cool camera phone?

OK… i may have succumbed. I’m going to be blogging SIGGRAPH and i really want a camera phone so that i can auto-Flickr-Blog. I mean, i could do it via a digital camera, but when i realized that i could email pictures to Flickr and it would automatically blog it, i was in heaven. This is the only way that i’m likely to photoblog and i know it. Specific purpose, target audience.

So, this means that i need to accept that i will purchase a camera phone. Crazy, eh? But the fact is that i know little about camera phones. I want one with a high enough quality that it will be reasonable for blogging. I don’t want a PDA device. I’m currently on Sprint. I’m always half tempted to switch, but i never do it… at least not in the last 7.5 years. Probably, i’d want a Sprint phone… and preferably one that didn’t cost a fortune.

One alternate option would be to buy the camera for my sidekick – anyone know anything about that?

Anyhow… i’d love thoughts and suggestions. If i’ve learned anything about gadgetry, it’s that everyone has an opinion.

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15 thoughts on “cool camera phone?

  1. doctor paradox

    a) i’m jealous of your sidekick

    b) i’m also on sprint and i just ‘succumbed’ as well and bought a new cameraphone. i freaking love the toshiba vm-4050. i got it for $179 with a 2-year contract. sprint is the lesser of 2 evils – verizon salespeople are slimier, in my experience, and that turns me off. t-mobile is a bit more with it in terms of wireless web in general but their coverage is not as good as sprint or verizon.

    if you don’t need any of the PDA features, forget about the $600-tier items like the treo600 – overkill. if you just want a decent camera, and a gorgeous screen, the vm-4050 is a good choice. people complain about camphone quality – i think the limitations inspire creativity. as long as you get to know the particular funky lighting interpretations of your phone, you can take some pretty decent shots. all my photos titled “a photo share!” on flickr and all the shots here were taken with the toshiba, if you want to get examples of image quality as well as some of the limitations (poor shots in dim light being the most common).

    regardless, you shouldn’t have to pay more than $200 for a decent camphone.

  2. Aeonn

    If you’re looking for a camera phone on the Sprint network, your best option is the Samsung A600 (Phone scoop). It’s a tri-mode device which is beneficial for traveling. I’d avoid dual mode phones as much as possible. The upper half of this flip phone can be rotated 180 degrees to allow the display to face outward. You can take ten shots in two seconds for fast moving material. You can filter photos (black and white, antique, vintage) and change quality. The phone has a 65,000 color display (Sprint’s best to date!)

    The phone only has 3 hours of talk time and retails at a whopping $350.00. But, if you re-sign your contract, you can get it for $99.

    My younger sister was shjopping for phones and reviews for the A600 were very good. She ended up getting it and has been very happy with it. The pictures taken are crystal clear.

    Good luck!

    Also, here’s Sprint’s info about the phone.

  3. joe

    remember that the higher-quality the pictures, the longer you’ll have to babysit the bastard while it sends the image over our shitty networks…

  4. zephoria

    3 hours of talk time sounds horrible. Usually, i never talk on my phone… except on long car drives and then i talk constantly so 3 hours sounds atrocious.

    Stupid networks.

    I half wonder if the AT&T plans aren’t worth switching to. Nights at 7PM? Real SMS? Real GPS? Hmmm….

  5. anthony

    I have been using the Nokia 3650 for about 9 months now. It takes great photos, but it is bit big for a cell phone. Other nice features are built in memory card and bluetooth networking. I post all my images to buzznet and syndicate to any blog server from there.

  6. Bibi's box

    Camera phone

    I have a new toy called Flickr!. It is another Social Software, not so new, but very easy to use. You can upload images, select who can see them, save images from site to there and save your favourite photos from another people and friends on Flickr. T…

  7. Bibi's box

    Camera phone

    I have a new toy called Flickr!. It is another Social Software, not so new, but very easy to use. You can upload images, select who can see them, save images from site to there and save your favourite photos from another people and friends on Flickr. T…

  8. Bibi's box

    Camera phone

    I have a new toy called Flickr!. It is another Social Software, not so new, but very easy to use. You can upload images, select who can see them, save images from site to there and save your favourite photos from another people and friends on Flickr. T…

  9. Emilio

    Sprint pictures tech support: sucky
    * once you have it running, do not attempt to change passwords; and not having the option to title them of the phone something besides “a picture share” also sucks

    Sanyo Model SCP-5300 image quality & user experience: less than optimal

    Photoblogging directly to Flickr: priceless!

  10. wade

    i use a nokia 3650 running on t-mobile’s network. it’s responsible for nonsense such as this and this.

    + it has bluetooth. for jacking or snarfing or whatever you’re into. but more importantly, it makes an excellent modem when you got no wifi for the laptop.
    + it takes a pretty good picture. not as good as a digicam but you get used to that sorta thing real quick.
    + you can record video on it.
    + you can read your email on it.

    hope this helps.

  11. mie

    Hi!
    I used to use the Nokia 3650 and at the time I bought it (Sept 2003), it was the only phone on the market that had what I wanted (cam, video, email, bluetooth). Now I use the Nokia 7610 (which will be on the market soon) and I am *in love* with it. 1 mega pixel pics with much better night pic taking (with dark mode, and I know you enought that I know you’ll be taking a lot of night pics!), it can take 10 minutes of video, and actually is like a mini-pda if you’d like. I’ve yet to learn all its capabilities, but I highly recommend waiting for it. Joi uses it too 🙂

  12. Christopher Allen

    I have the camera add-on for the SideKick — I never use it, so you are welcome have it for for a long term tryout. It is low resolution, but works.

    I have an LG VX4600 cell phone with a camera, which supposedly is highly rated. However, I really don’t like it much because it handles low-light levels very poorly, and that means at conference and stuff that indoor shots just don’t work very well. Outside in sun is fun. I have 4-year old Canon digital camera that does low-light just fine, so I don’t know what the problem is with the cell phone’s camera sensors.

  13. Bibi's box

    Camera phone

    I have a new toy called Flickr!. It is another Social Software, not so new, but very easy to use. You can upload images, select who can see them, save images from site to there and save your favourite photos from another people and friends on Flickr. T…

  14. Bibi's box

    Camera phone

    I have a new toy called Flickr!. It is another Social Software, not so new, but very easy to use. You can upload images, select who can see them, save images from site to there and save your favourite photos from another people and friends on Flickr. T…

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