The Nokia 6 Snapshots

I have been using the Nokia 6 for more than half a year now. While I have had a few flings with "flasgship" smartphones before, having much more capable cameras, such as Oneplus One, Huawei Mate 9 Pro and P10, strangely I do not miss using the higher end smartphone cameras. Perhaps the main reason was because no matter how good the camera in a smartphone is, it is still a smartphone camera with small sized image sensor and there is just so much you can do with it.

The fact remains, smartphones have overtaken dedicated cameras as the most used imaging device, and this is no news either. For many years now the general crowd uses the smartphone camera to do all their image shooting needs. The performance of smartphone cameras has become sufficient to satisfy the typical imaging tasks such as documentation (snapping images of documents) and immediate image transfers (imaging is a form of communication). Then why do dedicated cameras even exist? For those who care about superior imaging capabilities such as ability to interchange and use multiple different purpose lenses, faster and more efficient autofocus for quick action shots and of course, the vastly better resolution, color fidelity and low light shooting.

I finally had a chance to sit down and sift through the images I have shot with my Nokia 6 for the past several months. I found most of the images shot on Nokia 6 were used for instant sharing. Like the bowl of noodles that I was having, I took an image of it to show off to my friends in other locations. Or the locations that I have been to, and interesting things that I was doing. It has become a life-logging tool, interconnected to social media, and photography in this smartphone world stands on its own universe, free from the traditional kind of photography that uses cameras.

Unlike most people that have left their cameras at home and rely on their smartphones almost 99% of the time, I did not use the smartphone more than my cameras. As I have been constantly blogging here showing images taken with my Micro Four Thirds system or whatever cameras that I could get my hands on to do a review, the majority of my shots were not taken with the Nokia 6. Perhaps that is the main reason I do not need my smartphone to have the best camera ever, because I am actively using a truly capable, dedicated camera all the time.

However, it is obvious that sales of cameras are declining at an alarming rate year by year with no sign of recovery. Camera manufacturers have realized this, and changed their sales strategy accordingly. Instead of pushing their products by volume, targeting the low end consumer market, they have stepped up their product positioning, increasing the pricing of their products significantly. They will sell less cameras, thus why not sell these lesser quantities with higher profits? It is also true that cameras are not for everyone anymore, and only those who genuinely care about photography will actively use a camera, and invest in a full system with lenses and accessories.

Meow

Sinful Breakfast

Sarawak Kolo Mee

My friend Allen shooting the awesome Sarawakian Breakfast

This is how most of my blogging (including articles on Ming Thein's site) gets written. On this portable little Surface Pro clone. With coffee, always with coffee. 

Sweet Mangosteens. 

Robert doing what he does best! Taking lifestyle shots, flatlay style. 

Tried some awesome Filipino cuisines. Should definitely eat these awesome food again soon. 

Sarawak Laksa

One of the rare selfies that I had. Was reviewing the Panasonic Lumix G9 at this time.


My long term review of the Nokia 6's camera? It is more than good enough for my needs whenever I need a snapshot or two taken, as shown in the images in this blog entry. Yes, at higher ISO numbers you can see noise and images lose clarity but honestly, if I want to care about the final image output I have my cameras with me. And yes I do carry my camera with me most of the time. If I did not have a camera that means I have intentionally decided not to shoot for that particular outing. You know, some down time can do a photographer some good occasionally.

So what say you about smartphone cameras? Do you use your smartphone more than your camera to take photographs? Have any of you given up on dedicated cameras and just live with smartphone cameras? To me, the camera as a tool for photography is not going to go anywhere soon, and I will continue to do shutter therapy sessions. And enjoy my coffee after that.

Nokia 6 is available from B&H here.