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  • Hello and welcome to 6 Minute

  • And I'm Catherine. Hello!

  • Now, Catherine, say cheese.

  • [takes photo on smartphone] Thank

  • Let's have a look... Hang on a

  • minute. You just took a selfie, I wasn't

  • Ah, well, that's the magic of the

  • smartphone, two cameras! You know,

  • traditional camera. I mean, do you even

  • I do actually. It's in a cupboard

  • Well, that is the topic of this

  • programme. Have traditional cameras been

  • smartphones, or to put it another way,

  • Interesting question.

  • But before we get into this topic, how

  • Of course. We are certainly in the

  • Was it: a) 2000, b) 2004 or c) 2007?

  • What do you think?

  • Well, I actually know this one,

  • so I'm going to be fair

  • OK, well, listen out for the answer at

  • the end of the programme. There are

  • There are compact cameras, which

  • That's right. And then there are

  • And there are also mirrorless

  • compact cameras and DSLRs.

  • They are small like a compact camera

  • but you can also use the same lenses on

  • them that you can use on DSLRs.

  • And of course, there are the

  • cameras on smartphones, and these are

  • convenient and they're becoming

  • increasingly sophisticated.

  • Phil Hall is the editor of Tech Radar

  • magazine. He was asked on the BBC

  • programme You and Yours if he thought

  • smartphones would make other cameras

  • obsolete. What is his opinion?

  • I don't think so. I think while

  • compact camera sales have really sort of

  • dropped off a cliff, it's the lower end,

  • cheap compacts where people have

  • opted for a smartphone and I think

  • manufacturers are looking at the more

  • higher end premium cameras, high-end

  • compacts, DSLRs, which are the ones

  • you can attach lenses to, mirrorless

  • cameras. So, the market's changing.

  • And I don't think there'll be a time soon,

  • yet, that... the smartphone will take over

  • the camera completely.

  • So does Phil think smartphones will

  • kill the camera?

  • In a word, no. He does say that

  • sales of cheap compact cameras have

  • dropped off a cliff. This rather dramatic

  • expression describes a very big fall in sales.

  • This is because the kind of

  • consumers who would choose a compact

  • camera are now opting for the camera

  • on their smartphone. When you opt for

  • something you choose it rather

  • than something else.

  • For people who want a quick,

  • easy to use and convenient way to take

  • reasonable quality photos, compact

  • cameras used to be the best choice - but

  • now it's a smartphone.

  • So camera makers are now moving

  • to the more high-end market, the DSLRs

  • and mirrorless cameras. So who is still

  • buying these more expensive cameras?

  • Here's Phil Hall again.

  • I think it's... some of it is people

  • who are picking up a smartphone and

  • sort of getting into photography that way

  • and that's a really great first step into

  • photography and I think people are

  • probably, sometimes getting a bit

  • frustrated with the quality once they sort of

  • start pushing their creative skills and then

  • looking to see what's the next rung up so

  • it's people wanting to broaden

  • their creative skills a bit.

  • Who does he say might be

  • buying cameras?

  • He says that people who are

  • getting into photography might get

  • frustrated with the quality

  • of smartphones.

  • Getting into something means

  • becoming very interested in it.

  • And if you are frustrated with

  • something it means you are disappointed

  • with it. You are not happy with it.

  • So people who have got into

  • photography with a smartphone but are

  • frustrated with its limitations and want to

  • be more creative are going to the next

  • level. They are moving up, they are, as

  • Phil said 'taking the next rung up'.

  • Now, a rung is the horizontal

  • step of a ladder, so the expression taking

  • the next rung up is a way to describe

  • doing something at a higher level.

  • Now, talking of higher levels, did you

  • get this week's quiz question right?

  • The question was: When was the first

  • phone with a digital camera released?

  • Was it 2000, 2004 or 2007?

  • The first phone with a digital camera was

  • released in 2000. Now, to take us up to

  • the end of the programme, let's look at

  • the vocabulary again.

  • First we had the adjective

  • obsolete which describes something that's

  • been replaced

  • and is no longer the first choice.

  • When the expression to drop off a

  • cliff is used about, for example, sales

  • numbers, it means sales have fallen

  • significantly over a short period of time.

  • To opt for something means to

  • choose something and when you become

  • very interested in an activity you can say

  • that you get into it.

  • If you are trying to do something and

  • you can't do it because you don't have the

  • skill or the equipment you are using is not

  • right or not good enough, you can

  • become frustrated.

  • And developing your skills to a

  • higher level can be described as taking

  • the next rung up.

  • Right, that's all from us in

  • this programme. Do join us again next

  • time and don't forget that in the meantime

  • you can find us on Instagram, Facebook,

  • Twitter, YouTube and of course our

  • website bbclearningenglish.com.

  • See you soon. Goodbye.

  • Bye!

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute

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