We spotted this Nintendo DSi case—designed to maximize the built-in camera with an 8x optical zoom—over at OhGizmo!, and ever since then we can't help but wonder if we'll never need to carry a digital camera again...
Do You Need to Own a Digital Camera?
The iPhone 3GS we just bought for our significant other boasts a 3 megapixel auto-focus camera. Pretty damn good for a cell phone camera and it's actually only .2 megapixels from topping his (ancient) Canon Powershot. So when it's time to head for a night out, instead of packing our pockets with our wallet, phone and camera, we know we can leave that last gizmo at home.
With advances in accessories like the DSi zoom case above or the Griffin Clarifi iPhone case (which features a close-up lens), how long will it be until we never have to own a point-and-shoot camera again?
Admittedly, there are still some features missing from our gadgets' built-in cameras that have us going back to our tried-and-true cam. The biggest thing is a flash. Like we mentioned before, we take tons of pictures going out at night and unfortunately, a flash-less cam doesn't work so well on dark streets or in dark clubs.
Once features like a flash are standard on all built-ins (Most Blackberry phones have them), will we forever leave digital cameras behind?
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I don't think dedicated digital cameras will ever die, but the market for small compact digi cams will evaporate. It's happening already. The iphone is now the most used camera on flickr. It has already replaced my need to carry around a compact digi cam to take quik photos.
Stand alone digital cameras will become more and more "pro-sumer" only, as the only reason people will need one is to take professional photos. And really, this segment will merge with HD video cameras. We are already seeing DSLRs that shoot in full HD and HD cams that take hi-res digital snap shots. Eventually they will be one in the same. Convergence.
view marm0lade's profile
I'm wondering when consumers will begin to realize that a 3MP camera in an iphone is VERY different from a 3MP in a full-fledged camera. While your ancient powershot may fall behind the bloated image sizes of camera phones, a better lens and optical zoom will always yield a better photo. For most phone cams above 2MP, the added pixels are storage-eating bloat that don't contribute anything to the image quality or detail.
view ChristopherB's profile
An anceint 3MP power shot will undoubtedly produce better photos than a 3MP cell phone cam. Thing is, if Im taking a picture of something with an ancient 3MP power shot, I don't care enough about the difference in image quality between the power shot and my cell phone to warrant carrying the power shot around. Because if I care that much about the image quality, I'm not going to use a 3MP power shot anyways. And that's why the iphone is the #1 digital camera on the lagest image hosting website on earth.
view marm0lade's profile