TechMama Trends: Are Smartphones The New Camera?

TechMama Trends is a new category I added to TechMamas.com to discuss family technology trends. Cool Mom Tech also shares techie trend tidbits, click over to our friday roundup to see the most recent links.

Today I read an article in the New York Times called "Point (Phone) and Shoot." by Sam Grobart. The article discusses a trend I have seen with many parents: using smartphone cameras as the new family camera. They key reason families are using smartphones as cameras are because it is one less gadget to carry around (or remember as you walk out the door) and wireless access to share photos saves the step of uploading to a computer. The article does bring up the key reasons a real point and shoot camera is still relevant: image stabilization, larger lenses and sensors. Other advantages are zoom features and scene modes on digital cameras.

So for now, I still carry a digital camera for important photos and a DSLR for my professional events. For photos on the move where quality is not an issue, my smartphone camera works just fine. But over time, I have a feeling that smartphone cameras will be adding new features so it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

 

Comments

[Jen C]

I used to carry my camera with me everywhere UNTIL I became a mom:) Then the diaper bag replaced the camera bag. I recently started to feel a little guilty for not capturing more photographs of my little guy when we are out and about. I just get nervous keeping track of all the bags and also that my pro camera is extremely expensive to replace. It just so happened I was in the market for a new phone as well. I picked a Droid phone with a high MP camera instead of purchasing a phone and a seperate point and shoot camera. This way I don't miss a thing. I also have an app that lets me Post directly to blogger with the photos I took on the phone. Makes my life much easier:)