Life is slowing down and size is having an impact.

[MichailK]

Video is another matter altogether and smartphones can be very useful, even one-handed, right or left.

and get an “always straight“ app like Horizon or so

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

For all the comments on a smartphone, I agree and thank you for the advice, I do have a decent-ish Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G and with a dedicated wide, telephoto, and ultra-wide module it can cover almost anything and it's waterproof to boot. I used it on occasion, usually very casual stuff or just being lazy, outdoors and in daylight, it does quite well, when it comes to movement or indoors it's not great. I am sure I will use my smartphone a lot for pictures and videos whether I want to or not but I don't want to rely on it too much.

I will be printing quite a lot actually, I can still print 6x4s and I want to make a photo book at minimum each year for my Peanut so expect a minimum of 18 volumes. And some larger prints as well.

And for those who asked me to give up on gaming ... I lived and breathed gaming for 27 years ... what else am I supposed to (loose it):

When the misses is not happy

 

[doady]

Any Olympus with a prime lens is WAYYYYYYYYY more manageable shooting one handed than is any smartphone, especially if you want to shoot in landscape orientation.

Well, I wouldn't know much about that because I have never used a smartphone, I have never owned a smartphone, and I never will. I don't have a family, so no experience with that either, but I am sure that if I did I have a family to take care of I would have much bigger things to worry about than achieving landscape orientation for photos without any need to crop in post-processing afterward.

As I said, the best camera is the one you can take with you, that you don't even have to think about. If a dedicated camera becomes yet another thing to hold and carry, among already too many other things, if it becomes a potential distraction from those important moments, why not just use the already capable camera that's already in your smartphone, that fits in your pocket, and that you are already carrying in your pocket? Are people serious when they suggest that modern smartphones are not good enough for photos of kids? Come on...

I bought a dedicated camera to use when I am alone, for times when I can concentrate on photography and try to get the most as I can out of an expensive and complex camera. If my attention has to be divided, when there are more important things than photography to focus my attention on, then maybe such an advanced camera is not needed for those times. To buy a new Olympus body and lens or change bodies and lenses or buy a Ricoh GR3 just to take candid family photos while shopping or walking the dog just seems like WAYYYYYYYYY overthinking things to me. But as I said, I don't speak from experience, maybe you guys are the experts on these situations.

 

[Armoured]

As I said, the best camera is the one you can take with you, that you don't even have to think about. If a dedicated camera becomes yet another thing to hold and carry, among already too many other things, if it becomes a potential distraction from those important moments, why not just use the already capable camera that's already in your smartphone, that fits in your pocket, and that you are already carrying in your pocket? Are people serious when they suggest that modern smartphones are not good enough for photos of kids? Come on...

While I agree with the overall conclusion (don't overthink it, existing stuff might well be okay and smartphone can do a lot too)... the "smartphone is good enough" is not really an answer, neither does any of this mean you have to give everything up just because the smartphone is acceptable.

Everything's "good enough." One picture a year of kids used to be 'enough'. No reason to stop at good enough if you want more; oatmeal and gruel might be enough but you can enjoy better food too.

Nothing wrong with wanting to have better pictures, to continue to have and enjoy a hobby, to enjoy your gear - whatever the motivations are. Obviously, within reason and balance of the needs of your kid and family as well.

Now, obviously there's an adjustment - you don't want to be the father trying to cram everyone onto your motorcycle or into your two-seater beloved (but objectively unsafe) Alfa Romeo because you just can't bring yourself to accept that yep, you're that minivan guy now.

Sometimes the smartphone/compact will absolutely be the right answer, and the Big Ol' Camera not the right approach.

 

[Armoured]

Oh, after that sideshow discussion, one practical bit of advice:

As a parent-photographer - don't forget to sometimes, and WAY more often than your instincts may dictate, get in front of the camera with your family too.

You may not find your absence noticeable but your kids and family members will, eventually. Your photo albums from trips etc will seem a bit weird when there are tons of photos of others and none of you.

