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OK, I know there is a list of approved cameras.  I am curious to know if Alamy is accepting any images from cell phones.  I bought an LG G2 smart phone which takes excellent 13mp images.  While on vacation in October, I used my Nikon D800 and RX100 for important images.  Yet, testing out the camera on the LG, I also got some great shots. 

I'm still processing images, and came across a few taken with the LG that are every bit as good as what I took with either of my regular cameras.  Would these images be automatically failed by Alamy simply because it was taken with a phone?  I do realize some other agencies have made room for these.  Do I dare try it or do I just put them aside and say, darn it?  I'd hate for a whole submission to fail because I included a phone image, let alone be in the sin bin for 30 days.

 

Betty

 

 

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from previous correspondence, you are clearly getting on famously with this smartphone. Sounds like you can start thinking about ditching the D800. Acceptable? gotta be just a matter of time!

Robert, no, I won't be ditching my Nikon.  Every camera I have is good for certain situations.  Portraits, landscapes, micro, tabletop, but heck, I'd like to use carefully selected images from the LG if I get a good one!  Yet, if Sony keeps improving some of their small cameras, I could see it happening one day.  I'm going back to St. Croix in November, and if Sony has a new model of the RX10 with improvements, I might snatch one for the trip and leave the D800 home.  

 

Sure made me nervous to travel with the D800, especially when my sister and I had to load up in a 9 passenger puddle jumper in San Juan for the 40 min. trip to St. Croix.

That was the first time my camera bag had to go into a hold, albeit a wing hold.  You can better believe I harangued the handler, lol!  In the long flight, my camera bag was my carry on, of course.

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Betty, I believe that Alamy's list is of "recommended" cameras, not "approved" cameras. I recently bought a Sony NEX-6, which is not on the recommended list (for reasons unknown), but Alamy accepts images from it. If a cell phone camera takes images of acceptable quality, I don't see why there would be a problem. But who knows?  You could always e-mail member services and ask them before submitting.

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Betty, I believe that Alamy's list is of "recommended" cameras, not "approved" cameras. I recently bought a Sony NEX-6, which is not on the recommended list (for reasons unknown), but Alamy accepts images from it. If a cell phone camera takes images of acceptable quality, I don't see why there would be a problem. But who knows?  You could always e-mail member services and ask them before submitting.

 

Hmmmm.... John... i have to say that it is quit a hard job to keep track with Sony. They are adding cameras every two months to their collection. On the move all the way. You remember the Sony A3000? Now i saw the official statement of the A5000. It looks totaly different then the A3000 and has even no electric viewfinder. It is very similar to the Nex-5. Poor Alamy if they have to track them haha.

 

Mirco

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Betty, I believe that Alamy's list is of "recommended" cameras, not "approved" cameras. I recently bought a Sony NEX-6, which is not on the recommended list (for reasons unknown), but Alamy accepts images from it. If a cell phone camera takes images of acceptable quality, I don't see why there would be a problem. But who knows?  You could always e-mail member services and ask them before submitting.

 

Hmmmm.... John... i have to say that it is quit a hard job to keep track with Sony. They are adding cameras every two months to their collection. On the move all the way. You remember the Sony A3000? Now i saw the official statement of the A5000. It looks totaly different then the A3000 and has even no electric viewfinder. It is very similar to the Nex-5. Poor Alamy if they have to track them haha.

 

Mirco

 

Yes, keeping up with Sony is almost impossible. I'm not sure that they know what they are doing themselves. The NEX-6 is definitely a big improvement (in IQ and otherwise) over the NEX-3/5, which are both among Alamy's recommended cameras. So it's odd that they didn't add the NEX-6 to the list. I'm not into cellphone photography myself, but it sounds as if Aamy will be left behind if they don't accept images from phone cameras like just about everyone else is doing. I imagine it is something they are considering (?).

 

Regarding the a5000 (sorry to digress, Betty), it looks like a basic NEX camera with a 20 MP sensor to me. I thought that the a5000 would have been an improved version of the a3000. Go figure? I think Sony needs a new road map at this point.

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Whew!  Dodged that bullet.  Thanks, Ed.  I came very close to including an image from the LG in today's upload.  To paraphrase my grandson once when he said, "I don't like thumpings!'   "I don't like the sin bin!"

 

I do think Alamy is being left behind with that decision.  I know what a good image looks like, and most of the contributors to Alamy also do.  Alamy needs to trust us.

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OK, I know there is a list of approved cameras.  I am curious to know if Alamy is accepting any images from cell phones.  I bought an LG G2 smart phone which takes excellent 13mp images.  While on vacation in October, I used my Nikon D800 and RX100 for important images.  Yet, testing out the camera on the LG, I also got some great shots. 

