Remember how excited you were back in 2005 when you bought your first point-and-shoot digital camera, with its massive 1.5-inch screen and "holy-crap-that's-massive" 5.5 megapixel sensor? "What a marvel of technology", you told yourself, as if you were holding the Pandora's box to the future in your hand.
Well, if you're anything like me, that camera is now a paperweight and/or an excellent dust collector. This is how modern photography gear works, much like any other digital technology; stuff gets left behind. According to the Taipei Times, however, the point-and-shoot camera game isn't just changing, it's getting thrown out the window altogether. Why? Guess. Correct - It's your smartphone again. Short of conjuring spirits, it looks like your mobile will soon be doing everything.
Are phones like the Nokia 808 going to kill the point-and-shoot?
With companies like Nokia and Apple shoving more and more imaging technology into their mobile phone offerings, sales of point-and-shoots are down - really down - by a massive 42 per cent over the last year. This begs the question: how much camera can be packed into a phone, or how much phone can be packed into a camera? For true image quality, you're going to need well-made glass for the lens, complex internal mechanics for fast autofocus, and a pretty decent imaging sensor, all of which take up space, not to mention a battery that will adequately supply your 4/5/6/7G connection as well as an entire camera array.
I don't believe we need to be in hysterics quite yet, as a mobile phone such as the theoretical one posited above is still a ways off. Additionally, mirrorless cameras and a handful of capable point-and-shoots are proving themselves as excellent alternatives to capturing great images. What do you predict? Personally, I wouldn't mind a phone that could accept a nice pancake lens. If the phone can summon ancient spirits, I suppose that would be alright too.