I'm absolutely guilty of this from time to time - we can get back from a trip and later realise that I'm only in a small handful of photos, or only those from others' phones.

Go out of your way to have others take pictures of you - maybe even hire a photographer from time to time.

This may mean adjustments like having a 'dummy setting' for you to hand someone your gear to ask for a photo (yep, you're that guy now), or if you have a pocketable compact, having that ready to ask others to get a photo of you.

 

[Armoured]

I'm an open-minded person, LoneGearWolf. I'm even okay with minivans.

But if you show up here and ask for buying advice for a selfie stick (shudder), you're dead to me.

You've been warned.

 

[PeeBee]

Congrats on the imminent arrival, may she be happy and healthy.

I avoided this particular dilemma by getting into photography after my children had reached their teens. I don't need reminders of that stage of their development What did happen though is that they developed an attraction to theme parks, and wanted Dad to escort them on all the 'big' rides, so I needed a camera to be pocket-able. Smart phones in those days were nowhere near as capable as they are now, so I tried an EPM1 but I didn't gel with it. I replaced that with an RX100 mk1, which was an improvement in terms of convenience, but it didn't have the performance or IQ of my ILCs. I then got my GX80 and 12-32. For me, this has been the best compromise of convenience vs performance I've had. I generally take that on days out when photography isn't a priority, but I want a decent camera to hand just in case. I can fit the GX80 with 12-32 or P20 into a large 'compact camera' case which in turn fits into a jacket pocket or my wife's handbag. I haven't tried any later 1" sensor compacts, they've probably improved a bit since my RX100 mk1, but they're not cheap, and since I'm content with the GX80, I don't intend to find out.

Now that my kids are older, they do their own days out and holiday with their friends, which means that my travels are becoming more photography biased.

 

[Macroramphosis]

Oh, after that sideshow discussion, one practical bit of advice:

As a parent-photographer - don't forget to sometimes, and WAY more often than your instincts may dictate, get in front of the camera with your family too.

You may not find your absence noticeable but your kids and family members will, eventually. Your photo albums from trips etc will seem a bit weird when there are tons of photos of others and none of you.

I'm absolutely guilty of this from time to time - we can get back from a trip and later realise that I'm only in a small handful of photos, or only those from others' phones.

Go out of your way to have others take pictures of you - maybe even hire a photographer from time to time.

This may mean adjustments like having a 'dummy setting' for you to hand someone your gear to ask for a photo (yep, you're that guy now), or if you have a pocketable compact, having that ready to ask others to get a photo of you.

There is no way I want to be in any photographs. I'm old, bald, ugly and grumpy and have no wish to be in view. Trust me. They have photos of me with hair they can remember me by.....

 

[Macroramphosis]

Kid will be playing Sloppy Birds on it or something.

Sloppy Birds - a game about women who leave lipstick on everything, and spend most of the day in their underwear, even when cooking?

I think I've played it. It's diametrically opposite to Grumpy Old Farts, which my wife says she plays occasionally.

**cough**

 

[Panolyman]

I thought the thread was about ageing, rather than the imminent arrival of new life.

At my age I'm certainly slowing down and my ever expanding girth is also having an impact; those shoelaces are getting a lot harder to reach!

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

I thought the thread was about ageing, rather than the imminent arrival of new life.

At my age I'm certainly slowing down and my ever expanding girth is also having an impact; those shoelaces are getting a lot harder to reach!

Wait ... You can actually see your shoelaces. There's a saying: I haven't seen what I have under my belly since the Regan administration (joking).

Thank you for the tip on putting myself in the pictures as well. I am extremely guilty about that one my entire life, how ironic to be most comfortable with the camera in my hand but most uncomfortable in front of the camera. It will be a hard thing to force myself to change but you are right ... And I still have plenty of hair to show, if my tummy doesn't get in the way that is.
Thinking about this, it would be one hell of a selfie to try and hold E-M1 Mark III with 12-100 Pro ... Pro Selfie?

