As an inhabitant of various photography and camera gear communities, there is a lot of snobbishness about the cameras built into mobile phones. At the time I took this photo, I had my EOS 20D SLR with me, but I chose to shoot it on my phone (Sony Ericsson K800i).

Why?

Because I was busy, on my way, and just wanted to grab a quick shot to remember how blue the sky was, and how dramatic it looked. Sure it would have been nice with a decent lens, and a polarising filter to make the most of it, but I wasn’t interested in all the fine detail, it was the scene I wanted to remember.

The quality of the photos from the K800i are really quite astounding. Only 4 or 5 years ago they would have matched all but the most expensive digital compact cameras. I can see that in the next few years, the digital compact camera market will be massively eroded as people will not need to buy a separate camera.

The prosumer, and digital SLR market is flourishing, and I hope will continue to flourish, having phones which take such great photos will ultimately help, and drive the growth of the higher end kit, as it will encourage more and more people to take more photos, and spark their interest, and inspiration.