Dedicated Camera Key: YES or NO? [POLL]

• Rob Jackson
• 14 years ago

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 is the better setup.

Let me  just come out and ask:
Dedicated Camera Keys: Yes or No?

I’m on the NO train. I find that the pictures from every single mobile camera I use look like absolute fail when using a dedicated hardware key to take pictures. When pushing down the button, the camera shakes/moves a tad when the button is pressed, causing the focus and angle of the picture to be out of whack. Perhaps image stabilization should fix this, but it often does not, and when you’ve only got a one shot deal to snap a pic I’d rather rely on a method with a higher success rate.

In my opinion, software camera keys are definitely the way to go. One light tap and your perfectly stable picture comes out clear and crisp. If pressing the software key nudges the phone in any direction, it would be minimal and a more uniformly directed movement. I have consistently better luck using software camera keys over hardware camera keys which leads me to believe it isn’t luck at all.

Then there’s a wildcard option: some phone’s offer a dedicated camera key but allow you to reprogram it so any application/function can be completed when pressed. If flexibility is your friend, the reprogrammable camera key is a swingset.

So… which way do you swing?

[polldaddy poll=5042598]