Category: Shopping

Posted on

Should You Buy a “Real” Camera in 2025?

A Guide for the Smartphone Generation

In an era when the latest iPhones produce stunning images instantly, many people wonder if investing in a dedicated camera still makes sense. As someone who’s worked extensively with both smartphones and traditional cameras, I want to help you figure out when a dedicated camera is worth it—and when your smartphone might actually be the smarter tool.

What Makes a “Real” Camera Different?

The biggest difference between phones and dedicated cameras is sensor size. Think of a sensor like a solar panel: the bigger it is, the more light it captures.

While the iPhone 16 Pro’s sensor is about 0.4 x 0.3 inches (roughly the size of a pinky nail), full-frame cameras from companies like Sony, Canon, and Nikon use sensors around 1.4 x 0.9 inches. That size difference can have a dramatic impact on image quality.

Bokeh: Real vs. Artificial Blur

One of the most visible differences is in how background blur—or “bokeh” (bo-keh)—is created.

Phones simulate this effect using AI in Portrait mode, while dedicated cameras achieve it optically through wide-aperture lenses. The difference can be subtle but important: artificial bokeh often struggles with hair or complex shapes, creating unnatural edges or blurring the outer part of the hair.

Where Phones Win: Computational Photography

In many everyday situations, your phone might actually outperform a “real” camera—thanks to computational photography.

Modern phones use features like HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Night Mode to merge multiple exposures and enhance detail and color instantly. While powerful, this computational approach can also make images look overly sharp or unnatural. The classic aesthetic of a traditional photo can get lost in the process.

The computational nature of phones can also be a negative. The images are criticized for being too sharp, and illuminating everything with HDR can look unnatural. While you can gain detail with computational photography, you can lose the classic look of a “real” photo.

Workflows

Traditional cameras do require more complex workflows. When you take a photo with an iPhone, it goes into the Photos app automatically. On a big camera, you need to transfer the photos to your computer or phone, and you will typically want to do some editing of the photos. This takes significantly more time and effort than simply shooting and sharing with a phone.

When a Dedicated Camera Makes Sense

You should consider a dedicated camera if you:

  • You want manual control over focus, exposure, and lenses.
  • You shoot often in low light and dislike the “Night Mode” look.
  • You prefer the natural bokeh from optics over AI-generated blur.
  • You enjoy photography as a craft or professional pursuit.
  • You have time for editing and managing photos.

In-Between Option

Some cameras use an APS-C sensor—an in-between size that offers many of the benefits of full-frame without the bulk. Most Fujifilm models use this format. The Ricoh GRIII and GRIIIx are compact APS-C cameras ideal for street photography or situations where a larger camera feels intrusive.

So… Should You Buy One?

It depends on your goals.

If you primarily shoot for social media, your phone is a top-tier imaging device that fits in your pocket. But if you’re passionate about photography, want to grow your skills, or need capabilities phones can’t yet match, a dedicated camera can be a rewarding upgrade.

Test the Waters First

Before committing to a new camera system:

  1. Borrow or rent a camera for a weekend trip.
  2. Take a basic photo class to learn how manual shooting feels.
  3. Review your current photos—do you see limitations a new camera would fix?

Ultimately, the best camera is the one you’ll actually use.

Posted on

AI Chatbots

AI chatbots are big news. People ask me what they should be doing with them. Here are my ideas to get started:

  • Search: Instead of searching Google for websites, consider using an AI chatbot.
  • Proofreading: Chatbots can offer suggestions and make changes based on grammar and content.
  • Shopping: If you have a specific need, for example for an appliance that fits in a particular set of dimensions and has particular needs, Chatbots can shortcut your research.

Keep in mind that these chatbots do “hallucinate” so always verify important information.

The key is to interact with the AI Chatbots. Don’t just ask it to write you an email. Tell it what you are trying to do and ask it to ask you questions so that it can do a better job. Then provide it feedback and tell it what kind of changes you would like.

I think of these chatbots as smart and very literal minded assistants. The more information that you can provide, the better that the assistant will be able to do what you want.

I personally like using Claude, but I also use ChatGPT. Deepmind (the new chatbot from China) is also highly regarded. Give them a try and see how they fit into your life.

Posted on

Ordering New iPhones

For the crazy folks who order iPhones for Day 1 arrival, this most recent ordering process was a bit of a mess. Typically, you can pre-enter your order details in the Apple Store app and then submit it order time. This time, that system failed for 15-20 minutes for many folks, pushing back many people’s ordered by a couple of weeks. This might have been compounded by supply constraints.

So if you’re ordering at that crunch time at 8am when sales start every year, you should try to order thought the Apple Store app, but also through the Apple website. If you have an iPad, try that too at the same time.

For people who were delayed in ordering or forgot this year, you can try to get the iPhones in the Apple store. This is a site that will show you what nearby stores have availability:

https://iphonechecker.herokuapp.com/q/22201/i15ProMax/unlocked

And of course, for all the normal people, you can just wait untill November, when iPhones should just be available.

Posted on

VisualPing.io

Do you ever need to check if a website changes? I use an automated site checker for this such as visualping.io. What’s this useful for?:

  • If you’re watching a product’s availability on a site, for example to buy a hard-to-find item such as a popular game console.
  • If you need to see if data or text changes on sites for your job, for whatever information is contained on those pages; this could be for data analysis or competitive research.
  • If you have your own website and want to see if it goes down for any reason.

There are probably many more reasons to check websites. Visualping and other sites make money by having you pay if you need checks more frequently than every day. There used to be many PC-installed software tools for this purpose, but this has largely moved to the cloud, which I think makes sense for simplicity and ease of use.

Posted on

Robot Vacuums Work

Over the last 15 years, robot vacuums have come a long way. No longer blind, today’s robot vacuums use lasers and cameras to identify walls and objects in order to plot logical paths. The original robot vacuums would bump into everything, knock things over, scuff up furniture, and get stuck. They even threw themselves down the stairs, as if understanding their true value.

While modern robots have largely overcome these issues, they lack the suction of a standard vacuum. The robots are meant to be run often, even daily. An upright vacuum is still needed for the occasional deep cleaning.

There are many manufacturers of robot vacuums. The biggest and most well known is Roomba. While Roomba’s are great and the only US-designed robots, they aren’t my favorite for value or smarts. My personal favorites are by Roborock. I currently use the Roborock S6 MaxV (say that 3 times fast), a slightly older model at this point that can still be found refurbished. These use LIDAR to map out rooms and cameras for object detection and avoidance. Object avoidance is a must-have if you have a pet that leaves poop which you prefer not to have smeared around your house. Object avoidance also helps if you leave things on the floor that could snag the robot. This robot also has a mop function, which is nothing great but can help a little.

If you want a cheaper robot, the Roborock S4 has LIDAR, but no camera or mop. Any Roborock with LIDAR is amazing. They create maps of your floorpan that you can easily edit with no-go zones, for example to avoid a pile of wires under your desk. They also vacuum in efficient patterns, better than I have seen with Roomba’s.

Roborock Floor Plan

You can remotely start and control the robots so that they can vacuum while you’re out. You can use one robot on a multi-story house, but you need to carry the robot since they can’t handle stairs. I like the ease of having one robot on each floor.

The robots do require some maintenance: dumping out the dust, cleaning and occasionally replacing the filters and brushes. Replacement parts for the Roborock are relatively cheap.

While an indulgence, robot vacuums are now a useful household tool instead of just an annoying gimmick.