[airguitar]

Over the years, I have continued to do a reasonable amount of trips, but my yen for photography has decreased. With the kids etc, you have spent enough time on the food breaks and play area breaks etc that you don't want any additional stoppages for photographs. Further, as age catches up, your priorities in life continue to shift dramatically. Imagine returning from a long trip and having to sit with a GB of photographs, editing/finessing them and backing them up - that's going to take a couple of days or more or if you take it slow, then you risk losing interest and just stashing it away on your preferred solution for backing up. In addition, when you are on a trek or visiting places that need physical exertion, the camera is more a hurdle ( you have to lug 1.5 to 2kgs or more ) that you can do without at times. I'm more a landscape still and video person and I have switched to mobile phone cameras primarily given good tech on them in the last few years and it

I still retain my DSLR and still take pictures passionately when I have absolutely nothing to do and nothing beats a good composition with great light and final finishing touches on an editor.

So how has your gear changed in the last few years ? Do you still use DSLRs the way you used to?

[Shreyans_Jain]

Only cell phone camera now. Pictures taken by the newer iPhones are seriously good. Never felt the need for anything better.

Wife has a DSLR, it’s been gathering dust for many years now. Can’t remember the last time she used it.

These pics were taken on my iPhone XR. Full auto, zero post processing. What more does one need? Just clean the lens before clicking, the phone takes care of the rest.

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

These pics were taken on my iPhone XR. Full auto, zero post processing. What more does one need? Just clean the lens before clicking, the phone takes care of the rest.

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Is the way forward really - in tune with the fast-and-light theme of the world currently. I have moved to cellphone cameras too, have the S22 Ultra ( recently purchased ).


Separately, recently this piece of news from Nikon : https://www.indiatoday.in/technology...792-2022-07-12

[Kosfactor]

Photography is one of my hobbies, which means whatever free time I get and how much ever I can spend on travel, experiences and equipment, I will.

It is what keeps my Monday to Friday going

I am happy to lug a camera around for dearest ones during their important life events, portraits is a subject of great interest, who wouldn't want to preserve images of their kids or nearest relatives growing up. My dad did it back in the days and I'm following that tradition.

Recently something has caught my attention - Speed light/ flash. I am starting all over again, it's good fun.

While one can always say whatever camera you have with you is the best, there is no phone camera that comes close - to my eyes atleast.

[ajayc123]

There was a time when I was a photography buff, read dozens of books on photography, used to develop my photo films and developed and printed my own pictures with my own hands in the dark room of the college lab.

But what I realized is that to really try to make a good composition you really need to think about the trip from a photography perspective, and that requires a lot of focus, and you really miss the relaxed enjoyment of the trip.

So gradually, I changed my stand and focussed on enjoying the experience and put photography as a secondary activity, and just took an occasional impulsive photography here and there using mobile phones.

Now, on family vacations the photography duties are delegated to family members, and I just step in rarely.

With the social media culture, where thousands of photos are just glanced, liked and forgotten in a matter of seconds, I have not much interest left in photography.

[GForceEnjoyer]

Only a cell phone for now, so I've voted accordingly. Although I absolutely love photography, and would definitely like to get a professional camera when I grow up. My current phone is a Redmi 9 Prime, which is quite good at photography; only in daylight, that is.

Here are a couple of photos I've taken. There has been no editing done at all. Cell phone cameras have drastically improved in the last few years! (PS: My phone is equipped with a macro lens, hence the second picture)

[ampere]

I think it depends on what the hunger is. I learnt photography after I joined the forum. There was that initial rush to learn more and more and spend countless hours with camera and post processing. However over passage in time and stages of life, I can surely say, that camera as a gadget for me has not gone down in priority. It still is an important part of my travels.

However I have kind of arrived at an optimum time spent to get through my work flow to post-process entire back log of pictures once am back from a travel. And yes I do look forward to that time spent. The joy it brings to take those snaps and process them (camera and cell phone based) and later view them is immense.

While travel snaps are one aspect, if you can create a sub-section to add to your hobby that's even better. For me that subsection is macros. So any travel, surely the opportunity to shoot at close quarters is always ample.

So yes, I do use a DSLR even in this day and age and it still brings joy to me.

[shankar.balan]

I love photography. Always have done. Probably always will do.

But I have never got into DSLRs. I find them too bulky and unwieldy. One of my personal tenets is to travel as light as possible so I no longer even carry my high quality point and shoot camera with me, except when we go for a wildlife safari. I mostly use the near-best phone camera available.

And I find it perfectly adequate for my needs. A key point here is that most photos are being viewed nowadays on a screen. And the camera resolution and screen resolution are very well matched. It is very rarely that one needs to print a picture and/ or zoom into it for more detail, thus causing pixelation.

