MetaChat REGISTER   ||   LOGIN   ||   IMAGES ARE OFF   ||   RECENT COMMENTS




artphoto by splunge
artphoto by TheophileEscargot
artphoto by Kronos_to_Earth
artphoto by ethylene

Home

About

Search

Archives

Mecha Wiki

Metachat Eye

Emcee

IRC Channels

IRC FAQ


 RSS


Comment Feed:

RSS

25 October 2006

Camera phones: today's 110 film? I just realized that I can get a new phone from my cell phone company, which is nice because the sound quality on my current one is right around the "tin can on a string" level. Some of the free ones they're offering me have built-in cameras. Are they as crappy as I think they are?
Yes. I have a Moto RAZR V3, and its max quality is like 800x600. The digital zoom is useless. It's OK if you just need to snap a photo for archival/litigation purposes, but even for candid snapshots it is no good.

I also don't recommend the phone because the vibrate is too gentle (don't say it) and the speaker volume is too low/directional -- you have to hold the phone in just the right position to hear the other person.
posted by Rock Steady 25 October | 11:37
eponysterical, Rock Steady ;)

Are they as crappy as I think they are?
Yeah, but that's part of their charm. Go through the camera phone tags at flickr - you'll be surprised how uncrappy some of the photos are. They do have a lot of "atmosphere", if you like that kind of thing. Graininess, softness, whatever.
posted by iconomy 25 October | 11:40
Check the flickr tag 'cameraphone' for an idea of the quality. On a free phone, you're likely to end up with 640x480 max.

Still, as Rock Steady says, it's nice to have when there is a picture you just have to take and you don't have your regular camera with you.
posted by mike9322 25 October | 11:41
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I picked the phone partly because of idea of having (an albeit crappy) camera with me at all times, but I knew what I was getting going in on that score (not so much the vibe or the sound).

Here are some images from the phone from a recent trip to see the Sox come all the way back from a 6-run deficit in the bottom of the 8th, only to lose it in the 9th.
posted by Rock Steady 25 October | 11:54
Rock Steady -- those are kind of cool. They remind me of a Lomo camera. How many... um... megapixels, I believe the term is, is that camera? As far as I can tell, my choice is between 1 megapixel and and .3 megapixels.
posted by The corpse in the library 25 October | 12:13
Thanks for that flikr tag. I'm sold -- I could have fun with one of those cameras.
posted by The corpse in the library 25 October | 12:14
I like those photos a lot too, Rock Steady.
posted by iconomy 25 October | 12:28
I've been craving a camera phone recently - the pics definitely have a "hypo-real" quality, and they're great for taking pictures of odd things in stores, etc. My guy has a samsung cameraphone - it has almost no focusing capabilities at all but otherwise it's a hoot to use.
posted by muddgirl 25 October | 12:29
I took this photo with my cameraphone; it came out pretty cool. Here are all of mine. They vary in quality based on lighting conditions, etc. My camera is as shitty as they get - 640x480 (.3 megapixels) max resolution.

I got it for the same reason; it came free with my phone. It comes in handy for gotta-have-a-picture moments, but lately I'm thinking I'd rather have a digital camera that is small enough to always have with me.
posted by mike9322 25 October | 12:39
≡ Click to see image ≡
I took that the other day with mine. It's kind of fun, and it's surprising what it will do, actually.
posted by mygothlaundry 25 October | 12:43
Phone cameras are great at what they were designed to do (ie quick snapshots that you can easily transfer from one phone to another...or something like that). To expect anything more of them is, well, stupid. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun with one; on the contrary, that's another thing they were (probably) designed for.

Or something.
posted by Daniel Charms 25 October | 14:09
Well, thanks for the compliments. I am pretty sure the camera in the V3 is less than 1 megapixel - 640x480 max, I think. I guess that's probably the .3 megapixel one.

You may also want to think about how you are going to get at the images. You could email them to yourself, but I don't have a data plan, so I don't do that. The V3 has a regular mini-USB jack, and I use a random mini-USB cable I had from some old MP3 player and a program I ... found ... called mobilePhone tools from Motorola to get pix (and ringtones) on and off of it. If you pick a phone with a proprietary jack, you may have to shell out for a cable that will connect that jack to USB, if you want the images on your computer.
posted by Rock Steady 25 October | 14:32
Here are my phonecam photos, taken with my LG slider.

Convenience is indeed the benefit.
posted by me3dia 25 October | 14:52
Toddler gets stuck in vending machine. || I WANT THESE MOTHERFUCKING CANAANITES OFF THIS MOTHERFUCKING LAND!!!

HOME  ||   REGISTER  ||   LOGIN