1) It's not really about the distance, it's optical vs. digital. The phone cam uses a digital zoom which is garbage. Optical is a true zoom which phone cams don't have. Although I guess the new iPhone does have a 2x. But I'm not making the switch to apple phones, just have no interest in that.
2) All kinds
3) Slightly better would likely do the trick
4) I've heard different. People have said the FZ performs extremely well under bright light. And what I mean is, if you are taking a picture of a landscape in the middle of the afternoon with an extremely bright sun, the image looks dark. I'm not really sure if I'm doing a good job of explaining it but it just doesn't look good on the phone cam.
5) Thanks for the correction.
At the end of the day, I'm not that happy with the images I'm capturing on my S7. So that's enough to make the switch to something "better." I'm not sure what the answer is yet. I asked a similar question on another forum though and nobody suggested a phone cam was the answer.
1... It still is a matter of how much. For example, the $3000 RX1 camera only has 1x zoom, stuck at 35mm. Do you just want 60-90mm, so you can take headshot portraits without getting in the person's face? Do you want 200mm, some sports photos from the sideline, some detailed wildlife photos at the zoo? Do you want 400mm, so you can take some wildlife distance photos from the distance? Want 600mm so you can do birding and distant wildlife? Essentially all zoom degrades images unless you are using $5000+ gear. As you zoom in, you need faster shutter speeds, which bumps up ISO, degrading the image. As you zoom in with most kit lenses, and the FZ100 and RX10iii, your aperture gets smaller, again bumping up the ISO and degrading the image. Thus, the absolute best zoom device in the world, is your own 2 feet. But there are times when your own feet won't do. So you need to decide how much optical zoom you really need.
2... For night still lifes, any camera will do as long as it has some manual controls. It's a matter of knowing how to use a tripod. For night people pictures, it is a matter of knowing how to slow synch a flash. The camera itself won't make much of a difference. In the photography class I teach, I always ask everyone why they are taking the class. In my last session, someone said, "I bought an expensive camera to get better night time pics, but the pics look even worse than I was getting with my phone." -- It's more about using the gear correctly, than having the gear.
3.. with the FZ1000 and RX10iii, your low light images should be slightly less grainy... and let's put it this way... if you can currently take a phone pic with 3 lightbulbs shining in a room, those cameras may let you get the pic with 2 lightbulbs shining in the room instead. They will definitely offer some improvement, just don't expect night and day differences.
4... I've never had a bright light photograph taken with my phone, end up looking dark. Honestly, it sounds like either user error, or your phone camera is broken.
I always like to look at flickr to see what a camera is capable of:
These are from the S7 in bright light:
A Magical Morning by
Charlene van Koesveld, on Flickr
Summerday, Zaanse Schans by
Charlene van Koesveld, on Flickr
Praia Alvor by
miu-miu, on Flickr
2016-05-22 09.47.02 by
teonewman, on Flickr
So we know the S7 is very very capable in bright light, or getting breath taking images.
Unfortunately, in hobbyist and technical forums, everyone wants to recommend the gear they own, and there is a bias against camera phones (which are threatening the market for separate cameras). I'm not suggesting that a camera phone is the answer for you --- But simply switching cameras will not significantly improve your photos.
If you look at the S7 photos that I posted.... if I were to hand a $10,000 camera to someone who doesn't know what they are doing, their photos will be worse than those good S7 photos.
Great cameras are just potential. 5 years ago, I would say any dSLR on auto will give you clearly better results than any phone. Nowadays, phones have advanced quite a bit... a dSLR on auto will only give you marginal improvement over today's phones.
Anyway, I think you'd be happiest with one of the 1" fixed lens cameras.... Ranging from the RX100 to G9x to FZ1000 aod RX10 and some others. It depends on price, size, and the lens range you want. They will give you some much improved zoom (how much do you need is the question), marginally better low light performance (the RX100 and G9x will give you better low light performance than the FZ1000 and RX10iii, but less zoom... so which is more important to you, zoom or low light ability?) , and then you need to consider the price, size and feel of the options.