For the most part, therefore, for a lay person, even one who loves photography, a top quality phone camera is perfectly adequate. To prove my point here are a few photos…iPhone 7 sometime in 2016, iPhone XS Max in 2018, iPhone 11 Pro Max in 2020 and iPhone 12 Pro Max in 2021-2022 till date. In locations as diverse as Jordan, Tasmania, Tumkur, Bangalore, Valparai, Simla and Ooty along with multiple photos taken across the world.

I also have lots of very good photos taken on iPhone 4S from 2011-2012 and on iPhone 6 in 2014-2016.

Without boasting, there are more than 90000 photos to choose from. Half of these are on iCloud right now and the rest on hard disks and all, but I m not going to further belabour my point!

Maybe this is the case being made, for me to go iPhone 14 Pro Max now!

[sj_koova]

Not surprised with phone leading the poll.
My view is different. I have a Nikon DSLR and Fujifilm Mirrorless.
Photography is so much more than the equipment itself. Lighting conditions, framing of shot and post production etc.. have equal role. That being said, you can get good shots with phone too in a favorable condition, but those images are better viewed in phone itself.

[Ferruccio]

The best camera is one that is always with me and never a hassle to carry. I've done away with my heavy binocs, tripod, SLR as part of my travel kit as I get older. Work or play it all has to fit into cabin luggage plus a laptop bag. So I buy the best phone every 3 years that is not at an insane price that may give me a heart attack to lose / break / dunk in the loo.

I aspire for a blanket and a begging bowl level of travel minimalism eventually!

[Dodge_Viper]

It all boils down to what kind of photography you want to do. Maximum number of people just want to capture memories. With the advancement of phone cameras this is now easily taken care of.

The only breed of persons who are using DSLRs now are those wanting to do specialized photography such as wildlife, birding, specific timelapses, long exposures etc. These needs can never be fulfilled with phone cameras.

I still have my DSLR and a basic zoom lens, although used rarely now. With time and age I simply lost the zeal of post-processing. My Pixel takes care of photos and GoPro for photos and videos.

[Nikhildrao]

My 19k ruppee phone gives out good enough photos for my eyes to feast on, says a lot about technology and Moore's law

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Do you still use DSLRs the way you used to?

Quick answer – No!

A few years ago, we did try to tag along the Canon 70D for some trips, but the usage was quite minimum. From then on, the DSLR is kind of relegated to some food photography at home. The size of the gear is one thing, but more than that the quality of photos produced by flagship smartphones is so good that we don’t see a need to carry along the hefty DSLR. The output we get from an iPhone Pro, or a Samsung Galaxy S range is just brilliant, with no additional effort on post-processing/editing.

[Sankar]

Cameras may be a dying breed but will always have their niche, people still shoot with film cameras in this era.

Easier to carry around and getting better the phone and action cams will replace DSLRs and mirrorless cameras from the kits of many travelers. But that said I still believe memories worth archiving should be captured with as much details as possible. For planned trips i carry a fullframe mirrorless and for everything else its the phone camera. Since cameras are said to be a dying breed its all the more reason for me to have one.

Originally Posted by airguitar

Separately, recently this piece of news from Nikon : https://www.indiatoday.in/technology...792-2022-07-12

About time.

DSLR is dead, long live the Mirrorless.

[saleem_k]

I've been a APS-C DSLR user since 2010 and after I got a S21 Ultra in 2021 there have been occasions when I contemplated lightening my camera gear during our trips and stick to my phone only but have been unable to do so simply because of the quality of images one gets from a DSLR. S21 Ultra generates some phenomenal photos (also has 3x and 10x optical zooms) and videos but it can't compete with the quality doled out by the DSLR. The differences are quite obvious in low light and zoom photography where a DSLR outshines even the best camera phone, by a mile. Also, the higher resolution from the DSLRs gives the ability to crop photos and extend the reach, especially when it comes to birds or wildlife. Most importantly for those who want to have more controls, a DSLR gives the ability to control everything from exposure to composition and a lot of other things as well, which a phone camera gives in a limited manner.

For me, the best way to use a camera phone is to consider it as a backup camera and use it mostly for portrait and landscape photos, to an extent macros as well. Of course, 8k or 4k videos from phones also look good and are easier to record on it compared to a DSLR. These are the best use-case scenarios for a phone. I have started using my phone for those quick meets with friends, mostly around the city and especially if the lighting is going to be decent.

Mirrorless cameras are a different beast altogether but being in the initial years of development, are expensive and have limited set of lenses available for use. I might wait an year or two before I go for a good mirrorless offering, preferably a full-frame one.

Being an avid photographer, I can't choose convenience over quality during my holiday trips and important events and therefore don't mind carrying some extra gear to generate photographic memories that will last a lifetime.