Frequently quoted is the observation that “the best camera is the one that’s with you,” attributed to Chase Jarvis, but maybe felt by fellow photographers well before that, too. Fancy gear left at home will always be beat by whatever happens to be within reach. As of 2021, some statistics say 60% of humans have a camera at hand, mostly in the form of mobile phone app. So while camera makers have seen a drop in sales by 75 or 80%, the world’s collective output of images, shared or unshared, has multiplied by a factor of double-digits.
At the end of summer 2021 my circa 2014 cellphone pictures seemed to be looking ever so slightly bluish and the software updates on the handset itself had ceased long ago. Security was not a big concern, since this trusty Nokia Lumia was chiefly a carry-around pocket camera. Seldom did I require a functioning wireless telecommunication device. For text messages or voice calls I carry a prepaid phone. Looking at my budget for a replacement pocket camera for the old phone in which camera quality and overall size/weight (form-factor) mattered, I ended up with a 7th generation iPod Touch (circa 2019). Although it may lack the design trends of the newest phones for multiple lenses and computational photography, the number of useful functions and dependable picture quality continues to impress me after eight weeks of daily use. And since it is still newish, the software is supported and the dozens of iOS apps add still other functionality to something not much heavier than a pack or two of chewing gum.
My first digital camera was around 2000 when a grant paid for a Ricoh DC-4 with its swivel lens, 3x optical zoom, and power supplied by 4x AA batteries. That was a great way to get psychologically used to taking pictures without film roll limitations and expenses. And the idea of spending photography time on PC instead of darkroom was a revelation, too. Fast forward 20 years and a dozen digital camera devices later, this latest camera/iPod really is a lot of camera in a small package. There is a lot to like about such small, capable and reliable devices such as this.
The camera app frequently captures compositions faithfully by nothing more than pointing and shooting. But with just a little more time and care, it is not hard to exercise a little manual control: lock the focus and slide the exposure control to fine tune the image, or force the pint-sized LED flash to fill a little bit of near foreground light. Tapping HDR and anchoring one’s standpoint gives a good preset range of light values merged into a finished photo. Being able to press and hold the shutter for bursts of photos has its uses, too. As well, the ability to snap a picture by using the volume up/down physical button rather than the capacitive touch (on-screen) button is a good option sometimes. In especially low light, relying on the basic self-timer minimizes the camera shake of tapping the shutter, too. But with the built-in image-stabilizing gyro, hand-held pictures in dim light is theoretically possible, although anchoring against table, chair, wall, or tree improves the odds to capture a picture free of camera shake.
Besides the default 4:3 aspect ratio to use the whole sensor, there are situations when the other camera modes are very useful, too: panorama sweep left or right (up or down, too) to form a very immersive canvas without the aid of extreme wide-angle lens, 1:1 (square) aspect ratio when a subject fits that frame best, video in normal or slo-mo, and time-lapse locked to produce about 20 to 40 seconds of playback, no matter how long the real-time subject is recorded (0–10 minutes at 2 fps, 10–20 minutes at 1 fps, then from 20–40 minutes at 0.5 fps, from 40–80 at 0.25 fps, and so on). Compare this basket of photography (and videography) powers of a pocket-sized digital camera device like this to the consumer-friendly equivalent of “everyone’s camera” 100 years ago, the Kodak “brownie” box camera with big film magazine to be returned to manufacturer to process negatives and print photographs.
The line of “brownies” put lenses into the hands of people from all walks of life in many countries. Something similar is true of cellphone cameras, from low-resolution ones to the latest ones making image files of 40 megapixels. Recalling an early PC that I had with hard-drive totaling 40 megabytes (the Cadillac of its moment in history), the idea now of 1 photo from a pocket (cellphone) camera consuming 10 or 15 megabytes is startling. Those black and white magazines of Kodak film were a gateway to fancier gear in the hands of some people who went beyond casual shooting to serious hobbyist (enthusiast in today’s language) to positions paid to produce timely pictures. A generation of two after the heyday of Brownie cameras the 35mm “miniature” camera (relative to the larger film rolls before) from Leica and its competitors led to the single-lens-reflex (TTL, through the lens composing) and the growth in popular photography among serious amateurs and hobbyists. In the hands of a skilled film photographer with a well-developed eye for photo opportunities, truly immersive and impressive results can be seen over the years. But with some of the pocket cameras of 2021, equally immersive and impressive results can be made by a person with a similar photographic eye who is well versed in the touch screen control of composition and capture. In other words, it is worth praising the pocket-sized wonderful picture-taking gizmo of today. Leaving aside the video, sound recording, and assorted smartphone apps, just on the merits and controls for still photography in a digital pocket camera app today the older technology is equaled or exceeded.
In 1953 Saul Bellow published The Adventures of Augie March. From time to time Augie reacts to an event or headline by mentally composing a letter to reach out and engage with the subject. With the advent of email, spontaneous epistles delivered without the aid of envelop, stamp, or letter carrier came to be possible. And then came mobile Internet devices to allow a person to dash off a letter to somebody or a Tweet to the world at large. Combining mobile social media with a camera lens controlled by software, now a person can combine images (moving or still) with text to publish his or her thoughts from any location with cellphone service. Were Augie March to spend a day living in 2021 it would be interesting to see if he would carry his habit of mentally writing into the digital arena and actually publish what is on his mind and what sights catch his eye.
Truly it is no exaggeration to pause from accustomed routines, reflect on the many powers of a pocketable lens combined with software, and to be grateful for all the pictures made so far and the ones yet to be made thanks to a high quality and highly capable digital camera. Let us now praise pocket cameras!
