I have an aging (2 years old now) flagship smartphone and basically want a camera that’s as decent as the one I already have, but without Google servers getting pinged every time I’m traveling and want to remember where I am - apparently my phone GPS isn’t enough, Google Play Services insist they must get involved.
Some ideal requirements would include:
- ~3x zoom
- Solid macro photography
- Optical image stabilization
- Functional in low light
- A sensor at least the same size as my phone’s (1/1.3")
- Small enough to fit in some pocket
- GPS tagging
- A sub-$800 price tag?
I understand this is a huge ask, and that modern cell phones have a pocket dimension that somehow fits this hardware inside of them, but I figured I may as well check.
“my foot itches, what’s the best shotgun I can get to blast it off”. this is like problemXY.
a 2-year old ex-flagship is a beast of a device. how do I know? because I run a 7-year old not-flagship and it’s a beast. you tear google’s shit out and keep using it. you can even keep using GCam with a “yeah-playservices-is-present” faker and then disable GCam’s network access.
Google is an adversary. start treating it as such.
If you need waterproof, the Olympus TG series has long been my phone camera/de-Googling go-to. It ticks most of your requirements. I love its macro modes and it’s definitely pocketable. Also stands up to a lot of abuse and has a strong market for accessories,
I did try one of these, but I noticed that I would end up moving the camera enough for a visible “shake” effect in most pictures I took. And this was outdoors in open areas with plenty of daylight.
Macro photos on it are great, though, and the working GPS was lovely. Shame about not having luck with most else on it. I have no idea how my phone manages to make things look better
noticed that I would end up moving the camera enough for a visible “shake” effect in most pictures I took.
Whoa, yeah, that would absolutely rule out a TG. Was that occurring even with image stabilization turned on?
I like the Olympus OM-D. Their PEN series might be what you want, because it’s rather slim for a real camera. I think there could even be GPS.
But remember that some physical size is needed to have these optical qualties that a phone cannot have.
Is there a such thing as a recent PEN from OM or Olympus (I’ve actually looked at their stuff, but I’m somewhat confused about which name their cameras get)? I was leaning in their direction, too - I saw they have a camera with a GPS and great macro photography, but I think its sensor is smaller than my phone’s.
(FWIW the OM-D relies on a smartphone for GPS tagging apparently, and I have no idea how that’s handled with an app, especially because the data handoff is whar I’m trying to avoid)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Pen
Don’t worry too much about your phone’s sensor size :)
Have you tried one of the custom rom OS’s, like CalyxOS or Graphene? You can use their built in firewall to disconnect Google’s Photo app. It also uses MicroG for google play services and the like, so basically de-googled.
