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Beta Reoprt: Camera Phones

  
     
 

Their rise brings up questions about the future of the compact camera

By Christopher Robinson

  
     
  As photography people, the editors of PCPhoto often are asked by our friends and family to give advice on all aspects of camera gear and photographic technique. As a new generation of high-resolution camera phones comes online, we get the inevitable question about whether one should simply ditch the digital camera and get a new phone.
 
     
   
     
  While there’s no doubt the latest camera phones, like the 7-megapixel Samsung SCH-V770, offer dramatically better image quality than previous generations of camera phones, photographic enthusiasts won’t soon be mothballing their cameras in favor of a cell phone with a lens.

Size matters, especially with cell phones. The race to smaller and less obtrusive models has been run with speed and enthusiasm by the cell phone makers. Consumers, in turn, demand ever more compact phones. That priority on size is at odds with the physical requirements of a camera. A small case requires a small sensor, and a small sensor gives rise to noise. There’s no way around that.

Camera phones are primarily telephones, on the other hand. The manufacturers are squeezing the necessary components for taking pictures into a shell whose primary purpose is something very different. The compromises made in design and manufacture are centered around making a better phone.

Camera phones will continue to improve, of course. Sensors, optics and internal processing all will get better, but as these components advance for the camera phone, they will improve in lock step for the stand-alone camera as well. That is, as camera phone imaging improves because of technology, we can expect camera technology to improve at the same pace.

Should a camera phone purchase be in your future? They’re fun devices that give you a chance to snap pictures at times when you might not have a camera at the ready. Will the camera phone replace your camera and render high-performance SLR-type digital cameras obsolete? Not bloody likely. 		 
     
     
     










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