Parents are the only users of camera phones

There’s no use for fancy features, really.

As a mobile phone collector and enthusiast, I’ve been following the cell-phone revolution for decades.

A couple of years took the devices to become smart by intervening in anything we do in our daily life. From eating and sleeping to dating and shopping. From taking notes and managing businesses to traveling and gaming. From writing emails to full-blown video conferences and online therapy sessions.

Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

Nobody can be imagined without a mobile phone. Everybody in my family has it. Every person on the street used to possess one too until our life has gone bananas.

I have almost 200 devices in my collection but I use 4 on a daily basis— a mobile phone, one tablet for personal use and another tablet for the office. I also have an android tablet in the camera bag for editing pictures on the go.

According to Wikipedia, there are almost 8 billion phone numbers in the World. These are only devices that have a cell line. Add tablets and phones without a sim card and you will double or triple the number.

There are almost 8 billion phone numbers in the World

What are they used for?

Literally everything — surfing the net, reading news, visiting social platforms, working from home, making calls and of course communicating.

Today I am talking about cameras though.

My first phone, Motorola MicroTAC, did not have a camera in 1996. A very expensive and stylish StarTAC, which was used by tech executives only until it became a compact communication standard years later, did not have a camera either.

Motorola MicroTAC, Motorola StarTEC

Ericsson with T28 switched the American brand in my pocket. A very beautiful, slim and stylish device but still nothing to snap with.

Nokia 3100, the unbreakable beast, with signature ringtones, Snake game, and interchangeable case structure came next in 2003. I remember bringing an original orange skin from a visit to France. This was a piece of art. I still have it in my collection.

Nokia N95 was the first device whose camera and music abilities started playing a significant role in my life. You could snap pictures, very good pictures to be honest, but the sharing abilities were limited so pictures usually were lost by moving to another device I was upgrading to.

N95 is actually responsible for the first-ever picture taken and kept in my album — the first date with my wife.

Thank you, Nokia, for the sweet piece of history!

Ericsson T28, Nokia 3100, Nokia N95

Thank you, Nokia, for the sweet piece of history

2010 is the year when both, myself and my wife, switched to iPhone 3GS and pictures went mainstream with all the social networks taking big ground.

My first child, her first steps, Hipstamatic with its innovative camera filters to make it stylish (sorry, Instagram, you were not the first in the game) — everything is documented with the 3-megapixel camera of the 3GS and you can tell from the pictures.

iPhone 3GS, Hipstamatic filter

The revolution of camera phones became unstoppable since then.

The most impressive thing is once you have the latest device, take pictures and never ask the quality of them until the next year brings new devices and it amazes you what big distance technology has evolved.

Since 2010, the revolution of camera phones became unstoppable.

So what phone cameras are good for?

• Blogging and vlogging
• Communication
• Business (documents, reminders, scans, and notes)
• Taking pictures of family and friends

Unfortunately, most of the camera use cases became not relevant as the Pandemic is taking over the World.

You cannot share on Instagram pictures of your fancy meals because restaurants are closed. You cannot upload to Youtube and Facebook videos from your travels over the different places because all flights are canceled.

Everybody just keeps reposting old content.

The only thing left is taking pictures of your family and kids. These are the people you spend your isolation with.

Here comes the most important point of this story — not every camera phone is ready for snapping pictures in the house.

Not every camera phone is good for indoor usage

Mobile phones are usually compared by their daylight pictures. Well, it’s not surprising cause outdoor pictures under good lighting conditions are usually turned out to be very good, even using cheap devices that cost $100.
Nigh shots became a popular trend lately with Google Pixels, Huawei, Samsung and iPhone adding one. The approaches are different but in general — you have to keep your phone still for a couple of seconds while allowing your phone to build the best shot of a night city or a busy street.

Both are not relevant anymore.

The most used situation are indoor snapping fast-moving objects under poor conditions of light.

Yes, I am talking about children.

The only thing left is taking pictures of your family.

Top: iPhone X, Google Pixel 3XL, Bottom: Samsung Note 10 Plus, iPhone 11 Pro Max

Camera ranks are usually calculated as mixes of tech specs and performance tests — selfie, portraits, wide-angle, zoom. What actually means is your use case.

A very popular among tech enthusiasts site DXOMARK reviews and compares mobile cameras. The result might be surprising because most of the phones on the top positions are probably total strangers to you.

DXOMARK top cameras (as of this writing)

Note different selfie ranks. They are not organized because the ranks are sorted by the main camera abilities.

I am receiving reports from people working at electronic stores. Sales of computers, tablets, and mobile phones have dramatically increased. Everybody tries to catch up with their friends on Zoom so desktop and laptop cameras quality suddenly became very important as well as mobile cameras.

My advice would be — do it wisely.
Select cameras that fit best your use case.

Do not stop taking pictures!

Google Pixel 3XL