Is moto x camera good for a vacation?

[AImbriano]

My wife and i are getting ready to go on a cruise. We currently have a Nikon D3100 SLR which takes great pictures, but we don't feel like lugging it around on our vacation. Im tempted to head out and buy a sony wx300 which is around $250? Its compact and seems like it fits nicely in my pocket. My question is, have cellphone cameras come to the level of point and shoots? I just don't want to go out and buy one and realize its only slightly better then my wife's moto x or my droid maxx. (Which to be honest is an ok camera for a phone but not great)

 

[Clocks]

A decent point and shoot will take much better pictures than a typical smart phone, especially the moto x. Its night and day looking at pictures my brother has taken of his toddler with (i think) a ~$200 sony cybershot vs the pictures my wife and I have taken with our galaxy s3's and moto x's.

 

[AImbriano]

Thanks for the quick reply, i needed a boast of confidence before i made the purchase. We are leaving tomorrow and if i go out and buy today i will take some samples and post compared to the phone for others to see.

 

[natehoy]

Several good reasons to buy a cheap digicam as opposed to using the one on your cell.

1. Battery. Digicam batteries tend to be all-day strong. Spare batteries tend to be cheap and easy to swap.
2. Value. Drop a $150 digicam and you're out $150. Chances are you can pull the SD card and save your pictures.
3. Storage. Moto-X lacks an SD slot. With a digicam, you just carry an extra SD card.
4. Light collection. Even the cheapest of digicams has a larger lens than the biggest and baddest of smartphone cameras. This will tend toward better action/low-light shots.
5. Simplicity. Point. Shoot. Picture taken, memory captured, now you can move on to living the moment.
6. Flexibility. Just because you have a digicam doesn't mean you need to use it all the time - your smartphone becomes a backup camera. If it takes really good shots under specific circumstances or you want a Photosphere or pano that your cheap digicam can't do, by all means use it for what it does well.

 

[AImbriano]

Several good reasons to buy a cheap digicam as opposed to using the one on your cell.

1. Battery. Digicam batteries tend to be all-day strong. Spare batteries tend to be cheap and easy to swap.
2. Value. Drop a $150 digicam and you're out $150. Chances are you can pull the SD card and save your pictures.
3. Storage. Moto-X lacks an SD slot. With a digicam, you just carry an extra SD card.
4. Light collection. Even the cheapest of digicams has a larger lens than the biggest and baddest of smartphone cameras. This will tend toward better action/low-light shots.
5. Simplicity. Point. Shoot. Picture taken, memory captured, now you can move on to living the moment.
6. Flexibility. Just because you have a digicam doesn't mean you need to use it all the time - your smartphone becomes a backup camera. If it takes really good shots under specific circumstances or you want a Photosphere or pano that your cheap digicam can't do, by all means use it for what it does well.

All valid points, Reason why i was second guessing myself is my parents just came back from a vacation. I was asked to order some prints for them. Upon doing so they looked grainy while editing them through my mac. This has me thinking is a point and shoot that much better then a cell phone camera. Grant it they have an $80 4 year old panny and maybe to our phones and technology today its sub par.

 

[effreyj]

I'd bring your DSLR camera honestly, but if you don't want to lug it around, then a point and shoot is definitely better than the Moto X camera...

 

[natehoy]

All valid points, Reason why i was second guessing myself is my parents just came back from a vacation. I was asked to order some prints for them. Upon doing so they looked grainy while editing them through my mac. This has me thinking is a point and shoot that much better then a cell phone camera. Grant it they have an $80 4 year old panny and maybe to our phones and technology today its sub par.

If you have room for it in your luggage, I'd also bring the DSLR, packed securely away. Because you'll want a few magnificent sunrise/sunset/ocean shots, amirite? Just keep it in the safe, and pull it out when you want to go photo-geek. For everything else, bring the cheap, semi-disposable point and shoot.

Look, I'll be frank - most of my photos any more are taken with my cell. It's always with me. I have a very nice point-and-shoot (waterproof) and a DSLR (Canon T3i) . But the cell is the camera I have all the time.

I just got the Moto X and I can't judge it yet, but my LG Optimus G Pro took really good shots - as long as there was good light and a reasonably still subject it took EXCELLENT shots. Not DSLR, but good point-and-shoot quality.

If I went on a cruise, would I carry MY cell around as a camera? No way. But not primarily for reasons of photo quality.

 

[dmark44]

If you like the idea of using your cell phone camera for immediate access to editing or sharing some photos - apposed to simply consolidating devices, consider getting an Eye-fi card or Toshiba Air Flash card.

I've got Eye-fi cards in my point and shoot and our DSLR. If I want to share a photo, I just set the photo to "protected" on my camera and the card uses a direct wifi connection (No router needed) to send it to my Moto X.

