A pocket camera for my non-technical son? (UK)

Mikedigi said:

Which Samsung? I'll look. Do you use one?

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http://www.gottabemobile.com/2016/07/29/best-waterproof-smartphones-2016/

Mikedigi said:

He/I cannot find a new with-camera smartphone around 70g, they have not made them for years.

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Yeah, you won't. But the slim form factor and capabilities of smart phones might eventually make it worth the carry. Remember, it's not just a phone + camera, but it's also the internet, email, calculator, organizer, flashlight, game machine, GPS, music player, alarm clock/timer, scanner, mapping system, documentation source, remote control, etc. etc. all in one [incredibly] small package for what you get.

--
Bruce
You learn something new every time you press the shutter

It's a personal thing, but to me, the lack of stabilization would be a major drawback - probably a deal killer.

kkardster said:

Yeah, you won't. But the slim form factor and capabilities of smart phones might eventually make it worth the carry. Remember, it's not just a phone + camera, but it's also the internet, email, calculator, organizer, flashlight, game machine, GPS, music player, alarm clock/timer, scanner, mapping system, documentation source, remote control, etc. etc. all in one [incredibly] small package for what you get.

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But for minimal mobile users, like us, it's either an expensive phone + PAYG, or a free phone and high monthly contract.

But I'm sure we shall review our overall philosophy one day. Right now we use a minimalist mobile for calls and text, a camera (we still like those) for photos, and a home PC for everything else. If we go away, the Windows phone fills us in.

Thanks for the link Bruce, I'll use it to check just how cheap I can get one of those Samsung thingies.

Meanwhile, I am not sure whether the Samsung would be better for photos than the 2 cameras I have mentioned.

Mike

Barry Margolius said:

It's a personal thing, but to me, the lack of stabilization would be a major drawback - probably a deal killer.

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I understand that - the one with IS may be better, as I said.

Mike

Mikedigi said:

Thanks for the link Bruce, I'll use it to check just how cheap I can get one of those Samsung thingies.

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Galaxy S7, ca £550, 152 grammes.

Or free phone, expensive contract, for minimal users like us, unlikely to be attractive.

But I'll check it out, there are some silly deals out there, a neighbour has got one.

Also, an S7 requires a sharp brain. My son does not have one, like many other people. He can cope with the simpler stuff on a Chromebook.

Mike

Mikedigi said:

Mikedigi said:

Thanks for the link Bruce, I'll use it to check just how cheap I can get one of those Samsung thingies.

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Galaxy S7, ca £550, 152 grammes.

Or free phone, expensive contract, for minimal users like us, unlikely to be attractive.

But I'll check it out, there are some silly deals out there, a neighbour has got one.

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Free phone, £37 ($49) per month, Carphone Warehouse.

Mike

Mikedigi said:

I wrote:

Also, an S7 requires a sharp brain. My son does not have one, like many other people.

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I feel uneasy about having written that, it sounds dismissive, like a sarcastic school report.

I should have added

". . . but he has other human qualities that are more important."

Mike

Mikedigi said:

I said:

Also, an S7 requires a sharp brain. My son does not have one, like many other people.

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I feel uneasy about having written that, it sounds dismissive, like a sarcastic school report.

I should have added

". . . but he has other human qualities that are more important."

Mike

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Or as my mother used to say to me ( broad Yorkshire accent) your as thick as 2 short blanks but a heart of gold lol.

labe said:

Or as my mother used to say to me ( broad Yorkshire accent) your as thick as 2 short blanks but a heart of gold lol.

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Exactly!

Mikedigi said:

labe said:

Or as my mother used to say to me ( broad Yorkshire accent) your as thick as 2 short blanks but a heart of gold lol.

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Exactly!

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Intelligence takes many forms. My stepdaughter has just acquired a PhD from Oxford University and many academic prizes....however I always put her younger sister in charge of the day to day practical things here such as remembering to shut the front door let alone locking it!!

Regards,
David
***************************************
Growing old is inevitable; growing up, however, is optional.
And I have opted out.

The problem with most smartphones is the monthly contract. Unlike Europe and the UK, in the US there is one pay-as-you-go plan, with T-Mobile. I used to use a flip phone. With that plan, I spent less than $200 per year. The phone cost me under $20.

Sadly, the phone died after years in my pocket. Had to have Blue Tooth that interfaced with my car, and the currently avaialable flip phone did not do that. So I got a smart phone. The Blue Tooth worked fine, but now I get unwanted evocations of controls (now, why are my icons so small?). If I didn't need the Blue Tooth, I'd get a phone off Amazon.

