Off on holiday but not sure I can be bothered to take my camera

[cjsuk]

Whilst an enthusiastic photographer and not exactly enamoured with my iPhone 15 Pro camera, I'm thinking about just leaving my mirrorless behind this weekend and using the phone. I've got a long (and unfortunately wet looking) weekend in Italy and I just can't be bothered with it. I am also travelling crazy light with just a small under seat bag.

Also I have been thinking that I may not be making the most of the compromised phone camera because I have my mirrorless strapped to me most of the time.

Anyone else do this? Anyone regretted it? 😅

 

[Ray2]

Why I now shoot RX100’s for travel. I need FL reach too frequently to be constrained by phone cameras. Better ergonomics, effective stabilization a sling strap all contribute to a better experience. While they’re not WR, I shot for 2 days last week in rain in Patagonia. Was careful, wiped the collapsing lens before turning off, should have taped the top plate where all the seams are, but didn’t have tape. No problems.

 

[cjsuk]

Not a bad idea. I have a Z50ii and 18-140mm lens. So around 950g. Still fairly light but bulky. But I'm not too worried about the weight or the bulk as such. My entire other carry is 4Kg for the whole weekend including my iPad.

It's more the psychological side. Need to look at and think about stuff and take it in rather than ambling around and playing find the best angle to capture it through.

 

[_timo_redux_]

Having a camera with me helps me take it in. I feel naked without one, and travel (or rain) makes everything feel fresh or new.

 

[arkitect]

Anyone else do this? Anyone regretted it? 😅

I have done this and regretted it. 🤣

I love travelling light but the only time I feel my camera is a burden is when I go hiking — especially one or two nights camping where I carry everything myself… For that I rely on my iPhone.

For me travelling calls for a dedicated camera — as @_timo_redux_ wrote, I feel naked without one. I even take my camera with me just walking down to the shop or into town for a coffee or whatnot.

The key for me is to choose wisely. Far too easy to take too much.

If I were going away for a long weekend with restricted luggage I would take one camera paired with a small zoom that covers (most of) your favourite lengths. Plus lens wipes etc.

What I will not take with me again is a tripod. Unless I am actively planning to do stars or long exposures, I use it far too infrequently.

Here is my long weekend bag — EasyJet under the seat allowance for 3 days in Paris some time last year. Old and much kicked about Billingham 550 and it takes my clothes and camera stuff. Noise cancelling headphones I wear so no extra bulk in the bag and remember they can't make you take off any clothes you are wearing (with in reason of course!). 🤣

Life viewed through a lens is something special. Enjoy it!

 

[cjsuk]

Thanks for the reply. Nice and detailed

I’m hiking as well (up Vesuvius in the pissing rain without the aid of the bus). And flying easyjet.

Will have a think. Have an hour to decide 😂

 

[mollyc]

My reply will be too late but I can't travel without a camera. I don't even always use it, sometimes we are just too busy, but I carry a film and a digital camera in my purse that goes with me just about everywhere. On occasion I just only take my wallet and keys to the grocery store, but if I'm carrying a purse/bag, I've got a minimum of two cameras. One is a digital Fuji X100V which is small and portable, and the other is a Leica M3. This also gives me a choice of two focal lengths, which is helpful when traveling.

You'd think I'd get a lot of day to day photos when I am out and about, but you would be wrong, lol. But I can't give it up, because I'm sure the day something astounding happens will be the one day I decide to leave everything at home. 🙃

 

[Ish]

Whilst an enthusiastic photographer and not exactly enamoured with my iPhone 15 Pro camera, I'm thinking about just leaving my mirrorless behind this weekend and using the phone. I've got a long (and unfortunately wet looking) weekend in Italy and I just can't be bothered with it. I am also travelling crazy light with just a small under seat bag.

Also I have been thinking that I may not be making the most of the compromised phone camera because I have my mirrorless strapped to me most of the time.

Anyone else do this? Anyone regretted it? 😅

I know you've set off now but the answer really depends what kind of camera you have. If it's a heavy DSLR then I'd leave it but if it's something like one of the Fuji X100 series you could take it and not notice the difference.

 

[arkitect]

Thanks for the reply. Nice and detailed

I’m hiking as well (up Vesuvius in the pissing rain without the aid of the bus). And flying easyjet.

Will have a think. Have an hour to decide 😂

Let us know what you decided in the end…
Look forward to your pics! 🙂

PS. I was in Naples and area during December and while there was rain — and quite heavy at times — it rarely lingered. Fingers crossed you get lucky.