Sent from my Moto X

 

[natehoy]

If you like the idea of using your cell phone camera for immediate access to editing or sharing those photos, consider getting an Eye-fi card or Toshiba Air Flash card. I've got Eye-fi cards in my point and shoot and our DSLR. If I want to share a photo, I just set the photo to "protected" on my camera and the card uses a direct wifi connection (No router needed) to send it to my Moto X.

Sent from my Moto X

Huh. I didn't realize you had to "flag" pictures to be shared. I have a Canon T3i that I've been considering an Eye-fi card for, but I feared having all the pictures dumped unceremoniously to my desktop or cell.

 

[dmark44]

Huh. I didn't realize you had to "flag" pictures to be shared. I have a Canon T3i that I've been considering an Eye-fi card for, but I feared having all the pictures dumped unceremoniously to my desktop or cell.

Eye-fi gives you two options: It sends all pictures and videos to your phone and your phone then transfers to your PC or online storage, or can you set it to "Selective Transfer" where you flag the photos that you want to send to your mobile device.

I definitely prefer the latter! I don't want my phone to v be the middle man for all of those DSLR videos and pics!

What I really prefer, and the Toshiba may do this, is have any mobile device connect to the card and browse for what you want to copy to your device.

Sent from my Moto X

 

[steveg2112]

For me the biggest drawback of any cellphone camera is the lack of optical zoom. I find that the camera, on the droid maxx in my case, is perfectly good enough for quick shots where the subject is close enough to frame properly by me moving my position. There are not enough pixels in cell phones to use digital zoom or cropping on the computer to make up for the lack of optical zoom.

 

[Lynx]

Professional Photographer here just chiming in. I would bring the DSLR all the way. The D3100 is small in the DSLR world and takes a good picture. If you don't want to take that then just look at a nice point and shoot. Canon ELPH 130 is $149 and its a solid camera. You can go up and down in price from there but with a DSLR I can't see spending a ton on a point and shoot. I would personally stay away from the Sony but thats because you can get better quality for less money elsewhere (Nikon or Canon).

 

[natehoy]

Professional Photographer here just chiming in. I would bring the DSLR all the way. The D3100 is small in the DSLR world and takes a good picture. If you don't want to take that then just look at a nice point and shoot. Canon ELPH 130 is $149 and its a solid camera. You can go up and down in price from there but with a DSLR I can't see spending a ton on a point and shoot. I would personally stay away from the Sony but thats because you can get better quality for less money elsewhere (Nikon or Canon).

Agreed on the Elph series. Solid line of little cameras there.

Also agreed on not spending a lot on the digicam. You want something light, simple, and that takes decent snaps that you can throw in a pocket and not worry about.

Iffy on the DSLR all the way. For a day trip into Disney or Kennedy, where I went on Christmas break with my daughter, yes. The Canon T3i with a small lens was firmly around my neck the whole time. I'd certainly bring it on a cruise. I don't know if I'd bring it ashore or carry it around all the time. There are times when I personally prefer a snapshooter.

Also, another possibility is to spring for a waterproof/shockproof digicam. My snapshot camera is a Panasonic Lumix shock/waterproof, and it's allowed me to get pictures of puffins 5 feet from my kayak out at Eastern Egg Rock miles off the coast - where my DSLR dare not roam. On a cruise, throw it in your pocket and then go swimming without a care in the world where your camera is concerned. It really opens new horizons.

 

[AImbriano]

I appreciate everyones replies. I walked into bestbuy today and had every intention of purchasing a sony wx300. ( Ive owned canons in the past and always had fatal errors with the lens extending. ) I noticed they had a sony HX50V as an open box item. I was also looking up reviews on this camera prior to my trip to the store. Anyways the open box item was priced at $310 meanwhile the new item was $300 just went on sale. The salesman said he would give me 50% off so the total for the camera came down to $150. Nothing was wrong with it what so ever. I inspected it thoroughly and everything was included in the box. Grant it its a bit bigger then the wx300 which is what i originally was going to purchase but ended up being cheaper and seems like more bang for the buck with a minimal size difference. It does fit nicely in my pocket which was the goal in the first place. Pictures to come

 

[AImbriano]

Taken with my Droid Maxx ( Comparable camera to the moto X )



Taken with sony HX50V



Droid Maxx:



Sony HX50V:



So i think the decision was good. If i brought my cell phone only i probably wouldn't be satisfied with the pictures taken. Im glad i bought the point in shoot to take along. And i probably will bring the dslr for shots once we stop off at some of the touristy islands.

 

[natehoy]

As snapshotters go, the HX50V looks like a keeper. And for $150, practically a steal! Well done.

 

[greg_atlanta]

natural light photos with good lighting are pretty equal on phone v real camera. but real camera shines on difficult lighting or flash. just remember flash on any camera is only effective for about 10 feet.

 

[Hoff Woohoo]

Launches quick \o/

 

[AImbriano]

Just got back and figured i would share some photos taken with the maxx. These were shot using the stock camera app with hdr enabled. I was quite impressed.

 

[lanzfernandez]

for me, twist to LAUNCH beats all phones.... One thing I love Moto X