Real Camera or iPhone

I'm not a photography geek but I do just fine with a small Panasonic Lumix--fits in the palm of my hand and pocket, does all the zooming I might need. I also use my iPhone 4S and it takes a good picture, too. Maybe get something just as amazing but easier to manage than your Canon?

Depends on you and what you want to do with your pics. If you want typical "I was here" pics that go on Facebook, a phone is fine. If you want to make some nice prints with good detail, do the camera. Both types of shooting are fine and just depend on you and what you want. Personally, I have 2 travel cameras and really enjoy photography. That means I probably look at photos a little differently than most people and have different goals than many people. But it depends on you.

I use my main camera when out touring and my smart phone camera for times when I don't want to be lugging my camera around usually evening times when in pubs etc.
For trip of a lifetime then camera no doubt. and just use the phone for those little cameo moments.

On one hand, if you have to ask a bunch of strangers, it would seem that you could get by with an Apple phone to post photos to your Facebook page.

On the other hand if it turely is the "Long Story-trip of a lifetime", your Rebel DSL would better collect image memories if you know how to use your DSLR.

Then there is glennlorrainers perspective:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/packing/how-to-save-weight-when-travelling-forget-the-dslr

mr,

This seems to be a never ending debate on the forum and the answer is that it's pretty much a matter of personal preference. Your statement that this is a "trip of a lifetime for us" is significant, and will probably have some bearing on what type of camera to take.

You may find it helpful to have a look at these articles on the subject.....

http://gadling.com/2012/08/17/five-reasons-why-a-digital-camera-is-better-than-a-smartphone-fo/

http://www.departful.com/2015/03/dslr-vs-smartphone-travel-photography/

A few thoughts on smartphones.....

• they have much more limited capability, especially with low light (night) shots and moving subjects
• they don't have nearly the range of control that a DSLR or even a good P&S provides
• the sensors are SMALL and can't possibly produce the same quality images as larger sensors
• the lenses are SMALL
• most smartphones only offer digital zoom, which results in lesser quality than optical zoom
• one has no choice in using the proper lens for the situation; with a smartphone you're stuck with the lens that's glued to the phone
• although there are apps that provide some photo processing ability, there's only so much those can do to correct a bad image

Having said that, I've achieved some good results with a smartphone but those were under optimal conditions. I prefer my venerable Canon 7D DSLR any day, even though it's a nuisance to haul around at times. I also have a Panasonic TZ-40 that goes on every trip, and it also gets great results, but it too has limitations compared to a DSLR.

Funny, I am not on Facebook or Instagram, I am a scrapbooker so using my iphone is not for posting just for the ease of it. I love the project Life app and will be able to upload to the app and create pages as I go. But the quality is an issue for certain places and times of day. I like the idea of taking it but not always lugging it around. Thanks for the articles and tips. I am glad to know others have the same question.

Thanks for the advice.

I always travel with my dslr but this time, traveling through Germany in May and June, I found myself using the iPhone 6 two-thirds of the time and posting the pictures on Facebook as I went along. Most of the time, the iPhone pics met my needs fully. When the phone camera was not good enough, I pulled out the Nikon and got what I needed. I downloaded those on the laptop the other day but they are just sitting there for now. Meanwhile, I was able to share the iPhone pics with everyone who was interested.

The dslr makes great enlargements but I have run out of space to put them in the house, so that is a moot point. This trip, for the first time, I noticed just how heavy and bulky a regular camera can be. I may retire mine for good when Apple comes out with the iPhone 7.

Adding: I never thought I would retire my old rangefinder, but I did when SLRs kept improving. Likewise, I was late in joining the dslr club, but I retired my film camera when digital caught up with and then surpassed film. As impossible as it seems now, camera phones could pass that mark in the near future.

If you want to go down the middle and go with a higher performance compact camera, my photography professor spouse is a big fan of last generation's Sony RX-100 that can typically be found for less than $400 once a new model comes out, fits nicely into most pockets and small bags, and takes far nicer photos than a cell camera does.

It's not a substitute for the family Nikon D800, but that DSLR kit ends up with my purse being spouse's overflow lens bag to my occasional annoyance and there is something to be said for not having your cabin baggage allowance being entirely taken up by camera gear.

I recently took a trip from my bucket list. I do love taking photographs. I took my rebel t2i with a 50 mm lens. It fit in my purse-camerabag and was always handy. As family was tracking me I used my iPod just to post a picture a day for tracking purposes, LOL. This is the 2nd time I only took one lens and I'm happy with the versatility the Canon gave me, the photos, the weight and the one lens. The camera you bring is a personal preference, but I like nice photographs and was happy with my compromise on one lens but with my dslr.

My Canon S120 is all the camera I need to travel with, shoots high quality for its size and doesn't take up much room. If you take the time to set the features of the DSLR and spend a fair amount of time composing your shots then take the DSLR. If you just take quick photos on automatic settings then you don't really need the bigger camera. The only advantage of a camera phone is you can use it with a selfy stick in which case you should stay home.

An alternative to project life is Google Photo Stories which is amazing.

