Vacation Pictures: Get a Camera or Use Phone/Gadgets?

[Mike Lowe]

Samsung Galaxy s5 and a Galaxy s6.

Going to Hawaii w the girlfriend in a few weeks and want to make sure we have something reliable in both quality and battery life.

Was thinking of either getting one of those kits for your phone with zoom, lenses, tripod, etc. Great reviews on Amazon. I'm worried though about battery life, so I'd be interested too in recommendations for portable charging.

The other option is to get a camera...but is that something people still do in 2015?!

[PilotMan]

I would totally recommend a portable battery to take with you. You'll want to get something with over 10000 mah. That capacity should be able to get about a full charge and a half on a phone, or partial charge on two phones. They aren't expensive, ebay has one like this:

13000mAh Portable Power Bank External Battery Charger for iPhone Samsung HTC | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/251637230963?lpid=82&chn=ps)

I loved our phones (S5's) on our trip to Cancun, although I feel like the biggest drawback was lack of a quality zoom. IMO, a camera is just one more thing to keep track of. You'll already have your phones and you can each take pics of what you want.

[Mike Lowe]

Space reserved for "Buy an iPhone" comments. Please insert them all in post #2.

[stevew]

Def look into getting a portable charger and I would consider getting an extra battery for both phones as well as a waterproof baggy of some sort

[Izulde]

For vacations, I still use my camera. Phone camera quality has gotten better, but still can't beat actual cameras. I do use my phone for everyday stuff, however.

[Antmeister]

This all really depends. If you like to take the time to setup pictures then definitely a DSLR and yeah people still use them because you can still control a lot of your settings that is not comparable to a point and shoot phone camera. However the downside is that there are times when it is not great for taking pictures in the moment.

Advantage of camera phones is that you don't have to think to much about taking a shot and don't have to worry about missing out on moments that happen quickly.

With that said, I don't know too much about extending the phone's capability with zoom lenses and tripods because in that instance it may require just as much thought as a DSLR and you may just miss out on some cool moments on the trip trying to set it up quickly.

[Alf]

For outside picture, the S5 is really really good (if you don't use too much the zoom).

[Dutch]

I'm not a camera guy, but I really miss the zoom functionality/control of an actual camera and one day will probably have to go back and get a real camera because of that alone.

[Bobble]

Is the phone dunkable in water? Me and my Mrs. lost a camera (could have easily been a phone) on a boat trip around the islands on our honeymoon. Big wave. Everyone splashed. Oh shit, camera fritzes out. We bought a small waterproof camera for future trips.

[Mike Lowe]

Thank you, everyone!

[Mike Lowe]

Here are two attachments I'm considering, to go along with the portable power banks:

Amazon.com: CamKix Camera Lens Kit for Samsung Galaxy S5 incl. 12x Telephoto Lens / Fisheye Lens / 2in1 Macro and Wide Angle Lens / Tripod / Phone Holder / Holder Ring / Hard Case / Velvet Bag / Cleaning Cloth (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M7SEUHC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3KD0OO9H1T8D3)

Amazon.com: Oenbopo Universal 8x zoom Clip Telescope Camera Lens Telephoto For Samsung Galaxy S6 S5 S4 S3 Note4 3 2 HTC ONE M9 M8 Iphone6/6plus 5S 5C: Cell Phones & Accessories (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XL3CKEW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ABIV5SAQBP0DT)

[Mike Lowe]

Finally, how about this portable power bank?

Amazon.com: Poweradd Pilot X7 20000mAh Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank with Auto Detect Technology for iPhone 6 Plus 5s 5c 5, iPad Air 2 Mini 3, Galaxy S6 S5 S4 Note 4 3 2, Nexus, Motorola, Blackberry, HTC One M9, LG G3, other Phones and Tablets - Black: Cell Phones & Accessories (http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-20000mAh-Portable-Technology-Blackberry/dp/B00MLVPOWK/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1439304442&sr=8-15&keywords=portable+cell+phone+battery+charger&refinements=p_72%3A2661618011)

It seems it'd keep both of our phones charged throughout even the heaviest of days?

[timmae]

I use both a camera and a smartphone on vacations (actually 2 cameras but..). The smartphone is great for spontaneous moments and just documenting what we did day to day very quickly. I love the ease of use. I use my cameras and different lenses for anything I think is super awesome that I want to someday use in other media. i.e. photos, larger pictures for the wall or picture frames, posters, cards, etc. If we are just saving the digital copy to pull back up digitally then I just use the smartphone.

[nilodor]

I mistakenly left our camera (simple Canon powershot) at home for our vacation to new orleans, so we had to make due with the cameras on our phones (Iphone 5). I'd say for 80% of the shots we wanted to get it worked out pretty well. The main drawbacks (when compared to a camera) were:


It was hard to get good landcape photos (even just simple down the street shots didn't have quite the quality when zooming)
Not as good in full sun or darker light conditions
Not as many options to get the shot you want (different exposure types, not talking about filters)
That fear of dropping the phone
The lack of space to take videos or lots of photos
The time it takes to line up a shot


Overall it was ok, but that was mainly in a city. When we went to Hawaii, so much of the beauty is in the setting so I could see not having a camera being more of an issue. I'm not sure how the phones work with the little zoom kits that come with them but those are my 2 cents.

[stevew]

Finally, how about this portable power bank?

Amazon.com: Poweradd Pilot X7 20000mAh Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank with Auto Detect Technology for iPhone 6 Plus 5s 5c 5, iPad Air 2 Mini 3, Galaxy S6 S5 S4 Note 4 3 2, Nexus, Motorola, Blackberry, HTC One M9, LG G3, other Phones and Tablets - Black: Cell Phones & Accessories (http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-20000mAh-Portable-Technology-Blackberry/dp/B00MLVPOWK/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1439304442&sr=8-15&keywords=portable+cell+phone+battery+charger&refinements=p_72%3A2661618011)

It seems it'd keep both of our phones charged throughout even the heaviest of days?

Your phone has roughly a 3000mah battery so that's more than enough power to keep you going.