a serious camera? ~ (embiggenable) KODAK Tower / 8x10 view camera
a serious camera? ~ (embiggenable) iPhone
a serious camera? ~ (embiggenable) µ4/3
a serious camera? ~ (embiggenable) Nikon F3
a serious camera? ~ (embiggenable) Polaroid SX-70
IF YOU WANT TO GET ME ALL WORKED UP, just point me to a link on the interweb which contains the phrase "serious camera". Especially so if it is used in a sentence along the lines of the iPhone is not a serious camera".
That written, do not be misled into thinking that this entry is made in defense of the iPhone cuz it is not. Rather, it is about the rather dumb idea that there is such a thing as a "serious camera".
The idea of denigrating certain types of cameras (and the people who use them) got a significant boost with the introduction of the first KODAK. "Serious" picture makers of that era considered the KODAK to be nothing more than a "snap-er's" device which according to a "serious" camera maker's manual stated that "...the photographer whose knowledge has been confined to pressing the button can never hope to make good pictures."
Adding to that thought, Stiegltz opined, "... thanks to the efforts of these persons [the] hand camera and bad work become synonymous." FYI, the "these people" Stieglitz was referring to were "...every Tom, Dick and Harry...[who] without trouble, learn how to get something or other on a sensitive plate." Steichen, on the other had, referred to them as "ye jabbering button-pushers".
In my picture making career, I experienced the not-a-serious-camera prejudice back in the mid-60s when I was handed a Graflex Crown Graphic as the camera for use by a US Army photographer. This dispite the fact that I was stationed in Japan, a country awash in 35mm SLRs. But, of course, those were not "serious cameras". FYI, my ongoing whining and caterwauling eventually led to the acquisition of not 1, but 2, Nikon Fs for my picture making use.
In any event, dispite the fact that the It's-not-a-serious-camera BS willnever die and as you may have deduced, in my picture making world, there are no "serious cameras". There are only good pictures ("serious" pictures?), no matter the picture making device used to make them.
ADDENDUM OK,OK. I wrote that this entry was not conceived as a defense of the iPhone. I still stand by that statement but I would be remiss to not provide a link to the iPhone Photography Awards (2020). Lots of "serious" picture makers making "serious" pictures with a "serious" camera. Be sure to check out each category (at the bottom of the page).