The best camera is the one you have with you, or is it?
I’ve been taking photos since before the year 2000, reviewing digital cameras since 2004, and have been looking back through the hundreds of thousands of photos I’ve taken over the years, from film photos pre 1999, then early digital 2000 to 2010, going onto DSLRs and then mirrorless, and then later the switch to mobile phones for photography, here’s what I’ve realised…
I’ve always preferred smaller cameras, but there’s been a clear difference in image quality between a cheap compact camera, a cheap mobile phone, and a more premium, higher quality camera. And it’s here, where I wish I had perhaps taken more photos with better cameras. So reflecting on this, here’s what I’ve learned, in hindsight:
1. There’s a marked difference in quality between a large sensor DSLR/mirrorless camera compared to a compact camera.
This is especially noticeable as I’ve reviewed cameras since 2004, from cheap cameras to expensive high-end full-frame models. I tested them all as I would any other camera, so that means I have precious memories captured on 2MP cameras from no-name brands that don’t exist anymore, all the way up to the latest DSLR and Mirrorless cameras. And it’s clear from the photos that the images taken with DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras are clearly better quality photos. The jump from compact sensor cameras to large sensor mirrorless is noticeable, the jump from Micro Four Thirds / APS-C to Full-frame isn’t anywhere near as noticeable.
Perhaps I should have carried a DSLR or Mirrorless camera with me everywhere I went?
But whilst this would have resulted in much higher image quality compared to compact cameras, if it was the only option available to me, I most likely wouldn’t have taken it with me, and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to strap the camera to a remote control car, like I was able to with a mobile phone.
So no, for me a bulky DSLR isn’t the answer, but simply… taking the best camera with you that you have available, and are happy carrying with you, is what I would recommend.
2. Beware of cheap compact cameras outside of the main brands.
And it’s perhaps a warning to those who are looking for “lo-fi” and “vintage digicams” – if you’re taking precious memories with these cameras, be aware that in 10, 20 years time when you look back, you may wish you’d used a slightly better camera. There are now a number of new compact cameras, but if they’re not from the main brands, like Canon or Olympus, then I would be extremely cautious about buying them. Perhaps a vintage small mirrorless camera would be the better solution, or a compact with a larger sensor?
- Canon, Fujifilm and Olympus cameras, even the compacts, have much better colour reproduction than others (ie Samsung, Casio compacts), and digital cameras started getting much better from 2010 onwards.
So, I’m all for taking photos with film cameras (good SLRs are so cheap right now), and I’m inclined to take photos with instant cameras (my preference is for the larger film sizes), and I’m not against using old compact cameras, but there are moments where I wish I’d used a better camera.
3. At a certain point camera phones started getting “good enough” (but it wasn’t till much later)
It’s true that “the best camera is the one that’s with you”, was made famous by Chase Jarvis with his book, The Best Camera is the One That’s with You, published in 2009 and was about using your iPhone for your photos, at the time a 3MP iPhone 3GS!
If that camera is truly your only camera, it’s worth spending a little bit more time making the choice to get a better camera (or phone), making sure it works properly, making sure the batteries work properly, and that everything is as it should be.
Basically, if you only have one camera, why not make it the best one you can afford? Especially if you’re going to look back one day at the photos, and they’re the only record you have? And this could be a compact camera, a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, a film camera, an instant camera, or a mobile phone.
But, perhaps the real meaning of “the best camera is the one you have” is that without it you can’t take a photo, and perhaps more regretful is the photos you never took. And perhaps a bad quality photo of a memory is better than no photo at all?
4. I wish I’d taken more videos
I have over 200,000 photos stored on my computer, but in comparison barely any videos. And if you have kids, friends, family, that one day you will remember through a photograph, why not capture some short video clips while you’re at it? This is especially important if you have friends and family, as they grow up or grow old, how they talk and sound changes, and still photos can’t capture this. And now that almost every new camera has image stabilisation, your videos can look way better than the wobbly low resolution videos I recorded. (Around 2010, Full HD video started to become the norm, but in-body stabilisation was pretty rare).
5. I wouldn’t have any of these photos if I didn’t keep backups
While we’re at it, when was the last time you backed up your photos? SD cards get lost, cameras too, and hard drives fail, so make sure you have more than one copy of your photos. The general advice is to have an original, a backup or storage, and a third backup on another drive or type of storage, and this is where cloud backup can be really handy. If your phone is stolen, for example, in theory you can switch phones and your photos will come back from the cloud.
6. The subject matters more than the camera
Conversely, whilst I wish I’d used better cameras over the years, it’s for the important family photos where this matters more. I still love looking at photos of my kids, even if they are taken with a worse camera. I’ve taken some really boring photos with high quality DSLRs, and on the other hand, I’ve taken really fun photos, with objectively bad cameras, like the Lego Camera (and other compacts), where the camera is less of a distraction for the subject, and less of a worry for me.
So what am I going to be taking forward from all of this? Take more photos, take more video, and make the effort to take a camera with me, whatever that may be. And here’s to the next 10-20 years of photography, whatever that may bring!
Related reading
- Four features they urgently need to add to cameras next
- Stop trying to be the best photographer and settle for what makes you authentic
- Film may be expensive but instant cameras have a magic that is hard to beat
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: [email protected].
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