The best camera is… not the iPhone
First and foremost I’d like to say that I own Chase Jarvis’ book “The best camera is the one that’s with you”. I like it and I second the idea, yet I honestly don’t think that one must take it too literally.
Ok, I agree that phone cameras are getting better and better, but I don’t think it’s all about it. Usability matters, not just sheer megapixels.
Seriously, which camera would you prefer to have in your pocket? I’d rather have my Ricoh GR1s than my iPhone, not even an iPhone 5 (which I don’t own, BTW). Granted that you will have for sure your phone with you, nothing prevents you from carrying another compact camera. “The best camera…” means that you must have a camera to take pictures and it doesn’t necessarily need to be an Hasselblad. You can take picture with a phone, but why not use a real camera if you have the chance?
Camera manufacturers are improving quality of their P&S because of phones. My point is “why spend a lot of money in a phone because of the camera”? I agree that quality cameras are not cheap but I’d rather spend €50 in a basic smartphone and €600 in a Contax T3, Ricoh GR21, or E-PM2 (for digital shooters) instead of €700 for an iPhone. I always carry either a bag or pockets, so phone goes in one and camera in the other. Because, no matter how you put it, mobile phones suck at photography.
A few reasons:
- Sensors are tiny CMOS with a lot of megapixels compressed in = bad quality (noise, lack of sharpness, rolling shutter)
- Everything is software based = slow & clunky
- Ergonomics suck: it’s a phone, remember? It’s engineered to be comfortable for phone use, not camera.
I already hear cries defending smartphone quality, blah, blah, blah… Ah, come on, shut up…
At the same price of a 64Gb iPhone 5 you get an Olympus OM-D with kit lens, for Pete’s sake!! Not as pocketable, right, but you see the point? If you really want to be posh, go alternative, get an RX100, not an iPhone 5.
The Perfect Laptop
I don’t work in an office, my company calls it “virtual office” instead. Basically I work either at home or at customer’s. That’s not bad, as I can manage better my life/work balance (I nonetheless work more than what I did in a “regular” office).
Traveling is part of my life, and I like it. Unfortunately until recently I was more or less “forced” to use company tools, like phones or laptops.
Then BYOD came. I like it very much as it allows me to choose the tools that help me do a better job.
That’s why I have an iPhone. With proper care you can use it also as a phone (mophie cover for extra battery and reception enhancement).
That’s why I use a Macbook Pro.
I am a Mac user since I had enough money to afford one. I’ve been a unix system administrator and programmer for years, so it’s natural to me to like the OSX. I’m also a hobbyist filmmaker and until not so long ago it required to use Mac to access valid professional tools. Even Adobe software, born on Windows, performed so much better on a Mac.
Unfortunately, my company relies a lot on Windows software, especially Internet Explorer for key tools, therefore I need Windows as well. Since I cannot bring two laptops with me the only viable and reasonable choice is a Mac. Windows runs smoothly and impressively good on a Mac and Apple made sure you have all drivers you need and a very simple partitioning and installation tool for Windows dual-boot.
That’s brilliant. Instead, you cannot run both windows and osx on a regular laptop without hacks and stability, hardware, feature limitations.
My real problem is that my Macbook Pro 15″ is a bit heavy and despite being very powerful it’s a little uncomfortable for traveling.
The Perfect Laptop is then Macbook Air 13″ i7 8Gb RAM. Only one defect: €1.829 is the price you pay for perfection. To go beyond perfection, well, let’s ask Apple to add Retina Display 🙂
Keilun Photography 