Questiondoes the iphone 18 pro replace a compact now?

probably a dumb question for this forum but. i have a 17 pro and was going to buy a small camera for a trip to lisbon next spring, like a ricoh or something. been looking at them for weeks.

now the 18 pro has the variable aperture thing (f/1.48 to f/4?) and the pro manual controls. is a compact still worth it or is the phone close enough now. i mostly take pictures of food, streets, my friends, sunsets, normal stuff. i really dont want to carry another thing and i'd have to upgrade the phone anyway at some point

If you don't want to carry another thing, you won't carry another thing. Keep the phone.

otter_pop said:

i really dont want to carry another thing

a GR is about the size of your phone. that's kind of the point.

Phones are fine and people on here sneer too much. Half the best street work I've seen in the last few years was shot on a phone.

Variable aperture is nice, but it's still a small sensor and the phone still makes most of the decisions for you, the HDR, the sharpening, the skin smoothing. Pro controls help a bit. If you're happy with how your 17 Pro pictures look now, the 18 will look like that but a little better, and you're done. If you've been annoyed at how 'phone-y' they look, that's when a compact earns its pocket space.

i have the 17 pro and an a7c. at night the a7c wins every time, phone night mode makes everything look like a painting. during the day i honestly cant always tell on instagram :)

xNightOwlx said:

during the day i honestly cant always tell

this is kind of what i suspected. i mostly shoot in the daytime

The f/4 end is the interesting bit honestly, actual depth of field control on a phone instead of the fake portrait mode blur that cuts your ears off. Stopping down for a group shot so everyones sharp is something phones just couldn't do properly before.

Still not going to make it look like a 35 1.4 on full frame though. But you didn't ask about that lol. If you mostly shoot daytime and you hate carrying stuff, keep you're money

streetsofjon said:

Phones are fine and people on here sneer too much

In mountains phone is not enough, you need real zoom and a battery that works in cold. My friend's phone died at -10 in Tatra at 9 in the morning. But for city travel I agree, phone is fine.

ok sticking with the phone for now. thanks everyone