Point and shoot vs smart phone (Samsung A50)

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Point and shoot vs smart phone (Samsung A50)

blackjack17

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#261722 11-Dec-2019 21:01

Planing a big trip to a number of national parks in the states. I had a 10 year old Canon Powershot SX740HS (or what ever the equivalent was 10 years ago) but sand got in the lens and it doesn't work anymore.

Would a camera like a Canon Ixus 185 be any better than the camera on a Samsung A50?

Don't really have the budget to spend much more than $200

Is it worth spending anything on a point and shoot these days?

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PeterReader

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#2372773 11-Dec-2019 21:01

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gehenna

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#2372777 11-Dec-2019 21:09

They say the best camera is the one you have with you. Phone camera's have come a long way. I bought a Canon PowerShot about 8 years ago, I don't think I've ever used it. I'm not a photographer, but I take a lot of photos. My phones have never let me down and just keep getting better.

OldGeek

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#2372783 11-Dec-2019 21:29

Generally it is hard to go past a phone camera these days. When it comes to dedicated cameras the only justification for them is when the specs exceed those of a camera phone. For non-professional use phone cameras are hard to beat both on price and performance.

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Scott3

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#2372787 11-Dec-2019 21:48

Would you consider a used camera?

There is two RX100 Mk1's on Facebook marketplace around the $200 mark. This is a 2012 point and shoot camera, but it has an great reputation. One of the favored bits of gear for pro photographer's in locations where large camera's are banned.

The other thing you could consider if you don't really need a camera day to day, but would like something nice for this trip, is to rent a camera. I assume a site like Lensrentals could have a camera shipped to your first hotel, and send it back near the end of your trip.

Technofreak

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#2372791 11-Dec-2019 22:10

The first two posters make some good points but I still think a dedicated point and shoot is better, at least for the photography I do.

I have a SX720HS which I have had for 3 years. I use it a lot, the optical zoom is the most important feature for me, but the host of modes and the ability to manually set shutter speeds, aperture, etc is also handy. I acknowledge not everyone will be interested in setting shutter speeds and aperture etc but optical zoom is very useful. I wouldn't do without it. I nearly always have it with me.

I think the Canon Ixus 185 will give you things the phone camera wont give you, like the optical zoom, however whether those things will be of use to you only you will know.

One question to ask yourself is; Did you miss having the old point and shoot when it became unusable?

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neb

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#2372844 11-Dec-2019 23:21

A point-and-shoot will almost always be better than a cellphone because it has proper optical zoom, not digital zoom, and proper optics in general, not a tradeoff to fit into a cellphone. It also typically has a somewhat larger sensor than a cellphone, meaning better image quality (this is a bit of a complex point because a good-quality phone sensor will outperform a sufficiently poor-quality camera sensor, so it depends on the sensor).

The main thing though is that the camera will have a proper amount of glass in front of the sensor while the camera has a fixed-focus, often only one-or-two element lens, or if they're properly multi-element then there's masses of tradeoffs made because a camera that's 15cm thick to accommodate a proper lens isn't going to work. I saw a design doc for a multi-element cellphone lens some time ago, not sure if it was ever put into production, that had a stack of weird waved-shaped elements with crazy light paths through them, of which half seemed to exist only to compensate for the distortions caused by the other half.

Anyway, if you're spending thousands of dollars to tour US national parks then a few hundred NZD - which is what, one or two nights accom there? - is nothing in comparison.

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neb

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#2372847 11-Dec-2019 23:25

Scott3:
Would you consider a used camera? There is two RX100 Mk1's on Facebook marketplace around the $200 mark.

The RX-100 has their 1" Exmor sensor, that's the same sensor used on things like the RX10 and FZ1000 which is getting towards older DSLR quality. That'll leave any phone camera for dead, both in terms of sensor and optics.

Handsomedan

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#2372912 12-Dec-2019 08:17

I'm with those that prefer a combo of P&S and phone.

You simply can't go past optical zoom and the Ixus or equivalent will have moderately better optics and the advantage of optical zoom really makes a massive difference - especially in a pocket-sized device that you want to use for National Park/Wildlife shots.

My Nikon A300 P&S has 8x optical zoom but the photos it takes in anything other than bright daylight are not much better (if at all) than my iPhone XS Max.

BUT - using the zoom and in daylight, the camera really is a winner. The fact that it's smaller than my iPhone helps...

Something like this for $150 would be money well spent...Canon Ixus at Noel Leeming

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