nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> writes:
>> My cellphone has a great camera (truly amazing considering the size it
>> fits into), but using an external lcd instead of a viewfinder is
>> complete misery in many situations...
>
> who said anything about an external lcd?
I mean what every cellphone / pad / ... has: an LCD on the outside of
the unit (as opposed to a viewfinder which you put up to your eye).
>> I often wish I had a real
>> camera, not for the increased quality, but just so I can take pictures
>> in the sunlight without needing 3 hands and yoga training.
>
> you must have one of the most unusual cellphones ever made.
Hmm, no it's pretty normal (for Japan), although it has an unusually
good quality camera.
What I mean is this: When it's sunny, it's quite common that the LCD
display on a cellphone is completely obscured by glare _and/or_ the
sun causes glare/artifacts through the camera lens.
So what I end up doing is, holding the phone with one hand, while
trying to shield the display enough to see something with another,
_and_ trying to use another hand to shade the lens to avoid the worst
glare effects in the image. As you can see, that's three hands... :]
Since I don't have three hands, what I actually end up doing usually
involves quite a bit of contortion, trying to use one hand for both,
or stand in the shade of a pole or something or ...... anyway, it's a
big pain.
A camera viewfinder avoids the problems with the display, at least,
and generally makes everything more manageable. This is why I'd like
one.
[and a pad, is _worse_, because you basically need two hands to hold
it up (the ipad, at least is quite heavy [and the 3rd gen even heavier,
from all reports]).]
>> [And tablets?! A big fad right now,
>
> tablets are unquestionably *not* a fad. their popularity is growing
> like crazy and you're in denial if you think otherwise.
... which doesn't mean they're not a fad of course.
Anyway, I'm sure they have a good solid niche, but they certainly
aren't perfect, or some sort of universal replacement for all other
devices. The "faddishness" is people who suddenly think they _are_
the latter.
>> but also a _really_ horrible
>> form-factor for a camera, even for a very uncritical audience
>
> tablets may not be the ideal form factor if their sole function was a
> camera but if you happen to have a tablet with you, why not its camera?
That was my point: Tablets are cumbersome enough that people _don't_
usually bring them along wherever they go. Most probably _do_ always
carry their cellphone, however, so cellphones are much better bet as
the future of casual photography than pads are.
> having a 10" or even 7" viewfinder is extremely nice and with a tripod
> mount, you essentially have a view camera, one that is vastly more
> portable than a real view camera.
Er, well, except for whole image quality thing which is really the
only reason people put up with view cameras in the first place...
>> Most pictures, even by
>> casual photographers aren't taken in the living room, but in places
>> where it's very unlikely people will have dragged a tablet along.]
>
> yet they drag a bulky slr with a bag full of lenses wherever they go.
>
> also, what makes you think they won't drag a tablet along?
[Some] people put up with the cumbersomeness of SLRs because they want
the advantages of an SLR: good quality images[*], speed, etc. Tablets
provide mediocre quality images, no better than a cell phone or P&S.
People that demand such features can't get them from a tablet, and
people that don't demand them are likely to prefer to avoid dragging
anything along (as their phone or P&S can likely provide the same
quality with greater convenience).
[*] Many aspects of which are very hard to provide without large
lenses (high quality zooms, popular effects like shallow DOF and bokeh
which are impractical to provide with very small sensors and small
apertures), making it unlikely that the sort of very small embedded
cameras in phones / pads will ever completely really take over the
DSLR market.
> unlike an slr with lenses, a tablet fits in a jacket pocket.
That's a bit of a stretch .... :]
-miles
--
Acquaintance, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not
well enough to lend to.