iPhone 4S Camera Pros and Cons

A few months ago world-famous photographer Annie Leibovitz made a startling statement. Asked what camera she recommends when people ask, the lens woman called the iPhone 4S the "snapshot camera of today," best for sharing lives through photographs. 

I'm a woman who travels and I always need a camera with me. The last camera I bought, a Canon G11, took sharp photos with rich, accurate colors. It was easy to use on an automatic setting, and flexible enough to adjust the controls when I wanted. But it weighs 12.5 ounces. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you add it to all the other things you tote when you travel… well, the idea of using a highly recommended smartphone was very appealing.

So I left the heavy camera home. And for the past four months I've been using the iPhone 4S as my sole camera when I travel. Here's what I can tell you about the pros and cons:

IPHONE 4S CAMERA PROS

• It's lightweight, weighing just under 5 ounces
• Has a respectable 8 megapixel resolution
• Has a built-in flash that can be turned off
• The face of the iPhone 4s is the viewfinder
• Features simple editing capability including cropping and red-eye reduction
• Has a built-in 1080 HD camcorder
• Photographer can choose to simultaneously shoot at two pre-set exposures, saving the best one
• Lots of fun apps to use including Instagram (free), which makes a variety of filters available, and Pano ($1.99), which helps you capture and stitch together a long horizontal image
• It's easy to email photos from the camera, and you can choose the size you want to send
• It also works as a phone!

IPHONE 4S CAMERA CONS

• It's not the right camera for serious or professional photographers
• Minimally-adjustable zoom capability
• Longer wait time between shots than with many cameras
• Low-light images can appear grainy
• Expensive and will undoubtedly be surpassed by a new Apple iPhone within months after you buy it.

Is the iPhone 4s camera the best travel camera to use? Perhaps Henri Cartier-Bresson would have thought so. Regardless, for non-professional photographers who want to travel light, I'm convinced that it's the way to go.