Attack of the camphones
July 31, 2007
When phones were integrating VGA resolution cameras, I used to see little point in taking a photo that would be good for little other than viewing on the small mobile screen. Now 2MP is the very least a camphone should be expected, and albeit such a low resolution, the results do vary but some are good enough to be displayed on large PC monitors without noticeable pixelation. Auto-focus, XENON flashes, optical zooms and Carl Zeiss lenses/optics all help but can the cam-phone really replace the point and shoot digi-cam?
The photos from the Samsung G600 reflect the modern camphone well. The detail probably doesn’t stand up to a compact camera, but it looks pretty close. Side by side comparisons of each would be interesting to see (one from what’s considered the best camphone and stand alone camera).
I’m not totally sure whether I like everything in one device. Whilst it’s good for random shots of your friends doing crazy things, or perhaps more serious things like documenting a car crash. I think I’d always stick with several well performing items rather than one item that can do a lot of things badly. Having said that, the Walkman functionality on Sony Ericsson phones stands up well to stand alone media players minus the need to use Sonic Stage.
