Are DSLR's a dying breed?

[molested_cow]

We will all know on 12/21 ok! Guys, save your breath!

 

[TheFantasticG]

Totally forgot about that. Well, never mind what I said earlier. Completely irrelevant with it all ending next month.

 

[Light Guru]

We will all know on 12/21 ok! Guys, save your breath!

And now we know why it's ending.
http://www.daily-comix.com/facebookview.php?id=1696

 

[Fred Berg]

At the electronic stores I shop in they have camera sections, and in these departments the better cameras are in display cabinets that are locked. Two or three years ago these cabinets were dominated by DSLR cameras and lenses to match. Nowadays the DSLR cameras have about a third of the available display space.

I have seen the future and there are were no mirrors involved in the creation of this vision.

 

[Brandon Hill]

Buy a dslr. You'll be a better photographer for it. Sell it when the time is right naturally.

 

[orb9220]

"Here's my worries about investing in a dslr system. I have read and seen many people talking about how macro 4/3's is the future of photography and that dslr's will be a thing of the past in the next 5 -10 years. I don't know what to think"

Think about buying a dslr that you can grow into over next 2-5 years. As such wouldn't invest into entry camera's. But next step up like a D7000,D600 or replacement for D300 next year? Stop worring about the Decade lasting thing.

And Use that time to concentrate on learning and taking great photogrpahy. And not so much how long the tool will last as an investment. But a skill value invested for the future. It's inhert value is as a Tool in achieving great images.

Stop approaching it from a Bean Counter Slant. But more from an Artist vision of using it as a Tool for Results.
.

 

[gsgary]

Get a film camera then you dont have to worry about technology

 

[molested_cow]

If you are letting this "obsolete" issue steering your decision, then clearly you are not making this purchase for the right reason.

It's not about fashion. It's about relevancy. I bought SLR/DSLR because of the control and options I want to have. Quality of the photos is what I care. Then I use my camera phone for all the not-important photos for documentation purpose. So people with specific purposes will acquire the appropriate equipment. If you don't know what your specific priority is, then you should wait till you figure it out. Perhaps after 12/21, when I hope people will be less stupid about it.

 

[Overread]

Like others have said I can also see the market for digital cameras broadening out and the newer, smaller Micro 4/3rds mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras might well steal the bulk of the casual market. The thing is this won't kill the "DSLR" style cameras, all it will do is extend the range of camera types on the market and generally mean that your casual average person might well use the smaller cameras over the bigger, bulkier and heavier DSLRs type ones.

That said the market for the DSLR I think will change; already we are seeing a slow move toward them possibly dropping the crop sensor in favour of 35mm sensors across the board (essentially returning us back to the days of film in that respect). I doubt that the camera manufacturers will drop the investment in their crop sensor lenses, however I can see them lessening that market to potentially only having it present for entry level cameras and that midrange and higher will be dominated by the 35mm sensor.

The other change is that I suspect we might (and I stress the might) see the mirror system replaced with a camera and video system. This won't replace the cameras and I suspect their overall shape will even remain broadly the same, but it will change the internals of the camera itself. This might not come to pass for a long time though and might also be bypassed in favour of retaining the mirror assembly (like it or not there are bonuses to this such as reduced power consumption).


But suffice to say Canon and Nikon are not going to dump their vast investment in 35mm sensor DSLR lenses - heck Canon and Nikon are having a massive overhaul of most of their line just to keep up with the increasing resolution demands of high MP sensors. It's just too big an investment in time and resources for them to just dump all the lines - the worst they can do is potentially change the mount type on the lenses (however whilst Canon has done this in the past I suspect they wouldn't want to perform such an action in the current financial climate - you need affluent times to force such a change).

 

[manaheim]

Having a mirror and a shutter IS a little silly when you think about it. I mean there are certainly some benefits (look through the lens without an LCD to power, keeping dust off the sensor, etc.) but it's obviously not so much necessary as a logical evolutionary step for traditional SLR manufacturers.

Well that and it sounds cool.

FLIP SHICK FLIP SHICK FLIP SHICK!

 

[Overread]

Having a mirror and a shutter IS a little silly when you think about it. I mean there are certainly some benefits (look through the lens without an LCD to power, keeping dust off the sensor, etc.) but it's obviously not so much necessary as a logical evolutionary step for traditional SLR manufacturers.

Well that and it sounds cool.

FLIP SHICK FLIP SHICK FLIP SHICK!

I wish I could turn all the shutter sounds off sometimes when I want to be stealthy shooting
Sadly even a modern DSLR still has to flip the mirror at random points even if shooting in liveview - I've no idea why it has to, but I assume its got something to do with internal mechanics or something.


Ps - one reason we might keep the DSLR mirror assembly for longer is because, at present, the focusing system used by live-view is noticeably slower than the regular AF sensors which steal part of the light from the mirror assembly (which is why you get a slightly dimmer viewfinder view than on older film DSLRs because some of the light is stolen and reflected down into the AF section).

Moving toward a full video setup is likely to happen, but I'd honestly prefer it to be a late move for the DSLR and to retain its full functionality and only move when the alternative exceeds the current option (instead of moving earlier just because its a new and shiny idea).

 

[TheFantasticG]

Future of Canon Mirrorless Cameras, Should You Invest in It?

I thought that was an interesting take on it. The writer thinks that MILC (or CSC or whatever) mirrorless cameras aren't going to be around for very long, and compact cameras will go the same way because of cell phone camera technology is increasingly better.

 

[SCraig]

Well, let's think about this in a cynical and logical manner. Nikon, Sony, and Olympus are probably the three largest manufacturers of mirrorless cameras right now. They also manufacture DSLRs with Nikon releasing 5 new models this year. As long as they are still pouring money into R&D to introducing new models I think it's highly unlikely that they are going to cut their own throat.

Certainly mirrorless cameras have a place in the market and I suspect that over the next few years they will start to take a noticeable percentage of the market share. But if they do, so what? People say film is dead yet Nikon is still manufacturing 3 different film bodies and Canon 1. By the time the SLR, be it digital or film, is dead many of us here will be to so I'm not going to sweat it.

 

[snowbear]

Why, don't you know, the Lytro is the wave of the future!

 

[Derrel]

As a boy, I remember all the Popular Mechanics and Popular Science articles about the air cars of the future! Yep, cars that were going to fly through the air, and have built-in collision avoidance and navigation systems. And which were of course, going to be powered by SUPER-efficient engines (methane,nuclear, hydrogen,etc.,etc..)

To paraphrase Pogo, "Yup...we have seen the future, and the future is us!"