[reeftool]

Well my K10D is working fine after 6 years. I have shot more photos with it than all my film cameras combined and it looks much better than my GM truck. The rocker panels were rusted through after 5 years. No signs of rust on my camera.

[JimJohnson]

Anybody know where to buy 616 roll film? I have some great folding cameras from the 1920's or 1930's that are fully operational. And if you know where to buy the film, how about a lab to process and print it? I shut down and sold my wet chemistry lab a few years ago. It is sort of like owning an Edison recorder - you aren't going to find it easy to locate the appropriate wax cylinders to use it.

In other words, I agree with the folks who are pointing out the supply problems with most older technologies.

[Jean Poitiers]

What about warranty protection ... I got my K-5 in France with a 4 year warranty (so I'm not changing bodies until I run this one into the ground). What's your warranty protection like? I know that the warranty period is short term compared to holding on to a body for "decades" ... but still it's interesting to see how much manufactures (and resellers, B&M stores) stand behind their goods.

I ask since Monochrome brought up the GM truck analogy which made me think about new (auto) warranties ... they have gotten better and longer over the years ... will the same ever happen to DSLRs? ... I doubt it, but Sigma now has a three year warranty in France (and elsewhere?) for its lenses. And speaking of lenses, how long do you think that modern glass with internal stabilization features will hold up over that long run ... Adam brought up having top grade glass, but it's the same problem ...What will a SDM be worth in a few years? How will this be repaired in the future given that the reputation is not that great today ... screw drive is maybe the best investment over the long term?!

[48548]

I bought my first digital SLR in the end of 2004 a Canon 20D (I know I am a pentax manual fan, but went Canon for digital and autofocus). I still have the same 5 batteries and the camera works fine, the shutter button broke and 5 dollars later I installed a new one from canon and I think it will make it 3 more years which is what I am looking at until I upgrade to a 5d Mark V or something like that. Also the Canon 20d was a prosumer model had a magnesium body and not plastic like the rebels.

[GibbyTheMole]

My wife's K100D still looks & works like new. And we've used the heck out of it. I personally wouldn't buy a new DSLR since used ones that deliver 90% of the performance are plentiful for 1/4th the cost, so buying a body that lasts a few years for $300 or less is totally a good investment for me.

[zapp]

I have several SLR cameras with the oldest being around 40 years old. All of them still work. Do you think todays DSLR cameras will last as long?

OK if we compare the price of a film camera plus 10 years worth of film and compare this to the price of a digital camera with the sensor already inside, the digital camera will win hands down assuming you take a normal amount of images. For many people 5 years will be enought to keep the balance the same. The sensor is no part of the camera this is a different concept than for film cameras...

[TaoMaas]

OK if we compare the price of a film camera plus 10 years worth of film and compare this to the price of a digital camera with the sensor already inside, the digital camera will win hands down assuming you take a normal amount of images.

What's a "normal amount of images"? The amount taken by someone with a digital camera? Or the number taken by someone using a large format camera? We can't compare the number of shots folks take with digital cameras and try to interpret that to film terms. People were much more discerning when they shot film. Having been active in photography for almost 40 years and having shot both, digital has been vastly more expensive when I factor in how fast cameras become obsolete and the cost of computers and software.

[monochrome]

the digital camera will win hands down

Sure, if you only shoot in-camera jpg and take your SD card to Walmart for a few prints. It's the PP computer and software and printer that will kill you financially.

All we've done is transfer the expense of labs, and skill of lab tech's developing and printing our images to each and every one of us who wants to alter an image.

The economics really aren't very good when viewed that way. And we've lost all the acquired knowledge of the labs in the process.

[TaoMaas]

I have several SLR cameras with the oldest being around 40 years old. All of them still work. Do you think todays DSLR cameras will last as long?

Sure...I think the mechanics of DSLRs will last as long. It's the technology that grows. My wife uses an *ist D that takes great pics, but you have to be happy with a 6 megapixel resolution and not get in any hurry to see your pic after you take it. However, the mechanical parts of the camera seem to have several decades of life left in them. So the answer to your question is, "Yes...the cameras will last as long...but I'm not sure you'll be happy with the results they can produce when compared to what's available 40 years into the future."

Edited to add: I bought a K-01 back when the price dropped to $600 with the 40XS lens. That was a huge savings at the time! But then the price dropped to half of that. My investment in digital photography...without having taken a single exposure...had lost 50% of it's value. By way of comparison, my LX film camera would sell for about what I paid for it used, 30 years later.

[monochrome]

By way of comparison, my LX film camera would sell for about what I paid for it used, 30 years later.

And if there had been a time when a clean second-hand LX had dropped to 1/2 its original price (not accounting for inflation) and I saw it, I would have bought it. But I never saw one and I don't think they ever did.

I finally got lucky and acquired a very clean late LX here at market rate. The value is in its relative good condition and recent CLA by Eric.

[rayallen]

Well my K10D is working fine after 6 years. I have shot more photos with it than all my film cameras combined and it looks much better than my GM truck. The rocker panels were rusted through after 5 years. No signs of rust on my camera.

Yes, the same goes for me - except that I don't own a GM truck.

I still have my SP1000 SLR which I bought new in 1975 and which still works as well as the day I bought it because it has been serviced and treated carefully. I also have a Spotmatic SP which is 1960s vintage (bought used so I don't know what year it was made) which has been completely rebuilt over the years and still functions perfectly. Film SLRs are more easily repaired even though they now may require a donor body for parts.

I love my K10D but I really don't expect to get the same amount of service from it. Not because of the prospect of mechanical failure but because of the random nature of electronic failure. But, whatever happens, I will have had my money's worth out of it and I won't be complaining.

[frank]

Electronics like a dSLR camera can last pretty long if we use and keep them well. One thing we forgot to mention above is that we never shoot a film camera like we do with a digital one. With film cameras, most people take a few rolls of photos every year, probably less than a couple of hundred photos in total. But with digital we can take a few hundreds in a day. I'm not even talking about professional use yet. This might be one of the reasons why dSLR cameras don't last as long as film dSLR cameras.

Don't forget there are electronic components inside most film cameras too, they are gonna fail eventually. Of course there are a lot more electronics inside digital cameras, and some components might be cheap ones so the manufactures can save on cost and make more money when users upgrade failed products to newer generations.

In the old days we believed "built to last". But somehow we are shifting our belief to "designed to fail" nowadays.

[Colbyt]

OK if we compare the price of a film camera plus 10 years worth of film and compare this to the price of a digital camera with the sensor already inside, the digital camera will win hands down assuming you take a normal amount of images. For many people 5 years will be enought to keep the balance the same. The sensor is no part of the camera this is a different concept than for film cameras...

I am intrigued by your statement. It being winter, my being on my 3rd digital, pretty much having my images sorted by camera, and just loving any task other than doing the taxes , I may come back with some stats in a day or so.