Ever since the iPhone came out in 2007, I’ve relished in the notion of only having to carry a single device that can seamlessly operate as phone, mp3 player and camera in one. With the convenience of one device far outweighing any initial issues of quality, I quickly ditched my digital camera and iPod for this single chic object I could slip into my pocket and take everywhere. Nine years and probably an equal number of iPhones later, I finally freed myself from the iPhone camera prison I was living in. While the camera quality has no doubt improved over the years, model by model, I’ve often found a decrease in quality with each phone I’ve owned the more I use it; with many of the cameras not working at all by the time I traded in for a new phone. Beyond that, the quality you can achieve with a basic digital camera is typically far better than what your iPhone is equipped with.

The result?  I can’t stop looking up!  With my new camera (a humble Nikon Coolpix S7000) I can zoom in to see details of buildings I’ve walked by for 10 years and have never really looked at. It’s as if there’s been an entire layer of New York City hovering invisibly over me, I just didn’t have the tools to see it. While it can be a hassle to carry around an extra device, the ability to see and discover these hidden-to-the-naked-eye treasures, is well worth it.  

There’s A Whole New (Old) City Out There, Just Look Up!

Edward Mulligan