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Dedicated Camera Key: YES or NO? [POLL]

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phandroid

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Manufacturers have a plethora of decisions to make when engineering a new phone. Some of the smallest decisions likely take hours of debate and discussion. One feature that seems rather trivial is the camera button, but I have a strong opinion and I’ve met many people who argue that the exact opposite of my preference [...]

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I'm one of the few that doesn't care about the camera on my phone. In fact I'd much rather NOT have one. I really would.

Especially since I carry a very small, light, Lumix Superzoom equipped with Eye-Fi.

It simply can't be beat ;)
 
cds0699 said:
Absolutely yes, I love having it.
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As a person who likes to take quick pics, when I dont purposely go out with my "real" camera, I would like to have the button so that I can whip out my camera, aim and click!

With my EVO I have to whip it out, then click the camera button focus. Is not quick, but the device takes great photos.
 
KENNECTED said:
As a person who likes to take quick pics, when I dont purposely go out with my "real" camera, I would like to have the button so that I can whip out my camera, aim and click!
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Actually now that I hear you express it that way, I think I'll be a little more open minded about picture quality, and do the same.

Just take some quick pictures for the fun of it :)
 
I don't see why phone manufacturers wouldn't make phones with them standard. Don't like the button? Don't use it and use the software's button.
 
I really miss having a physical camera button on the side when trying to take self pics with the wife when we go places. I hate asking strangers to take pics because they don't know how to focus (still not sure I even do to be honest) or even take the picture so a prime example was the other night when we were at a wedding and at the reception tried for about 5min to take a decent picture of ourselves at the dinner w/a cool background. It was near impossible to get a decent shot. I handed my phone to someone at a graduation last weekend and they snapped a pic. It wasn't until after we left that I scanned through them and realized the picture was awfully blurry and not even usable. So far the camera on this Evo has been the most frustrating camera/phone that I've owned. I think a physical button would make a big difference.
 
Aatos.1 said:
Actually now that I hear you express it that way, I think I'll be a little more open minded about picture quality, and do the same.

Just take some quick pictures for the fun of it :)
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That's right!your reply also catch my attention. Now I learn something. And that is to be a little more open minded about picture quality.haha THANKS
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I used to like a dedicated camera key.. but have come to feel that as long as it has a shutter function somewhere (soft or hard) it doesn't matter to me anymore.
 
It used to bother me that I didn't have a Camera key, then some time passed and now I just don't care.

You get used to it.
 
I love having a camera key as a quick way to load up the app, but almost all buttons ive tried on phones are too stiff and I end up messing the picture up
 
I prefer a dedicated camera button, but it's certainly not a deal-breaker. It's just one of those "nice to have things." I can do just fine with an on-screen button.

...although it is a bit awkward using the on-screen button on something like my Droid Pro in landscape mode, given it's design. One would think that with all of those buttons (including a button on the side that's only there for allowing the user to assign it to a specific function), it would be doable. Not so far.
 
The tradeoff is not to have them or not, but rather is it worth it in extra costs for the manufacturer to have one (more hardware complexity adds to the structure and cost of manufacturing.) I vote in the no category, and I use my phone camera a lot and am an amateur photographer.

The real useful functionality is a separate focus/lock exposure, then actually snap the picture separately. If the two functions can be separated (half-press on a real shutter button), or a swipe action on softkey for example, one can take fast pictures without refocusing (which is needed & harder to do with a hardware button unless one can press down all the way, and only let up half-way before pressing down all the way again for the next picture). Sometimes framing and focusing shouldn't be linked together, the half-press shutter functionality is a limitation introduced by older hardware, touch-screen shutter is much more versatile. A touch-to-focus also allows focusing on an area off-center. There's a reason why Apple designed their iphone with only 1 hardware button. Eventually I think Android is going the same way (as evidenced by Honeycomb tablet UI where the hardware buttons are mapped on the screen)
 
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