I'm still processing images, and came across a few taken with the LG that are every bit as good as what I took with either of my regular cameras.  Would these images be automatically failed by Alamy simply because it was taken with a phone?  I do realize some other agencies have made room for these.  Do I dare try it or do I just put them aside and say, darn it?  I'd hate for a whole submission to fail because I included a phone image, let alone be in the sin bin for 30 days.

 

Betty

Betty,

 

You really need to take a good hard look at how your cell phone images and compare to those taken with your higher-end cameras. If you really feel they're up to Alamy standards then why not give it a go and submit them to QC? I like to play with my iPhone but I've found the quality is hit and miss. Sure it produces images that are larger than some I have in the Alamy archive but I just don't have the same level of control in terms of exposure, raw processing, etc. I certainly wouldn't want to go island hopping with only a cell phone.

 

About a year ago Alamy Live News began accepting cell phone images. You can see the blog entry here.

 

http://www.alamy.com/pressrelease/releases/archive/2013/01/23/163.aspx#.UtWuCmRDtsg

 

fD

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OK, I know there is a list of approved cameras.  I am curious to know if Alamy is accepting any images from cell phones.  I bought an LG G2 smart phone which takes excellent 13mp images.  While on vacation in October, I used my Nikon D800 and RX100 for important images.  Yet, testing out the camera on the LG, I also got some great shots. 

I'm still processing images, and came across a few taken with the LG that are every bit as good as what I took with either of my regular cameras.  Would these images be automatically failed by Alamy simply because it was taken with a phone?  I do realize some other agencies have made room for these.  Do I dare try it or do I just put them aside and say, darn it?  I'd hate for a whole submission to fail because I included a phone image, let alone be in the sin bin for 30 days.

 

Betty

Betty,

 

You really need to take a good hard look at how your cell phone images and compare to those taken with your higher-end cameras. If you really feel they're up to Alamy standards then why not give it a go and submit them to QC? I like to play with my iPhone but I've found the quality is hit and miss. Sure it produces images that are larger than some I have in the Alamy archive but I just don't have the same level of control in terms of exposure, raw processing, etc. I certainly wouldn't want to go island hopping with only a cell phone.  Good to know they are accepted in news.

 

About a year ago Alamy Live News began accepting cell phone images. You can see the blog entry here.

 

http://www.alamy.com/pressrelease/releases/archive/2013/01/23/163.aspx#.UtWuCmRDtsg

 

fD

Oh goodliness no, I will never go island hopping without a good camera.  It's just that while in St. Croix, I used my D800, my RX100 and my LG G2.  I got great shots from each camera.  I can't say there were as many keepers with the phone, I did notice the shadows were darker than with my regular cameras.  Yet, used in certain conditions, I got great color, depth of field, and sharpness with the phone.  It seems a shame that those gems can't be used, also.  Nobody notices you with a cell phone, few notice with the RX100, everyone notices with the D800.

 

 

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A friend of mine has a Samsung something or other phone, which looks more like a wide screen TV than a pocket sized, mobile phone!!!!!!

 

The picture quality is amazing. I've checked a few of his pictures through my iMac and they are seriously good quality. Not up to QC, but they are bloody good none the less. I am sure newspapers would be more than happy to have such quality.

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A friend of mine has a Samsung something or other phone, which looks more like a wide screen TV than a pocket sized, mobile phone!!!!!!

 

The picture quality is amazing. I've checked a few of his pictures through my iMac and they are seriously good quality. Not up to QC, but they are bloody good none the less. I am sure newspapers would be more than happy to have such quality.

Personally, I like the "soft and lacking definition" look of cellphone images even though I don't even own a smart phone. We've become too obsessed with extreme sharpness IMO. My world seems to be getting fuzzier all the time. HDTV tends to leave me cold.

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This guy takes b&w photos with his iPhone on the way to work. He has a good eye, I thought:

 

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/31/shadow-lands/#gallery_page1

Yes, John, he does have a good eye. 

I had the iPhone for awhile, but a funny thing happened at a football game.  There I sat in good seats, not quite 50 yard line but not far off, watching Notre Dame play my Oklahoma Sooners. (they beat us but we got 'em this year) The Notre Dame band was on the field at half time.  I snapped away with my iPhone.  A guy in the row in front of me and about two seats to the right held up a Android phone and was also taking pictures.  I looked at mine, looked at his, and immediately wanted to throw my phone in the trash.  His phone captured the scene in better color, fewer blown areas from the stadium lights, and just amazing overall.  I soldiered on for another year, then made the switch to Android.

