How long until crop sensor bodies are a thing of the past?

DaveAndHolly219 · Apr 7, 2017

Thought this would be an interesting conversation. Do you guys think crop sensor bodies will go away? Will we soon see a market comprised of only full frame bodies? Why or why not?

jsecordphoto · Apr 7, 2017

Probably never. Maybe companies will move away from consumer and entry level crop bodies, but there will probably always be a market for pro level APS-C bodies in the wildlife crowd. The 7D2 and D500 are testament to that

DaveAndHolly219 · Apr 7, 2017

jsecordphoto said:
Probably never. Maybe companies will move away from consumer and entry level crop bodies, but there will probably always be a market for pro level APS-C bodies in the wildlife crowd. The 7D2 and D500 are testament to that

Excellent point on the pro bodies for wildlife and sports. I was referring more to the consumer side though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

limr · Apr 7, 2017

No.

There will always be masses of people who don't give that much of a crap about their pictures, just as long as they take good enough shots to recognize friends/family/pets, vacation sunsets, and food. These people aren't going to pay full-frame prices for a camera, nor will they deal with the hassle of shlepping a big camera around because their phone cameras are good enough for their purposes.

And there will always be people who may want to get more serious with their photography but can't afford the upgrade or aren't serious enough to be bothered with full-frame.

Now, if you can put full-frame into a phone and seriously drop the price, then who knows. Until then, nope.

DaveAndHolly219 · Apr 7, 2017

limr said:
No.

There will always be masses of people who don't give that much of a crap about their pictures, just as long as they take good enough shots to recognize friends/family/pets, vacation sunsets, and food. These people aren't going to pay full-frame prices for a camera, nor will they deal with the hassle of shlepping a big camera around because their phone cameras are good enough for their purposes.

And there will always be people who may want to get more serious with their photography but can't afford the upgrade or aren't serious enough to be bothered with full-frame.

Now, if you can put full-frame into a phone and seriously drop the price, then who knows. Until then, nope.

Regarding the price issue. It's technology. Technology prices drop over time and older tech is phased out. There was a time you had to choose between a CRT television or a more expensive flat screen. Those days are over. Could that not happen with DSLRs?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

limr · Apr 7, 2017

DaveAndHolly219 said:
limr said:

No.

There will always be masses of people who don't give that much of a crap about their pictures, just as long as they take good enough shots to recognize friends/family/pets, vacation sunsets, and food. These people aren't going to pay full-frame prices for a camera, nor will they deal with the hassle of shlepping a big camera around because their phone cameras are good enough for their purposes.

And there will always be people who may want to get more serious with their photography but can't afford the upgrade or aren't serious enough to be bothered with full-frame.

Now, if you can put full-frame into a phone and seriously drop the price, then who knows. Until then, nope.

Click to expand...

Regarding the price issue. It's technology. Technology prices drop over time and older tech is phased out. There was a time you had to choose between a CRT television or a more expensive flat screen. Those days are over. Could that not happen with DSLRs?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Of course the price of technology drops. But realistically, how low could a full-frame camera go for? Low enough for everyone to afford one? I seriously doubt it.

john.margetts · Apr 7, 2017

DaveAndHolly219 said:
Thought this would be an interesting conversation. Do you guys think crop sensor bodies will go away? Will we soon see a market comprised of only full frame bodies? Why or why not?

35 mm never went away leaving only 10 x 8 cameras. Ever since photography was invented the trend has been towards smaller and smaller sensors.

Rather than crop sensors going away, we will see the designers making 'full frame' pointless. (Apropos nowt, I still think of full frame as 6 by 9).

astroNikon · Apr 7, 2017

There's Full Frame, and there are sensors smaller than full frame in a variety of sizes.

The Size of a FF sensor is the key here. It's big, with larger production failure rate. Plus you can get more crop sensors per FF sensors. So there will always be a price difference.

Plus the size as mentioned. The FF (all else being equal) will always be larger.
Just compare your phone camera to *any* FF camera. Which fits in a purse or pocket ?

I really like the size and weight of the Nikon D5500/5600 camera. It's just so compact. or the Sony A6100/6300 such a compact camera even compared to the A7R based mirrorless.

waday · Apr 7, 2017

Like @john.margetts 's way of thinking, I think your questions could be appropriately turned around for a better discussion:

Do you think crop sensors would ever make full frame sensors go away?

(The answer will still be no. :smile:

)

DaveAndHolly219 · Apr 7, 2017

waday said:
Like @john.margetts 's way of thinking, I think your questions could be appropriately turned around for a better discussion:

Do you think crop sensors would ever make full frame sensors go away?

That's actually a very interesting point of view. What if crop sensors one day are able to provide the same high ISO performance of their full frame competition? That would be very interesting indeed.

zombiesniper · Apr 7, 2017

DaveAndHolly219 said:
Thought this would be an interesting conversation. Do you guys think crop sensor bodies will go away? Will we soon see a market comprised of only full frame bodies? Why or why not?

Since we have medium format, 35mm equivalent "full frame", aps-c, micro four thirds, Nikon CX and a couple more smaller. why is APS-C the one to leave?

jake337 · Apr 7, 2017

At some point in the future there may be throw away 35mm digital cameras lije these.

throwaway digital camera - Google Search

I'm guessing none of us will see that in our lifetimes though.

limr · Apr 7, 2017

jake337 said:
At some point in the future there may be throw away 35mm digital cameras lije these.

throwaway digital camera - Google Search

I'm guessing none of us will see that in our lifetimes though.

Did this ad not show up for you in your Google search?
http://www.ideastage.com/Disposable...2JMgYlr4mJeyo9KO9OQ9qb_wH2eLiubLFWBoCrlLw_wcB

Edit: Also Solo Plus Digital Camera 27 Exposures (Receive Prints And CD)

PhotoRob06 · Apr 7, 2017

As AstroNikon mentioned, the size reduction of cropped sensors can be a benefit sometimes (making cameras more compact).

So while I think there will be a reduction in the quantity of cropped sensors we see, in exchange for full frame, they will still serve a purpose. I think we'll also see some of the pro cameras getting smaller just by eliminating mirrors... current technology has surpassed the need for mirrors IMO.

Many have also grown wise to MP count hype, and have discovered that sensor size has more of an effect on quality / performance over MP count. So I think we'll see a lot more developement of FF sensors (and larger). Maybe we'll also see grouping of smaller sensors to save on cost, sort of like what they did with the Dark Energy Camera.. if software can stitch it all together seemlessly, than why not?

KmH · Apr 7, 2017

The big reason APS-C sensors are here to stay for well into the future is economics - they can make 2x more APS-C size image sensors on a wafer of silicon.
In other words, APS-C size image sensors cost considerably less to make than full frame image sensors do.

Which is in large part why cameras with a full frame sensor cost more than cameras that have a APS-C size sensor.