From iPhone to Mirrorless

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

My two favorite cameras are my iPhone and Panasonic Lumix GX85. I love them both because they are small and easy to take everywhere. Both are great cameras, but have different features that make me choose one over the other.

The iPhone is great for subjects that are close to me when I’m going to use the photo on social media or send in an email only. Lack of a real zoom lens and small sensor size are the limiting factors as far as I’m concerned. It also drives me crazy when I get a call or text when I’m taking a photo and it blocks my screen.

I love the Lumix GX85 for its, small size, larger sensor and choice of lenses. I love shooting with a wide-angle lens and the iPhones one semi-wide lens just doesn’t cut it. The ability to easily choose my shutter speed and aperture on the GX85 is also a big plus for me over the phone. Also if I want to make a large print I know the GX85 image will look sharper.

In my job with Panasonic I talk to a lot of customers in camera stores and I’m seeing a trend of phone users who love photography realizing that if they want to learn more about photography they need to buy a “real” camera. This is like when I was young and everybody had a Kodak Instamatic camera and those of us who fell in love with photography graduated to 35mm cameras to be more creative.

It’s not a choice between camera phone and dedicated cameras. They both help us record what we see.