Have 5MP Camera Phones Damaged the Compact Digital Camera Market?

A camera, which records pictures electronically is known as a digital camera. The pictures are captured on an electronic imaging sensor and not on films as in the case of conventional cameras. It has many advantages over a conventional camera. First and foremost, is the large image (high resolution) that is obtained. It is possible because of the sensors that capture large images with excellent detailing, and quality of colour and contrast. Pictures or photos taken with a digital camera can offer more details and legibility, due to the support of detailing dots (pixels) studded on to its sensor. The total number of pixels on a sensor is divided by a million to obtain the constricted expression Megapixels. Therefore, it is generally perceived that higher the number of pixels, higher the quality of the print resulted.

Further, photos are displayed on the camera screen, usually a TFT LCD ( Latest digital camera, as well as camera phone models are more and more inclined towards sporting Touchscreens), as and when it is taken. The photographer, through this luxury, can delete a particular one if it is not up to the expectations. Images recorded in the digital camera can be loaded into a computer, thanks to the different connectivity aspects like USB and Bluetooth. Print outs can be taken using photographic papers. These days, a novel technology called Pictsbridge, allows the photographer to directly access a printer without seeking the aid of a PC. A skilled photographer can create wonders with the images recorded in the digital camera as he can effect changes in the digital data by manipulating them.

Now that the mobile phone technology has evolved sharper to provide the consumer with many facilities. Mind you, the early versions were used only for communication. This compact device is now used for multifarious purposes. The user can send text messages, e mails and video images as the most modern versions have computer connectivity. The camera phone is the latest innovative version of this segment. The dual role played by the camera phone as a mode of communication, as well as an imaging device, has made this device a much sought after product in the market. It is compact and convenient as a portable unit, which can fulfill both the purposes.

Many users feel that it is no more necessary to carry a camera separately as this composite unit, more than serves the purpose. This perception is the reason for the general perception that the camera phones will ultimately effectuate an adverse impression on the universal demand for digital cameras. Again, as the latest 5 Mega pixel camera phones have arrived, it must be considered that both digital camera and camera phones have capabilities for video recording and editing. Further the picture quality of a 5MP camera phone is also good enough. Therefore a digital camera has been reduced to a superfluous entity, at least to some of them.

But the average mobile phone users are lay persons with limited exposure to the art of photography. The professional photographers who are fully conversant with their jobs are not prepared to accept their contentions. They emphatically dismiss the arguments against the digital camera segment, as fallacies. They hold the opinion that ultimate photographs taken with the camera phones are not as good as those taken in a dedicated digital camera. Camera phones, according to them focus to infinity and therefore the pictures tends to be of inferior quality. They aver that a 5MP camera phone can never be an alternative for a dedicated digital camera for some specific reasons like the lesser quality of sensors and lenses and excessive dependence on the digital zoom in the absence of any practical optical zoom feature. As such this debate, at least for now has reached the state of an impasse, and it would tend to stay so until compact digital cameras come up with some thing striking, say slashing the price considerably, or camera mobile phones comes up with more augmentations like high quality optical zoom lenses and sensors. So, Stalemate!!!