When will a given camera be obsolete?

[480sparky]

I'm obsolete, then.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

When we start printing space billboards that can be seen from the ground most modern 36MP cameras will be obsolete....

People are still shooting wet plate stuff, I still use my Hasselblad 500C/M all the time, so maybe stuff is never obsolete just less useful and far more cumbersome by comparison than it once was...

Digital is a game of screen resolution vs camera resolution. As we shove more pixels on a display we demand more pixels in the cameras we create the content with. In reality you can make great prints (and some say photography is really all about the printing) with 12MP cameras. The 24MP you find in even the lowest of Nikon stuff makes beautiful 8x10's when in reality most people are using it to take photos for Instagram that people look at on a 2 inch screen....

Regards
Dave

 

[480sparky]

I use sunshine every day that was generated deep in the core of the sun anywhere from 500,000 to 1,000,000 years ago.

 

[runnah]

June 3rd, 2021

 

[480sparky]

June 3rd, 2021

What time?

 

[Derrel]

I like the word "obsolescent" for things like old-fashioned models and types and forms of things, like say hay rakes, hay mowers, tractors, cars, trucks, wood-fired ovens, cameras, refrigerators, freezers, rifles, handguns, hand tools, and so on. Not "obsolete" as in the sense of no longer capable to do the job hey were designed to do, and not no longer of any usefulness.

 

[Rick50]

I'm obsolete, then.

Me too!

My Canon 60D became obsolete the day the new 80D showed up. But that only applies to me as I'm giving it to a friend who will make it un-obsolete. I remember when girlfriends worked this way.

 

[bogeyguy]

Why would I want to view my photo's on a 50" screen/monitor??

 

[john.margetts]

So you can see the individual pixels and make sure they are tack sharp.

 

[SCraig]

Obsolescence is a state of mind in my opinion. As long as something still does what I want it do do it isn't obsolete to me. This tends to correspond with Wikipedia's definition of obsolescence:

Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order.

 

[480sparky]

I'm obsolete, then.

Me too!

My Canon 60D became obsolete the day the new 80D showed up. But that only applies to me as I'm giving it to a friend who will make it un-obsolete. I remember when girlfriends worked this way.

No... I am obsolete... not my gear!

 

[Bebulamar]

Something is obsolete if it's not broken yet it can not be used.

 

[Solarflare]

A camera is called a camera because it can take pictures. The moment a camera loses that ability and it cannot be restored its objectively obsolete.

Subjectively obsolete is a camera if you think you are better off with another model. But fortunately others might disagree. Thats why theres a used market.

There are some people who mis-use the word "obsolete" to refer to "there is better technology available."

Why, if thats the case, the Sony 54x40.5mm 100 Megapixel Sensor has clearly made all other cameras obsolete.

I hope everybody here has the money for a Hasselblad H6D-100c and a couple Hasselblad HCD lenses. Or the Phase One/Mamiya/Schneider Optics alternatives. For who wants to be obsolete ? Even less with photography !

 

[nerwin]

When the camera starts to limits your creativity. Or well, it just stops working.

Are old 35mm film cameras obsolete? heck no! They still make 35mm film today!

You want something that is really obsolete? Checking out the Sony Mavica where the images are recorded on a floppy disk. That is obsolete because no one has/uses a dang floppy drive anymore!

 

[Msteelio91]

So you can see the individual pixels and make sure they are tack sharp.

Lol

I like what a lot of you guys have said about it being obsolete when your creativity is limited or you can no longer do what you want with it. I feel that in some ways I've hit that point with the D7k and in other ways I haven't. Low light performance sucks massive rocks, but overall the camera still offers pretty sharp shots with the right lenses. That said, it would be really nice to have that extra "wiggle room" a higher-rez sensor would provide.