Third - I find it's all a matter of how much (or little) effort one wants to make towards taking a photo, and whether they want the presentation to have maximum pop and presentation for normal small print viewing or TV slideshows with the family, versus achieving realism in color and saturation. If one wanted the peppier look, the phone camera defaults to precisely that - whereas with the P&S camera, MOST of them have the option to tune the JPG output to something more like this - Vivid modes, amp up saturation and contrast one or two notches, and increase sharpness. This will deliver that more dynamic looking photo that looks better from a normal distance, but might not hold up to closeup scrutiny as well. But even a very basic P&S camera, that has no true manual controls, and shoots mostly in auto, can still be better controlled and manipulated by someone who is interested in photography and learns the basics of exposure...so in the long run would still be the better camera choice...being able to change focus area, metering area, white balance, set drive mode, even very basic controls like that can be used to force a mostly 'automatic' camera to do what you want. Most of the shots in this thread that were badly underexposed would have been easily adjusted by choosing a different metering mode, or by adjusting EV up +1 or so. The bad WB shots could have been adjusted manually with the camera's WB controls. The motion blur shots could have been fixed by a steadier hand, a faster shutter speed by metering differently or manually controlling the ISO level, etc. Yes, this would require actually having some input regarding your output, and if not interested in that, an iPhone can probably produce shots that look prettier with less involvement in the shot taking process.
Great post. But just to comment on these notes, for this little experiment:
The P&S used has virtually no manual controls. Cannot change the EV, cannot change the white balance.
The only manual modes on this camera are: Macro focus or regular focus. And flash on, flash off, flash auto.
And of course, a 3X optical zoom.
Other than that, absolutely no manual control. (And as you noted in another paragraph, the type of users who are looking at the cheaper budget cameras versus iphones, aren't those with an interest in learning how to use manual controls). I found this to be a pretty fair test, as other than turning on and off the flash, I wasn't choosing any options.
Now, more manual control is coming down the compact camera ladder. Where 3 years ago, most compacts had only minimal manual control... Now advanced compacts have as much control as a dSLR, and even mid-level had substantial amounts of manual control. Meanwhile, something like the iphone doesnt really offer manual control of the exposure, but allows for tons of processing options with different apps. And even some pretty basic cameras have some basic scene modes and control.
What I find interesting..... for someone with a low interest in photography... who already has a smartphone and likes the convenience of the camera, what is the approximate price point where a separate compact camera gives a significant upgrade and reason to switch.
Now, the answer to that question is largely driven by the individual needs. As fully acknowledged, if optical zoom is important, than even an ultra cheap compact camera could be useful.
But for someone who is happy with the fixed lens/digital zoom of the iphone, what is the price point where image quality started to undeniably surpass the iphone, and the extras start to compete with the convenience of the iphone?
This number is changing as technology evolves and becomes cheaper.. but right now, I peg this number at about $150-$200 plus.
For example... I've played around with the Canon SX line... The current model, the SX260 goes for about $200. Now, putting aside price, some people might still like the convenience of photo sharing on their iphone. So the iphone still has some advantages. But the Canon SX does start to offer significantly better image quality, manual control, with a huge zoom. So unless someone is completely and totally hung up on the convenience of the iphone, I'd strongly recommend they go with the SX260.
On the other hand, if someone were to say, "I already have an iPhone 5/Galaxy 3/etc, Best Buy has a 10mp 4X compact camera on sale for $75, should I get it?"
To that person, I'd personally recommend they consider just sticking with their phone unless the zoom is a big selling point.
