(embiggenable)
THE TIMES THEY ARE A'CHANGIN'.
Over my picture making career-professional and personal-I have owned and used 30 cameras, maybe more. Those cameras ranged from subminature to 8x10 view cameras and just about every format in between, to include rotating lens panoramic cameras and SX-70 Polaroid cameras. I am still in possession of 20 of those cameras.
At this time, all but 2 of those cameras are in use as paper weights or quasi-historic objects. The 2 cameras still in use as picture making tools are used on a very ocassional basis for picture making situations that are best served with the use of a "real" camera. Probably no more than 5% of my picture making needs.
For the purpose of this entry, it is worth noting that I also possess a desktop computer (Apple) set up, packed with RAM memory, loaded with image file processing software (Photoshop is my image file processing software of choice) and acommpanied with 6 external hard drives. I am considered to be a Photoshop Power User.
All of that written, you can only imagine-or maybe not-my perplexed, astonished and rather incredulous state of mind, re: as illustrated by the picture in this entry....
.... I have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the iPhone (11 PRO MAX) and iPad (with keyboard case) constitute all I need for 90% of my picture making needs. A fact which I find to be mind-blowing.
AN ASIDE Let me be perfectly clear. I have not downgraded my picture quality expectations-not a single scintilla-with the use of the iPhone. And, I challenge any non-believer to a duel ... view (no pixel peeping) my 24x24" print next to a 24x24" print made by someone else (made with any picture making gear) and defy him/her to see any significant difference between the two. END OF ASIDE
BTW, I could eliminate the iPad from the above picture inasmuch as I could do most of what I want to do, including image file processing, on the iPhone. However, I do enjoy performing image file processing on the larger screen of the iPad. And, the card reader in the picture can be used to transfer photos from my "real" cameras to the iPad for processing. And yes, I can process RAW files with the Snapseed app (amongst serveral other apps).
FYI, the image on the iPad screen is of one of my image files opened in Photoshop. Not Photoshop Express. Photoshop for iPad. A version which is undergoing development to a near-full version of the desktop version of Photoshop.
I have not used this app much because the iPhone's native image editing tools, together with the Snapseed app, meet most of my image editing needs. However, in the interest of complete disclosure, when I want to do some really fine tuning on an iPhone image file, I do open it in Photoshop on my desktop set-up.
So, I'm not quite ready to put all of my "real" cameras and desktop computer set-up in a dumpster-figuratively writing, of course. But that day may be coming sooner than I think.
FYI, in case anyone is wondering, the iPhone, iPad and my desktop system are all sync-ed together. Any picture I make with my iPhone or process on my iPhone / iPad is available to me, on any device, from iCloud.
The future is here and I am in a full-on embrace of it.