Poll for FP3 owners: camera upgrade or not?

[Mic57]

Found this article in German language speaking (very) briefly about the improvement of the new camera module. Spiegel is not a tech newspaper as far as I know

https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/gadgets/fairphone-3-im-test-gruenes-mittelmass-a-724e2b44-4028-45cd-a8ff-f15392b10d37

[BertG]

@Antoine

In the live Q&A on Facebook today, Eva Gouwens confirmed they’d start to release new things every year to scale up the company and be covered more often in the medias.

Though this does not neccessarily mean, that there will be upgrades for the FP3(+) every year until the FP4 will be presented.

Possibly (I would even guess likely) they are working on a model for the American market, that will be presented next year. That - in my opinion - would be even more spectacular (marketingwise that is), than just another new module.

@Antoine

Which is why I was slightly disappointed too, discovering they released the expected new camera modules so soon, as it means the old ones suddenly feel obsolete much faster, and makes me wondering what they’ll release next year.

My guess is, that they are constantly developing things to improve the current product(s) and to make new ones. At least I hope so, since this will keep the people at Fairphone occupied (just kidding), this is just the way to keep the/any company up and running.
And since they were able to increase the use of recycled plastics and design new cameras, a new speaker module and an update to Android 10, it was good enough to even make it a new phone model, rather than just new cameras.
And to me it seems just consistent, that they upgraded the FP3 with all the new features to a FP3+ while selling all the FP3 they already have in stock.
Waiting to present all those improvements or e.g. just using more recycled plastics for the FP3, just to - artificially - extend the upgrade cycle for the camera wouldn’t have made any sense to me.

[Antoine]

I’m wondering if they could’ve released the “new” cameras modules (or better/more optimised than the first ones) from the start, last year, when launching FP3, to have a range of cameras from day one, though… Because in a year is there really a big difference in camera improvements?

[BertG]

Well, the development of the FP3, including the original camera module, most likely started at least one year before the FP3 hit the streets.
Though they sure had a new module on their agenda by then, they had to decide for a certain design maybe 2 to 3 years ago. And I doubt, that the new camera was a possible option at that time, even if it was at the time of release or a few month before that date, as, by now, they most likely could use an even more improved module/camera/sensor. Improvements are in my impression a constant flow in computer markets; therefore everything you buy will be outdated the next day. In a way therefore there never is the correct time to buy.