Im a bit confused in what equipment to take with me on my holiday to mexico in march, i have a samsung camera which is 12mg pixel and a samsung s4 with a sd card of 64g card inside so plenty of storage i think for video and photos, however which will be best ? Ive seem some programme recently saying for near photos and video using the mobile phone is as good or better?, you only have to carry the phone as it does both things phone and photo, ive down loaded a hd camera app and it does take better photos ,what do you take and why

A proper camera will always do a better job. After all, it's a long way to go back for a retake!

I agree with John999boy above, get a proper camera.

I went to Australia a few years ago and took a Canon point and shoot camera and whilst it was ok for the most part there were plenty of situations where I found it lacking. The night pictures especially.

I now have an entry level DSLR (Canon 550d) with various lenses and very importantly a sturdy tripod. I normally carry with me around 50gig of memory cards and that does me well for a week holiday. (Although currently in Thailand for two weeks and considering buying another card as I'm nearly out of room and have two more islands plus Phuket to go to yet :p - although I shoot in "raw" which takes up much more memory per picture that in normal format)

Also, if funds can stretch and you are planning to go to Xel-Ha get yourself an underwater camera. That place is spectacular!

Xel-ha? Is that on the yucatan pen? Im going to the pacific side, i will use my samsung camera its not a dlr just a point and shoot

Always a proper camera for holiday snaps or anything important.

For in the moment a phone is much easier as it's always with you

Spontaeneous photo phone will do. But for proper pictures, bring a decent camera.

any kind of bad lighting and phones are crap. We went down the salt mine tour in krakow a couple of yrs back - old 2megapix fugifilm camera took waay better photos than my work phone/ personal phone/ swmbo phone / aldi dig camcorder we had.

It really comes down to lens quality over anything else. A trillion mega pixels aint worth crap if the lens is ****e..

Once funds allow, im investing a decent dslr.

Camera for proper pictures phone for a backup.

 

Phones these days can take very good pictures but where they quickly fall down against a proper camera is when the conditions are less than perfect. Low light, moving objects etc a good camera will beat a good phone.

I would definitely suggest a good camera for the reasons Aspman says.

 

Not sure I would go for a DSLR for holiday use as, in order to make the most of the capabilities of one, you need a bit of time and effort. They are also quite heavy to lug about (especially if you have multiple lenses. If you are willing to put up with those limitations they are great though. I took mine to do a 4 state US road trip (with tripod and lenses) and it was brilliant.

 

A higher end point and shoot though will give you almost all the capabilities of a DSLR but with no weight penalties. You get the most of the low light capability, high end lens, feature set but with it being a lot easier to carry

how about a mid way compromise a mirrorless camera like the micro 4/3rds format, size of a point and shoot but with the benefits of an SLR