 

[v0lume4]

I used my phone (Pixel 8; yes, the standard model with NO tele lens) exclusively for an international trip last year. I ended up being quite pleased with what it captured and it also served as a fun challenge since it sometimes forced me to have to "zoom with my feet" in situations where an adjustable telephoto would have done the job for me. I personally was happy with some of the shadow detail I was able to get back from the RAW files as well.

Of course, I'm not someone who usually takes my proper gear with me on trips, so it does sound like I'm coming from a different place than many of the folks on this thread. But that's my two cents nonetheless. Italy sounds great! HAVE FUN!

 

[ColonelShaun]

As a video producer with no shortage of gear, I always bring myself to this decision: Am I going on this trip to create photographs? If yes, I will bring my mirrorless body and a lens or two. If I'm going to enjoy time with friends or family, then I usually leave it behind. For me, the phones do a great job of capturing the memories in a very low-impact way, but they aren't sufficient for large scale printing. So the answer is usually obvious to me.

It's funny: I'm more inclined to have my phone stand in for video footage than I am for it to stand in for good photos. We challenged ourselves to film an entire episode of our show using only five iPhones, and we still had the BTS photography use a DSLR. Can't put my finger on why....

 

[cjsuk]

Thanks everyone for the input. Much appreciated. I decided to brave it without in the end.

Somewhat tired after the journey here so nothing major yet. Will see how it goes. Not feeling too nervous about not having the camera yet 😱

 

[bunnspecial]

I have taken trips where I took a camera with me and never unpacked it.

I've also taken trips where I decided to NOT take a camera, and without fail I've regretted it every time.

I've never regretted taking a camera and not using it.

So, my long arrived at lesson is always take a camera.

Sometimes I'll go light and bring just my Fuji X-T5 or Leica M2 and just a single lens on those, and I'll have a blast with that. Sometimes I'll pack heavier with a more complete kit(or bring a medium format camera in addition to the X-T5 or the like). The heavier packing on a non-photo trip can turn into a burden, which is why I DO spend some time thinking through "will I actually use this." A mid-range zoom is always a safe bet, or a fast 35 or 50mm(or equivalent) on film. Adding lenses beyond that is where, for me, I can venture into too much gear, and I want to avoid that.

With that said, the extra bulk of a small camera, or even a full frame DSLR and a single lens, isn't enough to make me sorry I used the space for that.

 

[NeonNights]

I stopped carrying even the smaller RX10m4. It has been probably four years since I Iast took the RX10 on a trip. If it wasn't for my daughter's recent graduation, the RX10 would've stayed in the bag all of 2024.

I contemplated selling the RX10 and getting the much more pocketable RX100, but it's hard to justify the price for a 5-year-old camera. And then I wonder if I'd even bring an RX100 along on trips. We went to Kauai in November and it's so much quicker and easier to whip out my phone, snap some quick memories, and instantly share with family.

I like the idea of having a real camera but seldom take it with me anymore. The only exception is my 10-year-old Olympus TG-1 for underwater activities.

 

[FranApple]

I've not taken a DSLR with me in about 3 years and I haven't missed it at all. Photography is about skill, not equipment. I find that with my iPhone I can take amazing photos particularly with some post magic in Lightroom.

 

[r.harris1]

It comes down to each person's tastes. I always carry a dedicated camera with me traveling and always have it with me. It's light enough and compact enough I don't notice it. While, sure, I can take amazing photos with my iPhone (it's hard not to), I personally think and compose differently on a dedicated camera, plus I'm not going to get texts and phone calls on it . Sure, the iPhone is convenient and in the right hands can create great photos, "the camera you have with you" (blah, blah), it's just not interesting to shoot with, for me. That's part of my own personal equation. Every one's personal equation is (thankfully) different. Easy enough to have a dedicated camera, if that's something you want to do.

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Also a bit late getting here. The Sony Rx100 was a great suggestion. If there are budgetary restraints the Panasonic ZS200, or even the ZS100 are good bets. Both have nice Leica fixed long throw zoom lenses. The former goes from 24mm to 360mm equiv and weighs 335gms plus whatever case and spare batteries you choose to carry. And the 1" sensor is up to producing a good 16x24 inch print with about 95% of the images. Noise free up to an ISO of 1250 as opposed to the 3200+ with your Z50.

All that said I would probably have taken the Z50, as long as I had some sort of waterproof way to carry it.

Note: I do not own an iPhone, and if I did would probably leave it behind when I travel.

 

[bunnspecial]

It comes down to each person's tastes. I always carry a dedicated camera with me traveling and always have it with me. It's light enough and compact enough I don't notice it. While, sure, I can take amazing photos with my iPhone (it's hard not to), I personally think and compose differently on a dedicated camera, plus I'm not going to get texts and phone calls on it . Sure, the iPhone is convenient and in the right hands can create great photos, "the camera you have with you" (blah, blah), it's just not interesting to shoot with, for me. That's part of my own personal equation. Every one's personal equation is (thankfully) different. Easy enough to have a dedicated camera, if that's something you want to do.

