Camera vs Mobile Phone and Expectations

I certainly wouldn’t mind sharing my photos, and I do often take a camera, but unlike you, I know that I’m never going make any money off of them.

I think if you are a Professional or even a semi-professional who has a commercial opportunity, then you have perfect right to say no, but just to give out a card or something your website where people can buy them. That would be how I would handle that kind of request. There’s a big difference between someone like me with a nice camera, but not an excellent camera (and not the greatest eye either) and someone like you.

But I think honestly if you’re going to go someplace like this, you probably need to look at investing in a camera. My really good friend went to the Galapagos last year and we went out together and she bought a Decent camera with a good lens. And the pictures they took with those are dramatically better than the pictures they took with their phones. Considering what they spent on the trip, I don’t think the camera was dealbreaker.

I agree with Carol, nobody should "expect" you to share your photos. If you can sell photos, good for you.

For many years, i carried a SLR with 2 extra lenses. Lately, I've been just using my 3 year-old cellphone. It does surprisingly well indoors in dim light, and quite well for flowers, graves, buildings, etc... What it cannot do is wildlife photography, as you describe. Nice that the guide points that out to people. The tour company should point that out to customers before the tour starts.

You may find that only a small percentage of RS tour people bring DSLR cameras with long lenses. On our last RS tour of Ireland I'd say 5 out of 26 of us had "big" cameras. For most of us, it's not the cost of the "big" camera, but having the space in our carry-on bag, or little backpack.

”But there gave been statements made to the effect of, don't worry, people with cameras will share their photos.”

Wow, this is presumptuous of the tour company to set those expectations up front, causing the more professional photographers to even have to address it! I don’t see any issue with just telling your fellow travelers that you’re considering selling your photos on a website to help pay for the trip.

I just take my iPhone for photos during my independent European trips. Last year I took the RS Adriatic tour and saw that one guy was serious about photography but not professional. I showed him my photos during a meal where we happened to be at the table and offered to give him any that he wanted. He was happy to have some of mine. Later, he sent me a couple of very nice photos of Dubrovnik overlooking the city. I don’t like heights, so these were special. But, I didn’t have any expectations that he “should” share his photos.

Aside from the fact that you are being asked to share your photos, everyone should consider this.

The only time (knock on wood) I've ever had a computer virus get past my virus "protectors' was when a tour member sent us some photos. Fairly expensive "oops". Won't make that mistake again.

I just want to clarify that the tour company did not expect or even suggest that people with good cameras share. The guide was just being realistic about the ability to get good photos of the animals with phones. There were only 3 of us with cameras. The rest had phones.

Not picking on phones, but for wildlife, they aren't great uf the animal isn't right up close.

As a photographer, I don’t want anyone else’s photos. I want my own photos. That being said my husband does upload our photos to a share site on Shutterfly and those on the tour who want copies can have them. We don’t mind. In one particular instance, one of our tour members lost his camera and all his photos of the trip and we were happy that we could give him something to remember his trip by. If you are going to someplace like Africa, cell phones rarely cut it. Whatever camera you take, familiarize yourself with it before the trip. We have had people on our tours with borrowed point and shoots and had no idea how to use them. My complaint is that they want me to teach them on the fly out in the field how to use the camera. So while I am showing them how to use their camera, I am potentially missing shots of my own. Also, bring more than one memory card. We had one person on safari whose memory card locked up. Luckily we were able to unlock it for her.

If you are a professional photographer or you don’t want to share your photos, I’d just let the guide and fellow tour members know that if they ask. I think Carol’s suggestion of providing info on where someone can purchase your photos is great. I know that I don’t expect anyone to share photos with me although I think it is very nice when people do ask if you’d like a photo.

I think people going to Africa on a safari should take something better than a phone if they want photos. It doesn’t have to be a DSLR. I got great (amateur) photos in Botswana with a Panasonic camera with a good optical zoom.

I think many amateurs are happy to share photos so this may be the basis of the “don’t worry” statements you reference. I went to Botswana before the Iphone, In one of the parks, I spent 4 days in a land rover with 5 other people and we got along quite well. All 6 of us sent all our photos to each other. We all saw the same animals; sometimes one person happened to get the best shot. Because we were all amateurs, I think most of us attributed our best photos to luck more than skill.

KB,

Photography is a large part of my travels, so I normally travel with extensive camera gear, including a DSLR, a number of lenses and sometimes a tripod. I've always felt it was a good idea to have a backup for my primary travel camera, and that's proved to be a good policy on a couple of occasions.

There will most likely be situations in Africa where the phone camera just isn't adequate for the job, so at a minimum I'd suggest in looking at a long zoom P&S camera. Some of the advantages.....

• light and easy to fit into a pocket.
• many these days have some degree of image stabilization.
• depending on which model you choose, should have adequate zoom capability for most situations.
• no heavy lenses to carry.
• batteries, cases, etc. should be relatively inexpensive (take at least one spare battery).

Of course you'll also have to pack along a plug adapter specific to the countries you'll be visiting. Don't forget lens cleaners.

If you have a good local camera store with knowledgeable staff, they should be able to recommend a good model. This is one model you could consider - https://shop.canon.ca/en_ca/p/powershot-sx740-with-case . Check out the reviews for whatever camera you decide on before purchase. You could also have a look at this - https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/best-travel-camera .

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that "digital zoom" is sometimes available in a DSLR and is often used in cellphone cameras. Digital zoom is just cropping the photo to only show the center and then processing the photo. It is NOT the same as "optical zoom". Optical zoom means actually moving lenses around inside the lens to change the focal length. For your wildlife photography, I would consider digital zoom to be useless, it will not make the distant animal look clearer. It can make that tiny animal or bird fill the screen, but the photo will be made from a very small number of pixels, and the image will appear very fuzzy.

So when you are looking at specifications for the various point and shoot cameras, I would completely discount any "digital zoom" they claim, and pay attention to the "optical zoom" the camera hardware can deliver.

I would pay a lot of attention to the number of pixels in the sensor. A more expensive camera with 24 megapixels would have finer resolution than a cheaper one with 12 or 16 megapixels. More pixels in the sensor does allow some digital zooming without making the picture look too grainy.

Couple days ago, I saw a killdeer (bird) on a nest next to a sidewalk. From 8 feet away, I "zoomed" in on the bird with my older cellphone. The result was so grainy as to be useless. The next day I came back with a DSLR with a 70-200 mm optical zoom lens and took some nice photos.

To one of your original points, if you currently do not have a camera, buying even a good one is not likely to yield great pictures, or even any better than what you can get on your phone, unless you have some past experience or knowledge of photography. Buying a camera well before, and taking a class might be an option, but like any tool, the hands it is in makes all the difference. Planning on taking pictures from a long distance, also adds a level of complexity.