Being a camera club member has helped me so much with anxiety and fear of sharing my photography, either talking about or picture sharing. Maybe making pictures with and of the family might help me with my anxiety about people and making pictures of people.

And for the value of these pictures, I guess everyone sees or values their experience differently, my Peanut will be the first and last one as my girlfriend does not want more (in a literal way) so I better make the best of it, good and bad, I would rather have the pictures and the memories. On a personal note, I have 4 males in my family with confirmed dementia illness when they reached 50-60 (and for the last 3 generations) and I don't have any hopes for me, these pictures may be the only things I will have at some point.

One a side point, it's on the market now, the first 3D holographic picture frame (that does not require 3D glasses) and while it's not cheap it's like living in Harry Potter world,
(damn the YouTube link doesn't work) if you are interested search this in Youtube: This Holographic Photo Frame is CRAZY - Looking Glass Portrait
I would definitely pay the Apple price for their phones for having 3D pictures. Though I do hope the tech will get bigger and cheaper with time. I would own at least a dozen of these.

And on the gear subject. I can get quite self-absorbed when I have my camera with me, which is something I need to be careful with, being able to operate with one hand is not mandatory but if it's possible it would be more comfortable and give me more confidence in being part of the action and interaction. Phones are nice and all for pocketability and ease of use but that's a lot of money to hold with a few fingers to get arm's length for a selfie or a picture and these days a phone is more valuable (for the individual) than a camera: phone calls, messaging, banking, navigation, time management, information access (like literally my right to stay in the UK is a link to a webpage because the UK government can't be bothered to make a document for proof of my right to live here) and so many other things
I would be heartbroken if something happened to my camera but my life wouldn't be as affected as losing my phone ... And that reminds me, I need to get a bunker case for my phone before Peanut goes Godzilla on its ass:

 

[Brownie]

Thinking back, I realized I ignored my own advice. Shooting an SLR back then you couldn't have pried it from my hands for one of those cheesy little point-n-shoots. By God, I had it and was bound to use it. And when video cameras became popular I carried one of those. And you can trust when I say there was nothing (including the batteries) that was compact about them.

The point is: Ignore my earlier advice, well intentioned as it was, and take whatever works.

 

[PakkyT]

Well, I wouldn't know much about that because I have never used a smartphone, I have never owned a smartphone, and I never will. I don't have a family, so no experience with that either, but I am sure that if I did I have a family to take care of I would have much bigger things to worry about than achieving landscape orientation for photos without any need to crop in post-processing afterward.

Basically admitting you have zero experience with any of this but feel you know better. I on the other hand have had 4 different smart phones, 4 different kids, and a number of cameras. So my vast experience says if you have your camera with you and your smartphone and need to take a one handed shot, the camera is vastly easier to operate. And yes there are those of us with the mental capacity to "worry about" many things at once including if we want our photo in landscape mode. Our families are not 24/7 experiences of extreme anxiety ruling out all other thoughts and abilities to perform basic functions.

As I said, the best camera is the one you can take with you, that you don't even have to think about. If a dedicated camera becomes yet another thing to hold and carry, among already too many other things, if it becomes a potential distraction from those important moments, why not just use the already capable camera that's already in your smartphone, that fits in your pocket, and that you are already carrying in your pocket?

Well you seem to be implying that there will not be times when those of us who are camera/photography enthusiasts would not have our cameras with us. I know I usually had my Olympus close at hand with my children during their younger years. So for me it was usually a choice which to use as both were the camera I had with me and I usually choose the camera both for quality and ease of use. There was no distraction picking up the camera either sitting beside me or hanging from a strap. Where as digging the phone out of my pocket, unlocking it, opening the camera app, and then finally being able to take the photo could be a distraction and again all much more difficult to do one handed without dropping a notoriously poor ergonomic device.

Are people serious when they suggest that modern smartphones are not good enough for photos of kids?

No one said any such thing.