In general, I’m all for new technology, especially in photography. I love the new popularity of photography on the Internet. Everyone wants to show off their pictures, good or bad, and photoblogs are gaining popularity. Sites like ours have a goal of helping people learn more about photography and improving their photography skills, but I like it that everyone can now own a camera and enjoy the fun of recording every moment of their lives with it.
The entry of cameras on cell phones is a novel method of capturing and sending pictures instantly to one another. It also puts two pieces of equipment into one small package. The use of camera cell phones isn’t about capturing images that will make the covers of some of the best magazines in the world, but it is about convenience and fun.
In an article about Improving cell phone photography with better chips, it seems that nearly half the cell phones sold in the United States come with a camera built-in. Unfortunately, these built-in cameras take lousy pictures. A start-up company called Cupertino says it will begin delivering new chips that will improve photographic results soon. Nethra Imaging is expected to announce today that it will begin selling the chips later this year.
Cell phone manufacturers are working overtime to get built-in flash, better optical lenses and improved chips for better resolutions and memory storage in their cameras. Most U.S. camera phones today have images with at most a 1 megapixel resolution, but usually it is much less.
Camera phones with resolutions of 3 megapixels and higher are selling well in South Korea and Japan but have not caught on in the United States because of their cost. U.S. residents expect free or low-price cell phones that are subsidized by wireless carriers in exchange for multi-year service agreements, Singh said.
It will be interesting to see where these “do all” camera phones end up, but for the traveler who wants to take their camera on the road, but is not interested in selling their photography, getting a good quality cell phone and camera combined lightens the load and adds convenience.