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by Terretta 4663 days ago
The Coolpix has its pros, sure. But it has an extraordinary con: it's a second device.

Today the feature of not being a second device outweighs almost any other camera feature.

// I love photography, have top of the line Nikon pro gear, but the iPhone 4S ruined my enjoyment of lugging that gear around. This summer I picked up a Sony RX1 which is an astonishing full frame sensor in an amazingly compact body to solve that, figuring I'd be willing to carry something small, and that, frankly, the cost would compel me. But truth is, with the iPhone 4S, pictures of everyday things are "good enough" that the inconvenience of the second device still has me leaving it at home. Convenience is a compelling feature!

1 comments

Today the feature of not being a second device outweighs almost any other camera feature.

Unless your eyes are tuned to look at iPhone snaps or have poo in them, then no. I'll go as far to say that it's crap and a dishonest attempt at calling it a camera.

I'd rather carry a second device around. Here - a quick holiday snap from my Coolpix P330 with NO processing whatsoever: http://i.imgur.com/mtic70l.jpg

“We are being naïve if we think aesthetics do not play an important role in the way photojournalists tell a story. We are not walking photocopiers. We are storytellers. We observe, we chose moments, we frame little slices of our world with our viewfinders, we even decide how much or how little light will illuminate our subjects, and — yes — we choose what equipment to use. Through all of these decisions, we shape the way a story is told... I could not have taken these photos using my S.L.R. and that perhaps is the most important point to be made about the camera phone in this story... The beauty of a new tool is that it allows you to see and approach your subjects differently. Using this phone brought me into little details that I would have missed otherwise.” -- Damon Winters, pro war photojournalist, on winning third place feature story Pictures of the Year award with photos shot on his iPhone instead of his Canon.

I think its clear the eyes of the judges of the most prestigious photojournalism award are neither "tuned to iPhone photos" nor "have poo in them". Also, I'm not talking about holiday snaps of pine cones. I'm talking about every day life shots or EDLs, Damon's "little slices of our world".

Damon's reaction to the world freak out over photos from an iPhone: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/through-my-eye-not-...