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salish
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salish
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PostMon May 23, 2022 6:40 am 
Hello, I am looking for the best cheap point & shoot camera that will fit in your shirt pocket. Something that takes decent photos and vids. Any suggestions? Thanks! Cliff

My short-term memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my short-term memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
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Schroder
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PostMon May 23, 2022 11:04 am 
cell phone?

Cyclopath
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salish
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PostMon May 23, 2022 1:03 pm 
Nope, I'm still a flip-phone user with a crummy camera. Haven't jumped on the smartphone bandwagon.

My short-term memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my short-term memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
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Tom
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PostMon May 23, 2022 1:44 pm 
Time to jump then. Cell phone with a good camera will be cheaper than any camera that will fit in your shirt pocket and will take better pics. I recommend a Pixel 3. Excellent phone and camera for a little over $100. Good battery life. Wireless charging. No other phone will touch its camera quality in this price range. You don't need to use the phone but why wouldn't you? https://www.ebay.com/itm/363793450990

Cyclopath, fairweather friend, Chief Joseph
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Schroder
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PostMon May 23, 2022 1:47 pm 
The camera you describe has gone the way of the ipod since the phones cover all the functions. I've been reading that consumer SLR cameras are going to be obsolete pretty soon.

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neek
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PostMon May 23, 2022 2:01 pm 
You can even keep the flip phone if you want and just use an "old" smartphone (say from 3 years ago) for photos. People are giving them away or selling them for cheap all the time. In fact I'll be giving away my pixel 3xl in a couple months (charging port is broken, but wireless charging still works). You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between my phone, point & shoot, and DSLR for many of my pics. Also even without a data plan you can use an old smartphone for gps tracking and navigation.

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Tom
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PostMon May 23, 2022 2:09 pm 
FWIW, I picked up a new Pixel 6 Pro in the fall. Ended up sticking with my Pixel 3. it's just so much lighter and more compact which I prefer. Just not a fan of big phones. If anyone wants a Pixel 6 Pro for a good deal let me know.

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Chief Joseph
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PostMon May 23, 2022 2:19 pm 
neek wrote:
You can even keep the flip phone if you want and just use an "old" smartphone (say from 3 years ago) for photos. People are giving them away or selling them for cheap all the time. In fact I'll be giving away my pixel 3xl in a couple months (charging port is broken, but wireless charging still works). You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between my phone, point & shoot, and DSLR for many of my pics. Also even without a data plan you can use an old smartphone for gps tracking and navigation.
True. A friend bought a new phone and gave me his I-phone 6s....it takes great pics imho and for an additional 99 cents per month I have unlimited storage capacity. I was having a problem with it charging with the cable, my daughter gave me a generic cable and now it charges fine. I even bought a new i-phone cable and it didn't work either.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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fairweather friend
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PostMon May 23, 2022 3:46 pm 
I agree with Tom. You can buy a cell phone that takes MUCH better photos for less money than you'll pay for a "shirt pocket" camera. A phone camera may have a smaller sensor but it has a much bigger processor than a cheap camera, which means it can utilize computational photography to get you better results. I bought a Pixel 4a when they came out a couple years ago and I've been very impressed by its camera. I even did some side by side comparisons with my old Nikon D5300 DSLR (which has a 24 megapixel sensor) and in low light conditions, the Pixel actually performed better. I also got better results with in-camera (or in-phone, as the case may be) focus stacking. Subjects in the very near foreground were in focus using the phone camera, while the background was also in focus. If you want to do this with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, you have to take multiple shots and blend them in Lightroom, which can give you fantastic results but it takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention the fact that you have to pay for a subscription to Adobe's photo-editing software! It's been a while since I compared Android to Apple products, but I recall that Apple's SE phones also put a high emphasis on the camera's capabilities in a mid-priced phone. In other words, you can buy a fantastic phone camera without paying for all the bells and whistles present on the latest and greatest phone models. Yes, it does take a little time to get used to taking photos with a phone versus taking them with a camera, but you'd be surprised by how quickly you adapt.

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domaz
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PostTue May 24, 2022 10:51 am 
salish wrote:
Hello, I am looking for the best cheap point & shoot camera that will fit in your shirt pocket. Something that takes decent photos and vids. Any suggestions? Thanks! Cliff
I agree with others that in today's market a cell phone is the most practical way to go if you just want something to shoot videos and pictures. If you want a real camera that can outperform a cell phone and give you the real camera shooting experience it won't be cheap. Look at something like the Rich GR III (or the II used). Or just go old school and use film to give your pictures a classic look. Even today though decent film cameras aren't cheap (see the Yashica T4 prices on Ebay..)

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PostTue May 24, 2022 12:14 pm 
The inexpensive Point and Shoot cameras with small sensors have disappeared as a category, having been replaced by cell phones. Newer phones with multiple cameras are even more capable. Due to the small sensor sizes, these phones have equivalent apertures around F6 to F8. The argument for higher end pocket-sized compact cameras is longer zoom ranges, better picture quality, and improved low light performance. Sony Cyber-shot DCC-RX100 V1 (1" sensor, 20 MB) 24-200mm equivalent F2.8-4.5 lens Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 C (1" sensor, 20 MB) 25-250mm equivalent F2.8-5.9 lens Canon Powershot G7 X Mark II (1" sensor, 20 MB) 24-100mm equiv. F1.8-2.8 lens There are some very good APSC cameras with a fixed focal distance (Fuji X100V, and Ricoh GR3) that are also pocket sized.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...” ― Henry David Thoreau
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PostWed May 25, 2022 12:19 am 
The phone is certainly best if you don't want to think about it too much. If you're still not convinced to get a smartphone then maybe something like the Olympus Tough or Ricoh Rugged cameras would be of interest. I don't know much about them but they look very compact and I suspect the image quality is at least on par with the good phone cameras. They certainly look indestructible which is nice and I think that's their main selling point. +1 for the RX-100 if you want to play around with photography more. It's what I've been using for the last few years and it's very capable. I keep it in a small soft case attached to my backpack strap usually. I have the mark 1 but am considering upgrading to the mark III at some point as it seems to be the best value, however, the newest versions have much longer zoom.

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Chief Joseph
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PostWed May 25, 2022 1:17 am 
OwenT wrote:
the newest versions have much longer zoom.
Speaking of zoom...I met a guy recently who has a Samsung Galaxy S-22 and it actually has a spotting scope for hunting, so one more addition to the list of things that smart phones have replaced.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Tom
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PostWed May 25, 2022 2:16 am 
OwenT wrote:
I suspect the image quality is at least on par with the good phone cameras
Depends. In challenging dynamic range and in low light my Pixel 3 outperforms any point and shoot I've ever owned (and even my Sony RX10 IV) thanks to the significant processing advantage. I wouldn't say that about many cell phones under $300 but most flagship phones these days are going to be pretty good. It's more about the phone's processing power and software than the camera itself.

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Bowregard
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PostWed May 25, 2022 12:20 pm 
Used to be you could find an early model RX100 for under $300 if you looked but not sure that is still true. If you really want a camera you need to prioritize best or cheap. Small sensor cameras can be found cheap and take good enough photos in good light. Large ~ 1" sensors like found in the RX100 take very good photos in most lighting conditions but are hard to find in the cheap category.

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