What makes a camera the best?
Is it…
- the amount of frames it can shoot per second?
- the amount of megapixels it has?
- how far it can zoom?
These are some common considerations.
But what makes a camera the best can be much simpler than that.
The best camera is the one that’s with you.
– Chase Jarvis
It is, isn’t it? I couldn’t agree with Chase more. For many of us, that camera would be our smartphone. It certainly is for me. Below, I go deeper on the three qualities that make a camera the best:
- It’s always with you. Since my smartphone is my primary source of communication, I can’t have it anywhere but with me. No matter how much I’d try, my DSLR/film camera would not always be with me. I wouldn’t carry it around work all day. I wouldn’t bring it out in the rain. The list goes on.
- It’s always ready. Since my smartphone is always with me, being ready is as quick as taking the phone out of my pocket and swiping once. Smartphones were not always this way. I used to have to swipe, enter a pin/password if required, and then launch the camera app. Three steps. The fact that both Android and iOS have made it quicker to access the camera is a testament to the vital role of photography for smartphones.
- It creates an environment for photography. Since my smartphone is always with me and always ready, it’s difficult to not take a photo. Not to mention, settings (e.g., aperture and shutter speed) are nowhere to be found. It effectively eliminates the littles obstacles.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my DSLR and film cameras and I bring them with me when I intend to. But my iPhone is with me way more than any other device in my life. And it’s encouraged me to create so many more photos than I ever imagined I would.
Most of these were created last month on my Instagram.
What’s your best camera? Feel free to post a link to some shots you’ve created with it as well.
Agile Prototype 