One day, during our summer holiday, my digital camera decided to start misbehaving, and stop focusing. I have seen this movie before (another camera died on me during a holiday a few years ago) so it wasn’t as upsetting as it could have been. And because of that earlier disaster, I now make a point of taking some other cameras with me on holiday, both to act as backups and to give me more choices. With my main camera out of action, I decided to focus on my other cameras: my Leica Sofort, my Contax Aria and of course my iPhone.

Here’s what I’ve learned. My Sofort instant camera is truly wonderful. I love using it, especially to create a holiday collage, which is now something of a tradition. In the past, I used to then just toss all the Polaroids into a tin somewhat haphazardly. But recently, I’ve started sticking them into albums. This keeps them in chronological order and makes them much easier to flip through, like scrolling through a physical timeline.

My trusty Contax Aria, usually relegated to being an understudy to my digital camera, got to go on a lot more adventures, including a trip up Mount Etna. I do love the unique way it captures the essence of light. I really need to start playing with this camera more as I had forgotten how easy it is to use.

And of course I ended up taking more pictures than usual with my iPhone, which suddenly became my only working digital camera. Lightroom Mobile has become my go-to app for processing, and I’ve been having fun experimenting with different presets and profiles. The best part? On the mobile app (unlike my ancient old desktop version) it’s really easy to dial the intensity of the effects up or down, which is a game-changer because it allows for much more subtle adjustments.

After we got back from the holiday and I had conquered the resulting mountain of laundry, the first thing I did was take my digital camera in for repair. I picked it up today and I am looking forward to our next adventures. It’s good to have it back and working again.

But having to rely more on my iPhone, even for just a few weeks, has got me thinking. At the moment I’ve got an iPhone 13 Pro, but I’m seriously considering levelling up to the 16 Pro Max when it comes out next month. I like the look of the big screen and the even more powerful camera. But it is roughly the size of a surfboard; there are entire European countries that are only slightly larger. Should I do it? What’s the Pro Max like as a backup camera, or indeed a camera? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Kirstin