I think you are missing the point with improvements of this nature. Take for example: you have kids. You're at an event with said kids. While I still own a mirror-less micro 4/3rds, I often time don't have it with me. It's easy to snap hundreds of photos in random life events with a good smart phone camera. I personally have almost 2TB of family photo and video and I've got a long way to go. Can you imagine me spending 2 minutes, per picture, on even a fraction of that? Not only have you discounted the "sharability" aspect, the "instant gratification" aspect, and ultimately the tradeoff of results over time. When phones started to wield cameras I intentionally avoided them because of less-than-potato level quality. Now a phone I'm buying must have a fast, quality shooter. I own both Google and Apple products and the Pixel has pushed the bar up significantly in my personal opinion. Do I occasionally edit (mostly in-phone)? Sure. Simple grading and some vignetting goes a long way. Is it professional? No. But the point is I'm not shooting the pictures to win anyone else over. It's an investment in preservation. If I have all of that overhead, as you suggest, it will never get done. I have more useful things to spend time on than editing a few dozen photos on my computer, after I transfer them, then upload them SmugMug and then send out an email or note about it. Instead I can send a group message on Signal and everyone gets the gist in a fraction of the time.

This thread seems to be filled with amateur professionals thinking that their iPhone or Pixel will magically do something optically it can't (yet?). It's good enough, and in some cases a spectacular ROI (both Apple/Google/Samsung/LG/etc) for the price. The photography giants wouldn't sell or develop new products if they felt a lot of pressure in this space. You shouldn't have an expectation that your $1000 phone competes with a few thousand in camera, glass and filters in the right hands. It won't.

Edit: words

> This thread seems to be filled with amateur professionals thinking that their iPhone or Pixel will magically do something optically it can't (yet?).

This is key. I own some decent camera gear and I'm amazed at what is coming out of all of the top end phones. Of course I can critique and find faults, but the pictures that non-photographers can take with their phones in a matter of seconds are down right amazing.

I actually wonder if the gear heads feel their domain threatened? I'm waiting for the day when I don't have to lug around my camera and multiple pounds of lenses in order to get all the shots I want :)

> but the pictures that non-photographers can take with their phones in a matter of seconds are down right amazing.

But that simply highlights that simply owning good gear doesn't mean you can shoot good pictures. You still need to learn lighting, composition, posing your subjects, etc etc, which was always the case!

Absolutely. Every photographer should be focused on those things as job one. My point above was that many wannabe photographers just focus on gear, and they are very quick to be critical of what phones are producing. My point was that phones can and are making great pictures without requiring a bag full of gear, and that it's highlighting that gear is secondary to the skills you listed.

I guess we have different personalities in mind when it comes to gear-heads. I think of them as people chasing tiny (sometimes imperceptible) improvements which only require you to buy something as opposed to learning something. (much like the casual bikers who chase tiny weight reductions or obsess over which bike is more "aero").

>My point was that phones can and are making great pictures without requiring a bag full of gear, and that it's highlighting that gear is secondary to the skills you listed.

I'd phrase it differently though, and I'm sure you'd agree. I'd say that gear isn't secondary, but gear is a tool that should be used when appropriate. You still need carry an external flash/light/etc if you want to light your subject in poor light. You still need to carry a long lens if you want to take a picture of an eagle perched in a tree. You still need a tripod if you want long exposures, etc, etc.

..or for the day that we have all those magic baked into our "decent camera gear"!

And the problem is that it's mostly software. The main camera people (Cannon/Nikon) are terrible at software. From what I understand Cannon is a bit better, but all of the software I use from Nikon is horrible. I love the lenses, and my Nikon body, but anytime I have to use their software I cringe. I also don't see how they fix this anytime soon. It's just not part of their DNA.

You're missing who this technology focused article is for, and making a vague argument about a grandmom usecase in a retail product. Sorry, but this article is clearly intended to be viewed by people interested in photography, and also photography-technology. If you claim your tech is awesome, you will get criticized if people don't think it is all that great.

> You shouldn't have an expectation that your $1000 phone competes with a few thousand in camera, glass and filters in the right hands. It won't.

IMHO, it doesn't even beat $500 worth of camera equipment.