Other Should we tone down the camera comparisons a bit?

[KENESS]

If I’ve learned anything from the forum it’s that I’m not nearly as OCD, uptight and obsessive about things as I thought.

I wish I could find a place that would teach me that...

 

[smirking]

I wish I could find a place that would teach me that...

I could very well be that you're doing the teaching here. 😛

 

[fatTribble]

I wish I could find a place that would teach me that...

Oh I’ve read posts where people are using gloves to keep their keyboard clean. Some use a magnifying glass to inspect their new iPhone. Others seem to think their iPhone is supposed to impress their friends and neighbors. All of those posts make me realize how middle of the road I actually am with a lot of this stuff.

 

[ignatius345]

it captured the moment and did a good job of that. Nobody cared if some small details were a little out of focus, all they cared about was that they could see every smiling face and get an idea of the environment in that moment.

Couldn't agree more. Some of the most important photos in my whole library are taken with god knows what random little Canon ELPH, or before that some Kodak or something -- for exactly the reasons you're describing.

All that said, I'm actually finding myself rather turned off lately by how "overcooked" all iPhone Camera app photos are. Everything is toned and sharpened to within an inch of its life.

It feels a lot like how MSG makes food taste: at first it's like "wow, this is really popping" and then after a while, it starts to feel a bit sickening an unauthentic.

History will be the tell, though. I remember images out of my first digital cameras looking pretty weird and contrasty compared to film, but years later the "look" of them evokes that specific era of the early 2000s. Maybe in 2035 or so, smartphone photos of the 2020s will evoke this particular era.

 

[one more]

But regardless, the conflict that's come up in some of these threads is silly, especially over something that's inconsequential to 99.9% of the population (and no, I'm not new to the internet!).

This is a tech forum, hence the nitpicking. However, the irony is that the model of the iPhone you use is also “inconsequential to 99.9% of the population”. As long as it serves your personal needs and you feel good about it, all is fine. I find it strange, though, when people say that they carry another phone or dedicated camera with them to take “proper shots”.