Phone cameras, it seems, causes the same upgrade longings that pro cameras do.

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This guy takes b&w photos with his iPhone on the way to work. He has a good eye, I thought:

 

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/31/shadow-lands/#gallery_page1

Yes, John, he does have a good eye. 

I had the iPhone for awhile, but a funny thing happened at a football game.  There I sat in good seats, not quite 50 yard line but not far off, watching Notre Dame play my Oklahoma Sooners. (they beat us but we got 'em this year) The Notre Dame band was on the field at half time.  I snapped away with my iPhone.  A guy in the row in front of me and about two seats to the right held up a Android phone and was also taking pictures.  I looked at mine, looked at his, and immediately wanted to throw my phone in the trash.  His phone captured the scene in better color, fewer blown areas from the stadium lights, and just amazing overall.  I soldiered on for another year, then made the switch to Android.

Phone cameras, it seems, causes the same upgrade longings that pro cameras do.

 

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind if I ever break down and enter the world of cellphone photography. Have to admit, though, that I'm not in a big rush to do so. But it does look like fun.

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Why not try uploading just one image from the LG.

That way you're signalling QR that you do not mean to sneak it in.

 

wim

Excellent idea. But I'd still probably draw 30 days in jail.  :(

 

Quite likely. Not a good idea IMO. Being thrown into solitary confinement is very frustrating.

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Why not try uploading just one image from the LG.

That way you're signalling QR that you do not mean to sneak it in.

 

wim

Excellent idea. But I'd still probably draw 30 days in jail.  :(

 

 

I have not seen that happen this way.

My record is pretty sound otherwise, that may have helped.

(Mine was not a phone image btw.)

 

wim

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Why not try uploading just one image from the LG.

That way you're signalling QR that you do not mean to sneak it in.

 

wim

Excellent idea. But I'd still probably draw 30 days in jail.  :(

 

 

I have not seen that happen this way.

My record is pretty sound otherwise, that may have helped.

(Mine was not a phone image btw.)

 

wim

 

You're a lucky man. Thirty days in the "sin bin" is normal for me.

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Why not try uploading just one image from the LG.

That way you're signalling QR that you do not mean to sneak it in.

 

wim

Excellent idea. But I'd still probably draw 30 days in jail.  :(

 

 

I have not seen that happen this way.

My record is pretty sound otherwise, that may have helped.

(Mine was not a phone image btw.)

 

wim

 

 

Quite right, Wim. There is, for other than _continual_ submission of inferior work, no such thing as a sin bin or online equivalent here.

 

dd

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Why not try uploading just one image from the LG.

That way you're signalling QR that you do not mean to sneak it in.

 

wim

Excellent idea. But I'd still probably draw 30 days in jail.  :(

 

 

I have not seen that happen this way.

My record is pretty sound otherwise, that may have helped.

(Mine was not a phone image btw.)

 

wim

 

You're a lucky man. Thirty days in the "sin bin" is normal for me.

 

Like John, I have been there more than I like.  Usually for marginally soft images.  Some on retrospect I agree with, a couple I didn't, looked sharp enough to me after fail.  Granted, I would have 20 or more uploads that were fine, then one image let me down.  I found that happened with the Nikon D7000. All good with the RX100 and Nikon D800. I've probably been in the sin bin 3 times since joining Alamy and I believe they were all D7000 images.

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Why not try uploading just one image from the LG.

That way you're signalling QR that you do not mean to sneak it in.

 

wim

Excellent idea. But I'd still probably draw 30 days in jail.  :(

 

 

I have not seen that happen this way.

My record is pretty sound otherwise, that may have helped.

(Mine was not a phone image btw.)

 

wim

 

You're a lucky man. Thirty days in the "sin bin" is normal for me.

 

Like John, I have been there more than I like.  Usually for marginally soft images.  Some on retrospect I agree with, a couple I didn't, looked sharp enough to me after fail.  Granted, I would have 20 or more uploads that were fine, then one image let me down.  I found that happened with the Nikon D7000. All good with the RX100 and Nikon D800. I've probably been in the sin bin 3 times since joining Alamy and I believe they were all D7000 images.

 

Betty, my QC record was very good until last year when I had three non-consecutive failures (SoLD/noise, of course). Now if I fail QC, I'm certain to be left in the doghouse howling at the moon for at least a month. Not sure what all this is supposed to accomplish, but best not to go there, I've discovered. I too didn't agree 100% with QC's assessment in two of the cases. We impressionists need to stick together IMO. However, it's always best just to move on...

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