Cameras for your son: consider a used LF1. Pocketable. Nice Zoom. Nice IQ. I took lots of pics with it on my last vacation, including motor trips into sand that were too bouncy for heavier gear. Panasonic has not replaced it, and it is EOL. I will be sad when it finally dies. But until then, I found when I was preparing for the trip that I could buy two batteries and a convertible car/wall charger for it cheaply on-line.

The closest thing to it is a ZS60/TZ80.

Mikedigi said:

I said:

Also, an S7 requires a sharp brain. My son does not have one, like many other people.

Click to expand...

I feel uneasy about having written that, it sounds dismissive, like a sarcastic school report.

I should have added

". . . but he has other human qualities that are more important."

Click to expand...

You don't need to be a brainiac to use an S7 - a phone is a phone after all. Click on a contact and touch the call button and you're calling. And the graphical touch screen interface makes things like the camera very easy to use. Your son may find it easier to use than an only-camera.

I'm not trying to push you towards expensive phones with high-priced contracts. I had [wrongly] assumed that your son already had a smartphone as most kids do today and just wanted to point out that there might not be a much benefit in adding a cheap camera to his other pocket.

kkardster said:

. . . . . . I had [wrongly] assumed that your son already had a smartphone as most kids do today and just wanted to point out that there might not be a much benefit in adding a cheap camera to his other pocket.

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Bruce, I understand entirely why you would normally assume that, most people would, and that is fine and natural.

At 45 he is "yesterday's kid" and I opened the thread with

"My son (45) does not have a camera, but he does not want to dump his small, light mobile/cell phone and upgrade to a bigger, heavier smartphone, just to take photographs."

I know that the above sounds eccentric, but I too mostly use a $7, 59-gramme non-smart-phone for calls and text cos I don't like carrying my 142-gramme Windows Phone and I only pick up the Windows Phone when I am going away for several days, as I do not have a "tablet".

I only photograph with cameras, smallest one being my Fuji F20.

I understand all the functions of a smartphone, and why other people use them. Maybe it is more common here in UK not to use a smartphone than it is in USA. Many people here, especially middle-aged to older people, choose not to spend the money on them.

All the best,

Mike

edhume said:

The problem with most smartphones is the monthly contract. Unlike Europe and the UK, in the US there is one pay-as-you-go plan, with T-Mobile. I used to use a flip phone. With that plan, I spent less than $200 per year. The phone cost me under $20.

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Wow, we have some good pay-as-you-go plans here and I have one with my $7 non-smart-phone and i spend under $5 most months, so yeah, I'm a hermit I guess. We use the landline mostly. on an all-in contract including to USA where my other son, no. 3, lives (and uses an iPhone of course!)

edhume said:

Cameras for your son: consider a used LF1. Pocketable. Nice Zoom. Nice IQ. I took lots of pics with it on my last vacation, including motor trips into sand that were too bouncy for heavier gear. Panasonic has not replaced it, and it is EOL. I will be sad when it finally dies. But until then, I found when I was preparing for the trip that I could buy two batteries and a convertible car/wall charger for it cheaply on-line.

The closest thing to it is a ZS60/TZ80.

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I appreciate your suggestion and the LF1 looks very nice, and I have a ZS7/TZ10.

But towards the end of page 1 I wrote:

"After researching all the cameras suggested:

1. The 2 cameras which I, personally, would call "pocket cameras" are the Canon IXUS 175 and the toughie Pan FT30, both very slim and 126 and 142 grammes respectively.

2. My Pan ZS7/TZ10 and the other cameras suggested - ZS19, Canon S200 and Fuji XQ2 - are significantly thicker and heavier, weighing 181-218 grammes. I, personally, would call them "belt cameras", and that is how I use my ZS7/TZ10 and my Fuji F20 (177 grammes).

3. Obviously, the "belt cameras" outperform the "pocket cameras". But the "pocket cameras" are what my son would feel happy carrying, I have no doubt about that."

So the LF1 at 192 grammes and 103x62x28mm is in the "belt camera" category and beyond what my son would carry. He needs slim and light, he does not need the much better performance of the "belt cameras".

Above, I went on to say that the Pan FT30 will suit him best, with all its limitations, because he is not careful with things like some of us are. I can see him happily washing tomato ketchup or whatever off the FT30 . . . . . .



Thanks Ed,

Mike