I recently got into photography again after my YT dash exuded some things that made me take my old camera out on a walk (one of the pics is now new background). I do take at least a couple shots every time I go out on a hike, but those are usually on my phone, but this time I wanted to really compare an old Olympus Fe 4030 (fourteen years old at time of writing, a basic point-and shoot camera, won no awards) to my Pixel 3a (noted as best camera for a mid range phone 2019). The results were a bit surprising, but not in the way I thought.

Pixel 3a Olympus Fe 4030
A path in the woods from left of path near the ground. Late day sun rays coming from the left. Notably sharper and more consistent than the Olympus, but also a bit drier. A path in the woods from left of path near ground. Late day sun rays coming from left. Softer, more saturated than the Pixel, debatably much more characteristic.
A path in the woods looking straight, near the ground. Refined edges and exposure, colors neutral. A path in the woods looking straight, near the ground. Noticible sun rays in near distance, with color balance much warmer accentuating fall leaf colors.
Path in woods straight, then veering left. Notable medium tree with yellow leaves in center of shot. Exposure is well composed, nothing over or under, colors neutral Path in woods straight, then veering left. Notable medium tree with yellow leaves in center of shot. Top of shot is a bit overexposed, but also accentuates bright sunlight from right, with more noticible sun rays than Pixel shot, along with much moren comfy colors
Some moss near the ground with path leading off in distance. Eveything is clear, but lighting is a bit flat. Some moss near the ground with path leading off in distance. Top of image is a bit overexposed, moss is a bit softer but not for the worse, sun rays are noticible, colors warmer.
Camera is placed almos on trunk of a maple tree looking up to its canopy. A couple dozen red leaves are noticible. Exposure is perfect, nothing out of place, colors neutral. Camera is placed almos on trunk of a maple tree looking up to its canopy. A couple dozen red leaves are noticible. Sky is quite overexposed, but colors of tree trunk, leaves, and surrounding leaves are more natural looking

I have had this Pixel 3a for the better part of five years now and have used it to take countless shots that I continue to horde on my Gloobis Photos account to this day despite multiple clean outs. Its camera is very notable and I do see why it is still lauded as one of the handful of features that saved the Pixel line back then. However, I really do like the shots from the Olympus, yes they are a bit more unrefined most of the time, but I feel like they just have so much more character to them. The pixel photos are nice, but I would actually want to get a larger print of some pictures from the Olympus.

I do also want to acknowledge that the process or taking a photo feels better on the Olympus. Of course with it being a stand alone device for pictures most would react “Road work ahead??? Uh, Yeah, I sure HOPE it does” but it really is nice having a dedicated, purpose built device for something. This is 1000% related to the previous post about physical media music and such. The drawbacks of having everything for daily life on one device is absolutely more convenient, and even I would not want to split the smartphone into all the single use devices in the name of mindfulness (I would however do it as an experiment, but I know it would be quite difficult). I do propose splitting some off for the things individually special, be it music, photos, gaming, notes/journaling, etc. as it seems from my study and experience, we can have a much healthier, more intimate relationship with these things when we have something we can hold that is just for that thing, for the time we want to do the thing.

In conclusion, the thing I have been thinking about making for the entirety of the two hours I have been writing this:

Jeremy Clarkson meme where they all drive contemporary hatchbacks and he remarks the Ford Focus is very nice, but he simply likes the VW Up