I think this is key to me for going to the trouble of taking a "real" camera regardless of what that looks like.

My iPhone 14 Pro may be a bit dated now as iPhones go. In fact, at best I tend to run 1-3 years behind "current" on my phones. Verizon usually sends me a too good to pass up trade-in offer about every other year in June, pessimistically probably to clear out inventory before the new models are released, so I'm content to pay $50-100 every couple of years to upgrade to the previous year's model.

In any case, though, I know my phone is a capable tool, and I do use it a lot. I've seen some amazing photos from them. A good friend of mine has worked as a pro since the 70s and I'm pretty sure he'd use his iPhone on the sidelines of the Indy 500(where he's had credentials for 40+ years now) if he could get away with it.

With that said, a camera gets me in the mindset to take photos, not just snapshots. The type of camera influences how I use it. I tend to get different results with a D5 than I do a Hasselblad, Leica, or X-T5.

iPhones and phone cameras in general pull some pretty amazing tricks these days, but at the end of the day I still like the low light results from a large sensor camera better. I'm not wild about the amount of sharpening iPhones have by default. The "portrait" mode still sticks out like a sore thumb to me because the sharpness of the subject compared to the background isolation just is all off to my eyes. The technology is only getting better, but it's still not there for me...

 

[Apple fanboy]

I’m not really a subscriber to the best camera is the one you have with you.

Yes the iPhone can take a good picture. But if it’s wildlife or anything a bit more complex then not so much.

I just don’t enjoy taking pictures with my iPhone. Never have. It’s just snaps for reference for me.
If I’m taking a photo I’d much rather have a proper camera with me.

If travelling you can pick a lens that really isn’t all that bulky. Or a small dedicated travel camera.

I’d not head for a trip anywhere without my camera.

 

[cjsuk]

Well glad I didn’t take it as it was absolutely chucking it down with rain all day in Pompeii and half of today.

Some phone highlights. Decided to do the entire edit cycle on the phone as well. Only Apple Photos was used. I created a shortcut which scales and exports the images as JPEGs.

Pizzeria da Michele

Detailed sarcophagus relief in the national archaeological museum

Crossroads in Pompeii

Atlas in the national archaeological museum.

And finally my eldest and designated map reader

Quite happy with the results so far of this experiment!

 

[seggy]

TBH all those shots scream phone straight away - and I wasn't even paying full attention to the thread subject matter at first. And therein lies the rub I think.

You *can* make phone shots look less egregiously phone-y and some people go to extreme lengths to "prove" their phone workflow is just as good, but that involves prep over and above mirrorless which removes the immediacy of the phone.

So you kind of have to convince yourself that it's worth it for the vérité.

However, at the same time cameras like the RX100, D-Lux 8 are no longer worth carrying around as a supplementary, the image quality gap has become significantly smaller. You could even make this argument for APS-C in certain circumstances, especially at the lower end of the market.

Personally, I still use phones only for immediate capture where I want purely the moment. If I have the opportunity to dive into my bag to unearth the M or Q, whichever I'm carrying that day - and I do carry either of those everywhere (if I need actual ILC's then I have other Leicas, Sonys and Panasonics but that is a with-prep thing and rare) - I will opt for the camera.

I for one would love to see computational imaging heavily adopted in APS-C cameras for the best of both worlds. That won't happen though as long as Japanese camera makers weak on software rule the roost. Sony maybe, but that's one of the reasons I miss Samsung no longer being in this space.

 

[cjsuk]

Yeah there’s some over processing, some wide angle shots are obvious and the lack of any depth of field.

Adequate for the event. If it was better weather I’d be annoyed 😂

 

[mollyc]

I for one would love to see computational imaging heavily adopted in APS-C cameras for the best of both worlds. That won't happen though as long as Japanese camera makers weak on software rule the roost. Sony maybe, but that's one of the reasons I miss Samsung no longer being in this space.

I would never want this. Let me choose my lens and DOF and an editing program and I'll make the image what I want it to be, not some algorithm.

 

[cjsuk]

I would never want this. Let me choose my lens and DOF and an editing program and I'll make the image what I want it to be, not some algorithm.

100% this.

My principal pain of the iPhone camera is getting an interpretation of the sensor data and not the sensor data. Even the ProRAW has processing on it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I would never want this. Let me choose my lens and DOF and an editing program and I'll make the image what I want it to be, not some algorithm.

Completely agree. I don’t even use aperture priority or shutter priority. I don’t want the camera making those sorts of decisions for me thanks.