Death of the DSLR?

*jhaji* · 11-01-2009, 10:15 AM

Article here -

Death of the DSLR Camera - Gearlog

*Blue* · 11-01-2009, 11:05 AM

I don't think that is what the author said, quite the opposite. He said they may be marginalized but SLR haven't been the majority anyway.

jct us101 · 11-01-2009, 11:34 AM

Film SLR cameras are still around, although not made heavily in the slightest. Polaroid made a comeback apparently. I don't think that the DSLR is going anywhere.

*reeftool* · 11-01-2009, 11:41 AM

Yes, his last statement was that the SLR isn't going away. I agree with him in many ways. A lot of people are buying DSLR's who don't use them to their advantage. We see posts here every day with someone asking the question of "which lens should I buy to do everything I want to do" or the "I'm going on a trip and only want to bring one lens" question. I'll ask a question: Why did you buy a DSLR? We see the endless posts of newer users discovering depth of field issues and complaining about the camera. I have a friend with a Panasonic Lumix bridge camera that produces really great images. He wants to get a DSLR because he is convinced that is the best way to get shots although he hasn't ever used one. It is their own advertising that gets people to buy DSLR's that don't need them. The camera manufacturers aren't going to shoot themselves in the foot by building P&S with IQ as good or better than the DSLR. They are purposely going to handicap them in some way. What they really want is for the real enthusiest to own both.

little laker · 11-01-2009, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by reeftool

What they really want is for the real enthusiest to own both.

In my opinion that statement would have been right, until the first pocket sized, large sensor camera was released. (which I believe was the Sigma DP1)
Now the real enthusiests want a compact camera, with the same IQ as they have with their DSLR as a carry around. Plus their SLR's for when they need something else.
Regular P&S cameras just can't offer them the IQ most enthusiests demand

*reeftool* · 11-02-2009, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by little laker

In my opinion that statement would have been right, until the first pocket sized, large sensor camera was released. (which I believe was the Sigma DP1)
Now the real enthusiests want a compact camera, with the same IQ as they have with their DSLR as a carry around. Plus their SLR's for when they need something else.
Regular P&S cameras just can't offer them the IQ most enthusiests demand

He did mention the Sigma and Leica large sensor camera's. I haven't used used either. The big question I have and also the writer had was whether the big guys are going to go in that direction. The "bridge" cameras do a pretty nice job right now. I still think we will see Nikon and Canon downplay that market in favor of their DSLR's. One thing I have noticed is the younger kids seem to prefer the smaller camera's. My youngest is in college and while a couple of her friends have DSLR's, the high end P&S is the camera of choice. It would be interesting if Sigma would market their new DP2 to that crowd with advertising like "Your Dad's DSLR but fits in your pocket". The thing that may finally put an end to the consumer DSLR market is a new generation who never shot film and grew up with small digital cameras and camera phones and will demand high quality photos from a pocket sized camera.

I might also add that while my daughter and others are going to school on scholarships and grants, most of these kids can afford any camera they please and they aren't buying DSLR's. These kids are also well aware of the current technology available and they know that a quality camera doesn't have to be big and heavy. I spent last weekend with my daughters crew team at a large rowing regatta and carried my backpack with 3 lenses and some snacks and a water bottle. My camera was around my neck and I had a monopod. I was aching by the end of the day. Walking back to the truck, the monopod became a crutch. Sigma may be on to something.....

*pingflood* · 11-02-2009, 06:15 PM

My $.02 is that Canon and Nikon will likely stay out of the "compact, large sensor" market until they are forced to participate; for now most people gravitate towards them for serious photography based on the brand names and the competitors don't receive nearly the credit they deserve. Once the tide turns and people start really looking at the benefits of the competition, I bet both Canon and Nikon will pull out their small size large sensor versions immediately.

flippedgazelle · 11-02-2009, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by jct us101

Film SLR cameras are still around, although not made heavily in the slightest. Polaroid made a comeback apparently. I don't think that the DSLR is going anywhere.

Polaroid is Polaroid in name only.

Is it time for Sony to launch a successor to the DSC-R1?

*Ratmagiclady* · 11-03-2009, 07:45 AM

I think the DSLR will be around at least until the shutter and VF lag time on EVF cameras goes away completely. (At least compared to anything else electronic) I've yet to try the latest versions of the tech, but for me the EVF and shutter lag was a constant impediment to what's otherwise scifi.

I'm still unconvinced I'd really want to give up the actual looking at the real light experience, too, though there's real possibilities for interesting tech there. At some point, I'm sure they could do intereresting things with viewing options, (like they could go ahead and put a nice *big* EVF on these things that you can put your eye to at a good angle, and not be dealing with holding the thing way out there squinting at a naked screen.

)

*reeftool* · 11-03-2009, 09:11 AM

The biggest thing drawing in the consumer "picture taker" into the DSLR world is shutter lag. When I'm taking some pictures of anything moving around other people with digital cameras and they hear that shutter burst and it's always "holy crap!. I got to get one of those!" and I don't even have to be in burst mode to get that response. Thats the biggest thing they have to fix. I think Panasonic will be the company to watch as their bread and butter isn't tied up in SLR's and they are making some excellent cameras and have the money and means to market them. Us old timers are skeptical and are playing wait and see. This reminds me very much of the motorcycle world in the 60's. There were the big established companys like Harley, BSA, Norton, Triumph and a bunch of upstarts selling small inexpensive scooters and motorcycles to us kids. As we grew up, so did Honda and Yamaha and the big guys fell like a rock in a well. In the camera world we have Nikon and Canon driving the market with SLR's along with the other established camera makers. And then there are the electronics companys jumping into the camera business and selling their products to a young generation who grew up with their electronic gadgets and are now making high end cameras, a very similar situation.

Lowell Goudge · 11-03-2009, 09:48 AM

I read this several times before posting my observations, and there are a some points that the writer has missed that are significant.

Although he points out that many people never take the 3x zoom ratio kit lens off their camera, and that many P&S offer huge ratios (5x 10x and even 20X) the P&S makers simply don't offer anything equal to a 35mm film equivelent of 24mm.

the kit lens offers what would have been considered on a film camera the beginning of Ultra wide.

Additionally the huge zoom ratios go largely un-used on a P&S. they are offered because they are easy to do, not because anyone uses them.

This is marketing talking over practicality.

He complains that an SLR is not pocketable, it was never intended to be, so what's his point here,

when he talks about the demise of DSLRs it will not be due to the increase of digicams, and the P&S market, but just like in the bad old days of film, we will soon reach a level of market saturation.

Soon everyone who wants a DSLR will already have one!

The images available even with my forst *istD far surpass the images from even my PZ-1 and as a result, people will stop purchasing the cameras, except as replacements (one fails for example) or as new people enter the camera buying age.

*Ratmagiclady* · 11-03-2009, 01:01 PM

Well, I was actually surprised how much I used the full length of my FZ-7, had a FOV of somewhere around a 400mm. Things I never would have carried a full-frame lens around to do. It's not why I got that model, but it did come to use. Also for reading far away street signs.

The shutter lag turned out to be pretty intolerable, for all I love about the camera. If it's not in real-time, it's kind of a crapshoot when it comes to people photography.