Camera phones?

[Spinning]

Ok it is time for a new cell phone. Right now I am with sprint and actually very happy with the service, I have been with them for about 5 years.
anyway I was thinking a camera phone might be fun.
Do you need to have an extra service? Or can you use it like a digital camera? I have a digital camera and software.
How do you get your pictures to a PC? Also what is the quality? have you printed them out?

 

[chadfromdallas]

Extra service needed to send the pictures to another phone

You can use it as just a digital camera(but a poor one)
The quality will be around 640x480(alright to print out really small, nothing great.

To get the pictures to your computer, you must buy a cord or have bluetooth/IR

If your looking for a digital camera, a phone isn't a good choice here in America. Overseas, yes. Here, no. They are just something little and fun to entertain you

 

[Annette_VA]

I have a camera phone from Verizon.

I think you can get a package where you have unlimited picture messaging or you can just pay per pic message (which is what I do).

You can send pics to another camera phone or an email address.

The picture quality isn't that great at all. My phone's a couple of years old, though. Some of the newer models have more MP & a flash.

 

[elgerber]

I have a camera phone, that's a few months old. Honestly, I NEVER use it! I do not think they are worth the extra money. I thought it would be cool to have, and they were out of the other flip phone that I wanted, so I got it. The picture quality is really poor.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

DH and I both have Sprint camera phones. We hardly ever use them. I think I have one picture of DD that I use as a background on my phone. Not worth it just to buy a phone for the camera. JMHO.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have a camera phone, only because it came on the best model I found. I have used is ONLY to take pics to put next to the people in my address book, so their pic displays when they call. And that's not necessary, just fun =)

It had poor quality if you want anything more than thumbprint size, really, and there is no flash.

I haven't even thought of using the pics, since I have a digital camera (good quality) that I use when I need pics taken.

I don't have any extra service, because I've never needed/desired to send my pics to anyone else.

Good luck!

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I never understood the point of them if you have a real digital, which we do, BUT, I got one with the $49 Verizon phone I recently bought (Samsung). Under normal circumstances I may rarely use it. BUT, DH is in Iraq and if I am out and about and don't have my digital or can't get to my computer, it is a fun way for me to send a quick message to him. I always send him good digitals from my Canon, but these are great when out and about to get a quick message to him. And we used it when we lost power during one of the hurricanes. Neat extra thing to have for our situation.

This one does have a flash. But it is just for fun, and not our normal picture communication. You can pay a per picture fee (25 cents) or a package deal with Verizon. Same with text messages, 10 cents to send and 2 cents to receive or $2.99 a month for oodles. We use text a good bit.

 

[Beth76]

I just got a new Sprint Video/Camera phone for $80 after the rebate. The Camera phone was the same price, so I just got the video. I think this special ends in early November, so you may want to get in and check it out. I'm paying $35 a month for my service (300 minutes). But, I will agree with the others that it's not really a great way to take pictures, it's really just for fun. I haven't downloaded any pics yet, so I don't really know how they turn out.

 

[Spinning]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping for a wee bit more positive but had a feeling it was too good to be true.
I have a great digital that I use all the time so the camera phone would just be fun to have. But I hoped I could at least print out a 4x6 with good quality but it doesn't sound that way.
The phone I looked at would only be $49 after rebates. So if I dont' have to pay to take the pictures only if I send it could be fun to have.
I hate buying phones! But mine isn't holding the charge like it did...

 

[Imzadi]

Saw this post a while back when I was still lurking & AOL wouldn't let me register to post a reply.

I was looking into buying a camera phone to replace my old SLR since I don't use it AT ALL and don't have a digital camera either. The first 1 megapixel camera phones just came out a while ago and are mostly only sold overseas. As for the rest of the camera phones out, the quality varies.

Predictions are that someday camera phones will replace the need to have a separate digital camera at all, as the quality of camera phones & features get better & lighter in weight - meaning you only have to carry a camera phone. But the technology still isnt quite up to that level yet. Probably a couple of years away. In the meantime, a decent 3 megapixel camera can be bought for a hundred plus bucks.

Still, there is a whole community of camera phone users out there. Go to textamerica.com and have a look at the pics that people post there for their photo "blogs." 90% of the blogs use camera phones. It is amazing what people will shoot & post. They even have a section for camera phone reviews.

 

[Viking]

I've had my camerophone with 640x480 (VGA) resolution for nearly two years now and use it quite often for snapshots. I download the pics via bluetooth to my PDA and also use it to send 'postcards'. I'll replace it soon with a 1.3 megapixel cameraphone. We've got several models with that resulation to choose from in Germany, but in Korea there's already a 3 Megapixel cameraphone available
BTW, both my old phone and the new one I get soon, can also do little movies.