And...my camera's died.

[Culmor]

This reminds me about my old idea to make a series of privacy/security posts...

You like mega-corporations tracking you wherever you go?

As always: Convenience vs Privacy vs Safety

Convenience, I suppose yes.
Privacy, whoo No!
Safety, I go places you can't get a signal even in the villages. Up on a hill you're better off with a whistle.

[Like Ra]

Safety, I go places you can't get a signal even in the villages.

Also, from the "being lost" point of view. I always use GPS trackers. A separate GPS device is nice, but we are back to the "convenience" point - I prefer to take a power bank with me (in addition to two mobile phones), then another device, but with no additional battery.

[Like Ra]

And again: usually, before going to particular places, I check "user made" Street View 360 photos. So, I upload my own 360 photos to Street View (with proper GPS info, obviously) from wherever I go for others (and for myself).

[Culmor]

And again: usually, before going to particular places, I check "user made" Street View 360 photos. So, I upload my own 360 photos to Street View (with proper GPS info, obviously) from wherever I go for others (and for myself).

What if you're walking miles from the nearest street?

[Like Ra]

GPS works everywhere, not just on streets 😬

[Lancer]

I love the DSLR I have, digital zoom on phone cameras is still hot garbage and unless you have a multi camera phone that is all you got, an entry level dslr with just a quality telescopic lens and a polarizing filter can beat any phone I know. Also the ability to see what your photos will be is amazing when compared to the staleness of a phone screen.

[Culmor]

I had no idea that  'Street View 360 photos' works miles from anywhere. I live and learn.
It makes GPS even more worrying.

[Like Ra]

I had no idea that  'Street View 360 photos' works miles from anywhere. I live and learn.
It makes GPS even more worrying.

Why? Isn't knowing your position anywhere a good thing? Isn't it good that you can look around in places you've never been at, and, possibly, will never ever be?

[Like Ra]

I love the DSLR I have, digital zoom on phone cameras is still hot garbage and unless you have a multi camera phone that is all you got, an entry level dslr with just a quality telescopic lens and a polarizing filter can beat any phone I know.

Of course, big sensors with bigger pixels and big glass or glass plus fluorite lenses are better, than small sensors with small pixels and small plastic lenses. No doubts here, nobody is going to object that (I hope 😬).

However.... Even if we take the most obvious things out of the equation, such as convenience, compactness, universality, availability, immediate sharebility, etc, there is one huge thing the big photo manufacturers underestimate - AI. From what I know, the only AI features which are currently in use are the face detection and focus tracking. Think of scene/dynamics/sharpness/bokeh/noise reduction soft (re)calculations, by automatically taking and stacking multiple photos with different parameters, simultaneous usage of several fix-focal lenses, 3D Lidars, digital IS, etc. Google with its Pixels is far ahead with automatic software photo processing.

Even seen auto HDR photos/videos on iPhones? Breathtaking! Unfortunately, only compatible within the Apple eco-system (that's why I really hate Apple!). Of course, you can achieve better results by using DSLR and wide bracketing, a tripod, and spending a significant amount of time stitching/tuning/tweaking the photos in a proper editor. But forget about moving subjects. On smartphones - immediate excellent results (and you can have raw images as well).

Sharpness? How much sharpness and resolution do you need? Definitely not enough for 2x3m posters, but general purpose DSLRs are not good for that either. 4-5K computer screens? Smartphone cameras are fine for that.

Nowadays, smartphones produce better result than most compact cameras. And you can shoot 4K60fps videos on smartphones - very difficult to find this feature in compact photo cameras (it's getting better, though).

[Lancer]

I love the DSLR I have, digital zoom on phone cameras is still hot garbage and unless you have a multi camera phone that is all you got, an entry level dslr with just a quality telescopic lens and a polarizing filter can beat any phone I know.

Of course, big sensors with bigger pixels and big glass or glass plus fluorite lenses are better, than small sensors with small pixels and small plastic lenses. No doubts here, nobody is going to object that (I hope 😬).

However.... Even if we take the most obvious things out of the equation, such as convenience, compactness, universality, availability, immediate sharebility, etc, there is one huge thing the big photo manufacturers underestimate - AI.  From what I know, the only AI features which are currently in use are the face detection and focus tracking.  Think of scene/dynamics/sharpness/bokeh/noise reduction soft (re)calculations,  by automatically taking and stacking multiple photos with different parameters, simultaneous usage of several fix-focal lenses, 3D Lidars, digital IS, etc. Google with its Pixels is far ahead with automatic software photo processing.

Even seen auto HDR photos/videos on iPhones? Breathtaking! Unfortunately, only compatible within the Apple eco-system (that's why I really hate Apple!). Of course, you can achieve better results by using DSLR and wide bracketing, a tripod, and spending a significant amount of time stitching/tuning/tweaking the photos in a proper editor. But forget about moving subjects. On smartphones - immediate excellent  results (and you can have raw images as well).

Sharpness? How much sharpness and resolution do you need? Definitely not enough for 2x3m posters, but general purpose DSLRs are not good for that either. 4-5K computer screens? Smartphone cameras are fine for that.

Nowadays, smartphones produce better result than most compact cameras. And you can shoot 4K60fps videos on smartphones - very difficult to find this feature in compact photo cameras (it's getting better, though).

Difference in perspective Ra, nothing more.
  In my defense I only change devices every 4 or more years (looking more like 6 to 8 years now) and my s9 was released in 2018 or so and the new devices have been frankly far too expensive for what they improve on, fair they may have jammed a super high fps AI super camera inside but for me that does not justify buying a new phone let alone one that costs at least 300 dollars more. That plus I hate the decaying apple and android ecosystem as creative apps are mad inoperable by stupid software updates which is a whole other can of worms. 

  For 250 or so in 2016 I got an amazing Canon set with telescopic lenses and polarizing filters all in a a purse sized carry bag on ebay. In the time since I have seen 6 generations of iPhones come and go and only now are they able to beat my camera at specific focal lengths the designer intended. Also while shooting video is nice and all I really don't know anyone who does it often, yes you can record 4k60fps but what do you do with it? Beyond 1080p there is little point in having more pixels (I have a 2k ultralarge screen and no printer with a high enough dpi) better fps also has significantly diminished returns. (24 fps can't tell the difference)

Funny how I sound like the older person, I just hate the newer phones with a burning passion for their increased costs, increasing fragility and more gimmicky features tacked on with another huge jump in cost.