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fairweather friend
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 8:24 am 
Camera Sales are falling sharply This is not good news for those of us who enjoy photography and do not view the world as nothing more than a backdrop for our next stupid selfie. But if there is no market for new cameras, camera manufacturers have no choice but to respond. bawl.gif

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Ski
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 8:50 am 
I dumped my old Nikon FG-20 for a cheapie point-and-shoot digital "Coolpix" model several years ago. The "Coolpix" does okay. It's tiny and easy to use, but the images from a friend's "smart phone" are of much better quality. When the "smart phones" take better pictures than a lot of the digital cameras, why would anyone buy a camera?

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 8:52 am 
My last camera was a waterproof Fuji but I hardly ever carry it now unless on the water.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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DigitalJanitor
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 9:57 am 
My husband and daughter both have newer Sony cameras. They're outstanding, especially my daughter's because it has some kind of gazillion physical zoom function (her bird shots are awesome!). But other than the zoom... I have to admit, my Sony phone does about as well under most circumstances. Neither of them wants a smart phone though and I'm perfectly happy without that added tech support maintenance. So.

~Mom jeans on wheels
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joker
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 11:12 am 
The trend has been clear for the better part of a decade. Yet companies like Sony, Fuji, Nikon and Canon seem to be continuing to invest significantly in their product lines with new sensors, cameras, and lenses continuing to come out and blow pros and "prosumers" away. I suspect they have a pretty decent idea of how big this market is at this point and are investing based largely on these folks, versus doing more of what business folks call "harvesting" with cameras made more for the mass market (i.e. doing minimal investment on product, and investing more in marketing here to mop up whatever demand remains while it remains). High end camera body and lens prices are pretty high these days and I suspect they can sustain this part of the business for quite some time, unless there's some very disruptive innovation in very small and cheap lens/sensor combos (e.g. some folks have been researching use of curved sensors because they would allow much simpler lenses that have much less in the way of negative image artifacts like light dropoff in corners, chromatic aberration, and coma; but it's not so easy to make such a sensor! and the lenses would still be bigger than would fit in current phone form factors...).

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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 1:11 pm 
Smartphones are replacing many things, humans are probably next.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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NacMacFeegle
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 2:19 pm 
Smartphones take excellent photos, but it will be a long time (if ever) before dedicated cameras disappear. There are physical limitations that will require significant leaps in technology to overcome, and no matter how much quality and functionality you manage to cram into a smartphone, there is no way to escape the fact that it is just more fun to shoot with a real camera. There will likely always be a market for standalone cameras, though they will become progressively more niche. For me my smartphone camera is what I use when I'm in a hurry, for fleeting unexpected moments, or want to travel as light as possible. If I want to make sure a photo is as perfect as possible, or capture high quality video, I use my Nikon Z6. For wildlife I have my older Canon 80D and 150-600 lens. On a typical day hike I travel with 20-50 pounds of camera gear. I tend to use all of it, and to me the images and video I get with all that gear justify the weight, bulk and expense.

Read my hiking related stories and more at http://illuminationsfromtheattic.blogspot.com/
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Tom
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 3:16 pm 
As someone who recently researched and upgraded to a new camera I found very little difference between the latest models and those produced 5 years ago. You'll get slightly better processing and advanced / faster focusing but for most users there is little to justify upgrading to a new camera. I guess I would ask, what is it that you really want to see improved? I wouldn't blame selfies. Cell phone cameras have just gotten so good most people don't need another camera. One area I think camera manufacturers neglected to innovate is the default processing. The latest flagship phones enable in camera HDR by default and do it very well without any user intervention. My new Sony? It's great to have options, but I don't want to spend time fiddling with menus or post processing later when I can just pull out my Pixel 3 phone and have it nail the shot every time. Only thing I really miss with my camera phone is zoom. I'm looking forward to the Pixel 4 which is rumored to have a 8x zoom lens. Could be quite compelling for hiking snaps.

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joker
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 4:30 pm 
Yeah I upgraded my compact digital this year because the autofocus is finally fast enough for decent backcountry skiing photos. Otherwise the sensor is a little better than the one I have in the same model line from some years ago but not enough to have incented the upgrade But top end DSLR and FF mirrorless are still seeing some meaningful advances for large print work and might sky shooting and the like

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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 4:35 pm 
What I like about using my phone to take pics is that then I am able to post them directly to social media sites without uploading...too bad I can’t do that here. I was using Tinypic.com but that site recently closed and the Flickr account I used on here is not working for some reason.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Tom
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 5:23 pm 
If you have the Google Photos app on your phone all you have to do is go to the app, select the photo, and click the share icon to create link. Then post that link in the pics box here. I just did that to post this image in a matter of seconds.
You can also select multiple images if you want before clicking on the share icon.

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Sore Feet
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 6:32 pm 
joker wrote:
But top end DSLR and FF mirrorless are still seeing some meaningful advances for large print work and might sky shooting and the like
Technologically yes, but sales are still declining in those areas too. Nikon is rumored to be end-of-lifing six of their DSLR lines soon, which means they'll likely end up with just 2-3 DSLR models, mostly geared toward pros, and probably 3-4 mirrorless models since that's becoming the new hotness. I think it's likely we'll see any company that's still making DSLRs shift their focus on DSLRs purely to the high end market where there's a need for the speed they allow (sports, etc), and all the low to mid-tier stuff will shift to mirrorless.

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joker
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 8:24 pm 
Sore Feet wrote:
joker wrote:
But top end DSLR and FF mirrorless are still seeing some meaningful advances for large print work and might sky shooting and the like
Technologically yes, but sales are still declining in those areas too. Nikon is rumored to be end-of-lifing six of their DSLR lines soon, which means they'll likely end up with just 2-3 DSLR models, mostly geared toward pros, and probably 3-4 mirrorless models since that's becoming the new hotness. I think it's likely we'll see any company that's still making DSLRs shift their focus on DSLRs purely to the high end market where there's a need for the speed they allow (sports, etc), and all the low to mid-tier stuff will shift to mirrorless.
Yes, I agree this will be on the high end of the line. See my note further above about the high cost of the FF cameras that are (and will be) bearing the fruits of any ongoing innovation. Think whatever is next beyond the D850 and whatever they're up to in the D[single digit] full on pro line, and yes the mirrorless line too. Fuji seems to have placed a bet on very high end medium format that can be used w/o needing studio flashes etc unlike most prior medium format backs.

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Randito
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 10:22 pm 
Sales of film and film cameras are way down as well. Who could have guessed?

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BaNosser
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PostMon Sep 09, 2019 11:13 pm 
cell phones are convenient.. and take nice shots.. but they are still extraordinarily limited in many aspects of photography.. sports.. birds in flight.. wildlife at distance.. Convenient and small yes.. but will I suspect always lack in IQ when compared to SLR or mirrorless..

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