this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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finally, a "what to buy" article that says "don't buy"

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[–] XLE@piefed.social 69 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

There are very few (sub-$1500) point-and-shoot digital cameras of decent quality to even compare any more*. The ones that are left are targeted at vloggers, and despite how neat phone camera technology is (and it is incredible), it's often astonishing how good a compact camera with a modern sensor and decent zoom has gotten.

It's a shame the market got hollowed out by phones, because over the past few years, phones have just gotten more hallucinatory with their output images in an attempt to "fix" the photos they're talking, and hardware innovation has stalled out. Because of course it has. They don't have the space of a dedicated camera.


* IMO it is a disservice to Sony that the author mentions their $1500 camera but not the very similar ZV-1 model that's only $800.

[–] IMALlama@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

and hardware innovation has stalled out. Because of course it has. They don't have the space of a dedicated camera.

You're totally not going to fit even a micro four thirds sensor in a phone, but there are a bunch of Chinese phones with larger sensors. Although they can be a PITA to find if you're on the US, reviews like them.

I suspect the reason why we don't see them comes from the mainline phone manufacturers comes down more to hardware BOM cost than packaging or size.

[–] xylol@leminal.space 2 points 1 day ago

I think Sony has a few large sensor camera phones

[–] FellowEnt@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 hours ago

Older model Sony RX100 still hold up, I think the 3 had a lovely sensor. Super portable and relatively cheap if you don't need/want modern video modes.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I really don't like how my phone does this. I wish i could turn it off.

Edit: i think i did turn it off as much as i could...

[–] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

over the past few years, phones have just gotten more hallucinatory with their output images in an attempt to “fix” the photos they’re [taking]

Meanwhile, here I am with my non-stock-firmware and third-party camera app, and I'm not sure I even have access to those fancy computational photography features to begin with.