I wish I'd had a camera with me...

I shot several OOF shots at Big Bend National Park before I found that I had accidentally switched the Fuji X20 to manual focus. You always gotta check those little tiny controls, but sometimes I forget.
 
pepeguitarra said:
Maybe it is time to buy a smart phone! ;)
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It's 2017! Doesn't everybody already have one?

If what you need is an in focus, 'correctly' exposed, ready to view image, the camera in any phone made in the last 5 years already does that. Don't get me wrong - when I take a picture for the sake of taking a picture, I use a real camera (Leica M, Nikon slr [d- or not], Olympus slr, Lytro, Kodak Stereo, Burke & James 5x7, etc.) I enjoy using cameras. But if all I want is an image: phone.
 
My phone takes bl**dy awful pictures - probably because it only cost $20. If I want to take pictures, I carry a Canon G12.
 
I've reached a point in gear acquisition where any camera I am likely to have with me is going to deliver satisfactory images.

The aforementioned Ricoh GR is very reliable as far as digital cameras go, and easy to stash in a pocket with little thought. The sensor and lens create images of a level previously possible only to aps-c DSLR's.

The Panasonic GM1 will autofocus accurately as long as you know what you're doing with it, and is even smaller than the GR, albeit with larger lens choices.

The combination of GR and GM1 has largely supplanted my M9 for general everyday photography, as it is much lighter, smaller, and costs a lot less to replace if necessary. The other day I was out with my Fuji X100 and found the autofocus to be relatively slow and potentially inaccurate. This is very rare with the GR and GM1. Size is no longer a barrier to 'good'.
 
Dogman said:
As I have posted before, phone cameras can make very good pictures but they have the ergonomics of a slab of drywall.
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I do agree! (**MEOW!**)

It kinda reminds me of trying to take a photo with a piece of toast!

Worse, using the "camera" in a full-size tablet or (still worse) a netbook. Ergonomics of trying to take a photo with a steno pad.

This is why I (try to) carry a real camera with me all the time, even if it's the now beat-up Kodak Easyshare {d-word} or the Olympus Stylus with drugstore Fuji.
 
I always take my M5 with me. Wonderful ergonomics.

Leica M5, Summaron-M 35mm f/3.5, 400-2TMY.

Erik.

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Ko.Fe. said:
I agree what in OP situation the mobile phone is the best solution these days if no serious camera present. But the "I wish I'd had a camera with me" sometimes is not as simple as picture of three persons staying still under good light in comfy weather....

How many times I pull mobile phone out to find it shutting down on me because they made it sissy and it shuts itself if it is too cold for it (Like -5C). I still could take picture, all I have do is to take off my hat, put phone on my head and wear hat for few minutes. This dinky IPhone 5C is turning back on after it. :)

AF? Will it focus on the car glass or on my object in five meters away. AE? Will it measure bright or dark, but not where my object it...
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Just yesterday I saw a picture opportunity. Grabbied the smartphone, found & pressed the on button. Found and pressed the Camera button. Waited till it came up, the opportunity was blocked. With my RF set for daylight, 11' at f/11, I could have taken 3 shots before the smartphone was even ready.
 
Roger Hicks said:
This is very much my feeling. Auto-anything is likely to screw up more often than the approach you describe -- and using the cameras I already own is a lot cheaper too. As for "go anywhere", I'm not so old and feeble that I can't carry a Leica or even a Nikon Df. At least, not yet.

Cheers,

R.
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Canon has a 'creative auto' mode on newer cameras. Presumably it was meant as a bridge from using the auto modes to competence. After reading up on it in a camera companion guide for 10 minutes I decided it was more complicated than knowing what you were doing in the first place. All it meant was familiar controls were described in a different way and found in a different way. It was no aid to shooting your camera normally whatsoever, like starting off with a steering wheel on a bicycle.
Mind you, I'm as clueless with people's smartphones when they ask me to take a photo of them. I can only see one button, so I press it. Doesn't always work like that.
 
wish

wish

I was at Trent bridge last week to watch the England v West Indies match. It was rained off. Outside a pub near the ground sat 7 or 8 blokes dressed as nuns having a cigarette and a pint of beer with Reverend Paisley and the Pope. They all looked very depressed, especially one of the nuns who was a dead ringer for the TV detective Kojak. Priceless, alas no camera. "Fancy Dress" is alive and well with England cricket fans, long may it continue it gave me a smile on a miserable day.
 
I always have a camera within a few feet. Rarely is it one camera and one lens. If I want to travel light, its a IIIa with a collapsible Summar attached and a 35 and 90 Elmar in a small bag. Fully loaded is a Nikon F3 system with two bodies and four or five lenses. Last Thursday, on my way to the store, a hot air balloon landed next to the road. Pulled over, picked an F3 with an 85 1.4 off the seat, and shot. When the balloon slid farther away, the F3 with the 180 was used. I almost always find something to shoot when I'm out. And, after nearly 50 years of complaining about it, my wife doesn't even mention the camera stuff in the car. I can't see the point of keeping a camera that won't produce images I like and can use.
 
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