I had a Canon T3i for a long time- it was given to me as a honeymoon gift and while at first I was kind of annoyed with it, I became really interested in photography and took it with me everywhere. The last trip I took it on was in 2018, and my father in law had a pixel- maybe a pixel 2- but I think the original. We were under a roman theater, it was very dim, but we both took a few pictures as it was a really interesting scene. His pictures just blew mine out of the water- mine you could hardly make out the details, his looked like it was well lit.
I was in the process of looking to upgrade, and actually for that trip was hoping I could get an A7 III, (~2k for those unfamiliar with cameras), and eventually did a few months later, and even with a "G" lens (not highest end, but still ~$1k USD just for the lens), the gap between my wife's iphone and even my Galaxy S8 for "typical" photos is really small, and for certain types of action and low-light shots, the cell phones are superior.
I am not sure if I will ever buy another "proper" camera again. People talked for years about the limits of physics on lenses and light and such, but software can overcome those limitations for the most part. It makes me sad, and I maybe even feel a little foolish for spending a few thousand dollars on equipment that is quickly becoming unnecessary for most of my uses.
I was in the process of looking to upgrade, and actually for that trip was hoping I could get an A7 III, (~2k for those unfamiliar with cameras), and eventually did a few months later, and even with a "G" lens (not highest end, but still ~$1k USD just for the lens), the gap between my wife's iphone and even my Galaxy S8 for "typical" photos is really small, and for certain types of action and low-light shots, the cell phones are superior.
I am not sure if I will ever buy another "proper" camera again. People talked for years about the limits of physics on lenses and light and such, but software can overcome those limitations for the most part. It makes me sad, and I maybe even feel a little foolish for spending a few thousand dollars on equipment that is quickly becoming unnecessary for most of my uses.