Take your iphone and practice simulating shots you expect to encounter while on your journey. Upload, tweak and then make a determination of your level of satisfaction. I use an iphone 6 plus and am totally satisfied with the ability to capture great photos and video without carrying my Nikon equipment. But, I took the time to satisfy myself while practicing at home before traveling only with the iphone. Besides eliminating the weight and bulk I was relieved to have less worry about the Nikon being damaged or lost.

I use a DSLR and find it absolutely worth it. However, it is heavy. It's a matter of priorities - is having great pictures important to you, or are simple snapshots documenting where you were enough? I carry the camera and one lens, no other equipment, in a purse - no other equipment, and find the weight manageable.

I will say that I find iphone cameras terrible. If you have the funds, you might want to spend $200 or so on a decent point and shoot camera as a compromise. The photos will be quite a bit better than a phone, but the weight will be less. Still not as many options as the canon rebel, but that's why it's a compromise :)

Go out somewhere interesting in your hometown for a photo walk with the camera and the phone. Use both, come home, compare te results and see what you think.

The title of your post gives away the answer...in my opinion an iPhone is not a real camera. I used mine almost exclusively on our recent trip to Rome, Venice & Paris and it takes pretty good pictures outside, in daylight when the sun is out BUT inside museums & churches where you cannot use your flash, the results are iffy. Lucky for me my husband had his small Nikon & was taking pictures too so we do have a lot of better quality ones. I'd advise taking the Canon with you & decide which of the two lenses is most versatile. Enjoy your trip!

This is one of those subjects that is really hard to address. I guess it really depends on your use for the pictures and how much clarity you want in the photos. I have two Canon cameras. One is the T3i and we have several lenses for it. The other is a Canon Powershot SX260 HS compact camera. I usually only carry the SX260 on international trips because it is small, lightweight and can fit in my pocket. On a recent trip to Italy, we took both cameras. The T3i was only used on 3 of our 11 days while the SX260 was used every day. This was mostly because the camera/lens of the T3i weighs a lot more and is cumbersome, especially if you are out of your hotel/apartment for 12 hours at a time.

The SX260 has great optics and a 20x optical zoom so the pictures are very clear. It is also a wide angle lens, so you get more in the picture. It even takes 1080p videos. I would not want to use a phone for all of my pictures and recommend getting a smaller, more powerful camera if you can afford it. Canon has several models that are at or below $200 which would be a better option than using an iPhone.

While I don't dispute that camera-phones have their limitations, whether or not a photo is good or just a snapshot is determined by the ability of the photographer more than by the camera.

*Roy,

"whether or not a photo is good or just a snapshot is determined by the ability of the photographer more than by the camera."

While that's true to some extent, if the equipment being used has limitations (such as the ones I mentioned above), even a good photographer may not be able to get the desired results.

You can take mediocre snapshots with the best professional camera but you will have a very hard time getting professional quality photos from a phone. The optics just aren't there.

Can a talented photographer work around that? Yes, but it's a limitation and the results would be better on a real camera, even a point and shoot under $200.

If you use a phone...for goodness sake clean the darn lens! I've seen so many bad, blurry phots because the "camera" has been in a backpack next to the granola crumbs.

I too have an iPhone and a Rebel xti and I have a telephoto lens that goes from 18-270. I find that what I miss most from my iPhone is the ability to zoom in and out. I just can't frame the picture the way I want to with the iPhone. Also, I liked being able to control the ISO, FStop, and shutter speed. I often used it on program or automatic, but it is really, really nice to be able to control the shot when you need to and I would miss it if I didn't have it.

In the past I have traveled with the DSLR and a point and shoot, but my point and shoots keep failing/breaking and so right now, my alternate camera is the phone. I am currently on a domestic trip back to the midwest for a college reunion and my mom's 90'th birthday. I brought the DSLR and I'm glad that I did. Just as unclegus commented, the DSLR was used during the day and then I used the iPhone at night. I think at the party I will mostly use the DSLR. If I get another point and shoot, I will once again get one with a zoom lens, but it probably won't be as a long a zoom as Cannon Powershot. That lens was so long that my shaky hands made it hard to use.

When I am traveling I upload the DSLR to IPad at night and then play a little bit with the pix of the day. I find that helps me find the best shots. It's really easy to get overwhelmed with pix. :)

Pam

Thinking back on the OP's original question: "My question is do I lug around my amazing, but big Cannon or just leave it behind and use my iPhone?"

That's what I will continue to do for the time being, only with a Nikon, for the reasons several folks have mentioned here. It does feel a bit redundant to shoot with both a big camera and an iPhone, but there are times when I want professional quality pictures with a choice of lenses and others when I want to share pictures as I go along. But I would not be surprised if within a few years, camera phones will be capable of doing both jobs.

OK. I'll jump into this discussion a bit late and throw out my work-around to this question. I bring both, but I put my actual camera with its 18-55mm lens attached into the smallest camera bag I've found that it will fit into. In this case a small Victorinox bag. I leave my other lenses behind. The small camera bag is literally the size of my camera/lens plus some padding and it easily fits into my day pack or I can just wear it. Sure there have been times where I would have liked to zoom in more, but this option lets me take a lot of really good pictures without taking up a lot of space with camera gear. I keep my iPhone in my luggage as a back-up camera.

Good luck with whatever option you choose.