In today’s fast changing times trends and fashion change just as fast. Social behaviour, habit, trends and choices are no exception. The advent and the mercurial growth of smartphones has sure effected behavioural patterns. Testimony to that was a recent quote by Shane Warne the legendary cricketer & leg spinner, that the selfies were fast replacing autographs.
Today most of us have stopped seeking autographs from celebrities and prefer selfies for keepsake and flaunt. Smartphones today boast of cameras that are the envy or could stand to compete with some of the point and shoot models. The Samsungs, the Sonys, the Apples of the world are making progress in leaps and bounds on the cameras that are built into their phones.
Today many smartphone purchase choices are driven by the camera. Manufacturers are cognizant to this reality and are in turn upping the ante to not only compete with each other but also aspire to compete with point and shoot camera manufacturers and in case of some brands they do manufacture both phones and cameras. The trend of zeroing in on a smartphone with a good camera coupled with a good SLR is fast catching up if not in vogue already.
A choice and trend seen with serious photographers as well – High end Smartphone with a good camera used to capture the more spontaneous happenings around them and a high end SLR for their professional shoots and serious photography pushing the point and shoot out of the mix. For the ones who are not yet considering the SLR, it is the phone and a good point and shoot – the constant being the smartphone camera.
Little wonder though, the choice and trend is largely driven by convenience and utility. The point and shoot though portable and easy to carry around still needs an extra effort. Charging the batteries and the resultant extra piece of equipment to carry around at all times does not come easy. The phone on the other hand is almost an essential by itself in today’s time. In some parts of the world – like in India the hand phone is becoming the default telecommunication equipment of choice and is preferred to the fixed land line. That being the case it is almost imperative that one carries a mobile phone at all times. The dropping prices and increasing affordability of smartphones fuels this trend on.
If one were to follow some of the more prominent photographers on their blogs or Facebook pages or twitter, one begins to notice an increasing number of casual images that are being shot with phones. Post shoot editing and enhancement tools sure do not hurt the cause of the smartphone camera increasing in popularity. Photo editing tools that allows one to create effects, or tools like Instagram and the like, all contribute to the growing trend. This in turn is driving the manufacturers to improve on imaging technologies. In a world that is fast becoming photo and photo sharing obsessive, the phone with its data and social media sharing capabilities, one would have to assume we just about touched the tip of the iceberg.
The improving quality of images and the keen interests being shown by photographers who take their craft seriously is testimony enough to the potential of this trend becoming a lot stronger.
What better equipment than the phone then for the camera to be built into to ensure its omnipresence.