
See: pictures taken on the spot and sent immediately to the office, exchange of solution on the go if necessary, the picture can be shared from one computer by all the members of the office, cheap solution, no learning curve, monitor large enough, walk if details needed.
Later you buy a camera if this doesn't work.
Who has NOT a smartphone ?

I don't agree with this. Image quality of smart phone simply cannot be compared with P&S camera, specially when lighting is not perfect, when its bad, images are almost unsable. Also main thing that is most important is optical zoom which you don't get in smartphone. And about sending images instantly to office can be done with camera as well. There are many OTG memory card readers which accept memory card from camera and connect to smart phone with micro USB. Bit lengthy process but not frustrating at least.

[Antonio Correia]

I don't agree with this. Image quality of smart phone simply cannot be compared with P&S camera, specially when lighting is not perfect, when its bad, images are almost unsable. Also main thing that is most important is optical zoom which you don't get in smartphone. And about sending images instantly to office can be done with camera as well. There are many OTG memory card readers which accept memory card from camera and connect to smart phone with micro USB. Bit lengthy process but not frustrating at least.

He doesn't want images with lots of quality. It simply is not necessary. Versatility, quick action and low cost, yes.

No zoom. Yes, no zoom. Not necessary for this kind of work. Use your legs instead.
However you can this zoom is available also

[Black Pearl]

I don't agree with this. Image quality of smart phone simply cannot be compared with P&S camera, specially when lighting is not perfect, when its bad, images are almost unsable. Also main thing that is most important is optical zoom which you don't get in smartphone. And about sending images instantly to office can be done with camera as well. There are many OTG memory card readers which accept memory card from camera and connect to smart phone with micro USB. Bit lengthy process but not frustrating at least.

I'm guessing you haven't used a modern smart phone or a £250 price range compact of late - you would be hard pushed to tell them apart in all but the most extreme conditions. I'll agree with the zoom part to a degree but with plenty of pixels available and the criteria being a record shot not a masterpiece you could get by. I shoot a lot (over 3k already with my iPhone 6 which isn't that old) with a smart phone and if you use the images for online sharing then the results are very often more than good enough.

[Stagecoach]

I'm guessing you haven't used a modern smart phone or a £250 price range compact of late - you would be hard pushed to tell them apart in all but the most extreme conditions.

Well that's a first for me Robin, I scroll onto the exif bar at the top of the image onto 'GPS' and I get to see the exact location. I miss out on technology over here

[mrinmoyvk]

He doesn't want images with lots of quality. It simply is not necessary. Versatility, quick action and low cost, yes.

No zoom. Yes, no zoom. Not necessary for this kind of work. Use your legs instead.
However you can this zoom is available also

I personally would never mind to use my legs if I have a prime because I can compensate over zoom to get that awesome IQ. But for smartphone the reason to use legs would be because I don't have zoom where as IQ fairly good.

I'm guessing you haven't used a modern smart phone or a £250 price range compact of late - you would be hard pushed to tell them apart in all but the most extreme conditions. I'll agree with the zoom part to a degree but with plenty of pixels available and the criteria being a record shot not a masterpiece you could get by. I shoot a lot (over 3k already with my iPhone 6 which isn't that old) with a smart phone and if you use the images for online sharing then the results are very often more than good enough.

OK, OK by smartphone I meant android phone as I have always used androids.
iPhone is an exception in this and it has always been, all the shots you have shown above are in well lit conditions. I am talking about unfavorable lighting conditions. Try one with android phone and compare that with your iPhone images.

Also try the same image in a P&S camera which is fairly the same price as the phone you are using. I bet the IQ of camera will be lot better than that of phone.

And when you get a good P&S in same price of smart phone and if capturing image is the primary use then why not go for a camera rather than phone?


Anyways, it is my personal preference that I believe in getting the device dedicatedly manufactured for that use, like I would never get a phone (no matter how good its camera is) if my primary purpose is to capture images. (Not even the samsung android phone which has camera in it with optical zoom, I guess samsung zoom it is called.)

[Black Pearl]

Well that's a first for me Robin, I scroll onto the exif bar at the top of the image onto 'GPS' and I get to see the exact location. I miss out on technology over here

Cool isn't it

[xpatUSA]

OK, OK by smartphone I meant android phone as I have always used androids.
iPhone is an exception in this and it has always been, all the shots you have shown above are in well lit conditions. I am talking about unfavorable lighting conditions. Try one with android phone and compare that with your iPhone images.

Anyways, it is my personal preference that I believe in getting the device dedicatedly manufactured for that use, like I would never get a phone (no matter how good its camera is) if my primary purpose is to capture images. (Not even the samsung android phone which has camera in it with optical zoom, I guess samsung zoom it is called.)

I'm a little confused by this use of "android phone", because "android" is an operating system and is used in at least one camera, I thought. Whereas there is a great variety of smartphones all with different cameras (mine has two). So I think these comments are a little too general to be of use in this thread.

Stunning images from Black Pearl there. Even snapshots come out well, here's one from an 8DSx Mk VIII



Er, well, from a Samsung Galaxy SII actually, some years ago. Simple snapshot, no composition intended.

[Antonio Correia]

Jim, what have you done ?
Did you buy smart phones fro everyone in the office or jumped in a camera ?
Which ?
We all - I think - would like to have some feed-back...

[jimd]

Jim, what have you done ?
Did you buy smart phones fro everyone in the office or jumped in a camera ?
Which ?
We all - I think - would like to have some feed-back...

I've got the choice down to :- Olympus Tough TG-3, Samsung Galaxy Camera 2, Nikon Coolpix P340, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 but I've been very busy lately. When I get chance to see them for real I'll decide. I don't smart phone isn't the answer for us.

[xpatUSA]

I've got the choice down to :- Olympus Tough TG-3, Samsung Galaxy Camera 2, Nikon Coolpix P340, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 but I've been very busy lately. When I get chance to see them for real I'll decide. I don't [think smart phone] is the answer for us.

I've taken the liberty of selecting your choices in DPR's comparison page <-- click to see it.

For your stated purposes, I would thoroughly recommend the Olympus Tough TG-3.

If you were looking for more options and a bigger sensor (for later use), I've already researched those for SWMBO and I bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 for her.

[jimd]

I've taken the liberty of selecting your choices in DPR's comparison page <-- click to see it.

For your stated purposes, I would thoroughly recommend the Olympus Tough TG-3.

If you were looking for more options and a bigger sensor (for later use), I've already researched those for SWMBO and I bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 for her.

Thanks. Very useful