What will stop the Massive decline in Interchangable Lens Camera Sales?
Jul 8, 2017 20:02:22 #
Folks, sales of the tools we love to practice our craft and trade are dropping like a stone.
Why?
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
The problem with where the market is going is this; we as consumers are losing options and choices. The market is rapidly contracting, and if we aren't careful, many of us will be left out in the cold.
Why?
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
The problem with where the market is going is this; we as consumers are losing options and choices. The market is rapidly contracting, and if we aren't careful, many of us will be left out in the cold.
Jul 8, 2017 20:02:46 #
Jul 8, 2017 20:19:27 #
Once people who want new lenses get them, they will depend on newcomers to buy more.
Are they approaching market saturation?
Are they approaching market saturation?
Jul 8, 2017 20:37:02 #
ricardo7
Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile
Cell phones are only a small part of the market but it is probably significant.
Others, like me, are part of the problem. When the Canon 5D MKII came out
I bought one with a 24-105 L lens. That's all I use now and all I need. Aside from
a couple of filters that's all I've bought in many years. 25 years prior to buying
the Canon I bought a Pentax 67 and a Hasselblad 501CM. They still work fine.
Others, like me, are part of the problem. When the Canon 5D MKII came out
I bought one with a 24-105 L lens. That's all I use now and all I need. Aside from
a couple of filters that's all I've bought in many years. 25 years prior to buying
the Canon I bought a Pentax 67 and a Hasselblad 501CM. They still work fine.
Jul 8, 2017 20:38:11 #
Jul 8, 2017 20:58:43 #
In answer to the question in the subject line, the decline will stop when sales hit zero. When tiny sensors are able to match IQ with today's full frame sensors, a zoom lens the size of a thimble will cover the equivalent of a 10 - 600mm lens. If the photo industry does it right we will get pocket sized high end cameras that happen to have a phone, instead of the other way around.
I guess then I'll get a cell phone.
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I guess then I'll get a cell phone.
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Jul 8, 2017 21:28:02 #
Part of that is education. The average cell phone user doesn't know what DOF is and what it can do, or the importance of lighting. Another example is the qualities of posing in portraiture. These are attributes that they do not understand nor often practice. It's up to us instill what art is, and what it can be and how an artist makes a picture and not just takes a picture.
Jul 8, 2017 21:50:41 #
StaneeRae
Loc: Lincroft, NJ USA
CHOLLY wrote:
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
Although he also used a Nikon, this photographer entered a wedding album in competition, that featured photos taken only with an iPhone.
http://www.jerryghionis.com/the-wedding-of-josh-and-amber-select-shots-taken-with-the-iphone/
Jul 8, 2017 21:55:03 #
Haydon wrote:
Part of that is education. The average cell phone user doesn't know what DOF is and what it can do, or the importance of lighting. Another example is the qualities of posing in portraiture.
The same holds true for many dslr users. Just look at the photo gallery on any photography website that caters to apertures. Even with cell phones it is the person that makes a big difference. I think it was here that somebody posted a link to an article about two major 'print' magazines using cell phone shots for their covers.
https://iphonephotographyschool.com/mobile-photography-tips/
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Jul 8, 2017 22:09:09 #
Bill_de wrote:
The same holds true for many dslr users. Just look at the photo gallery on any photography website that caters to apertures. Even with cell phones it is the person that makes a big difference. I think it was here that somebody posted a link to an article about two major 'print' magazines using cell phone shots for their covers.
https://iphonephotographyschool.com/mobile-photography-tips/
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https://iphonephotographyschool.com/mobile-photography-tips/
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I agree, it's the user that makes the difference but at the same time, how to use the tools that can offer low light performance, shallow depth of field and the ability to create long exposures broadens what a cellphone simply cannot accomplish (for now).
Jul 8, 2017 23:20:01 #
I think MOST of us agree that there will always be a market for interchangeable lens cameras... but will it be a niche market and will WE be able to afford the limited offerings available?
And if as the presenter in the YouTube clip suggests, camera manufacturers continue to FAIL to offer innovative products will we even bother to buy whatever cameras are left?
And if as the presenter in the YouTube clip suggests, camera manufacturers continue to FAIL to offer innovative products will we even bother to buy whatever cameras are left?
Jul 9, 2017 01:19:58 #
therwol
Loc: USA
ricardo7 wrote:
Cell phones are only a small part of the market but it is probably significant.
Others, like me, are part of the problem. When the Canon 5D MKII came out
I bought one with a 24-105 L lens. That's all I use now and all I need. Aside from
a couple of filters that's all I've bought in many years. 25 years prior to buying
the Canon I bought a Pentax 67 and a Hasselblad 501CM. They still work fine.
Others, like me, are part of the problem. When the Canon 5D MKII came out
I bought one with a 24-105 L lens. That's all I use now and all I need. Aside from
a couple of filters that's all I've bought in many years. 25 years prior to buying
the Canon I bought a Pentax 67 and a Hasselblad 501CM. They still work fine.
I don't think that cell phones are a small part of the problem. They are a big part of the problem. For billions of people the pictures they take are good enough for them (I didn't say everyone.). For most of these people, thoughts of buying any sort of dedicated camera have vanished. Fewer and fewer people young people are seeing people carrying around cameras. No exposure, no curiosity, no interest.
My old cameras still work, the oldest being a 4x5 Crown Graphic, but I do upgrade now and then, most recently to a Nikon D810. But I didn't grow up with cell phones. My first camera of my own was a Nikon SLR.
Jul 9, 2017 02:21:05 #
Welcome to the new generation, they go on vacation all they need is a smart phone, if they have a wedding all they need is a smartphone, the numbers are very high if they have a wedding at all, they just move in with someone, They upload to Face Book or Twitter, all they need is a smartphone, Photography? what the hell is that? all they need is a picture from there smartphone, Video? all they need is a smart phone, have any clue how many video's been uploaded to YouTube by using a smartphone?
The new generation would rather use there smartphone than spend the money for a good camera or hire a professional, you wouldn't have a clue how many weddings are shot by just a smartphone nowadays, main reason, they rather spend there money to go on there honeymoon or pay first month rent or buy a new car.
Yes, there is a large number photographers, but not enough of us to buy a new camera or lens every time they come out with a new model, sometimes you have to say enough is enough, I also think this is what is hurting camera sales, Way to many models and way to often, I bet there are somewhere around 25 new lenses for the Sony E just this year, Not counting Sony, Manufactures I never even heard of before.
There is also a number of people in our generation that have quit, giving up or moved to a new venture, I can easy see why camera sales are dropping.
The new generation would rather use there smartphone than spend the money for a good camera or hire a professional, you wouldn't have a clue how many weddings are shot by just a smartphone nowadays, main reason, they rather spend there money to go on there honeymoon or pay first month rent or buy a new car.
Yes, there is a large number photographers, but not enough of us to buy a new camera or lens every time they come out with a new model, sometimes you have to say enough is enough, I also think this is what is hurting camera sales, Way to many models and way to often, I bet there are somewhere around 25 new lenses for the Sony E just this year, Not counting Sony, Manufactures I never even heard of before.
There is also a number of people in our generation that have quit, giving up or moved to a new venture, I can easy see why camera sales are dropping.
Jul 9, 2017 03:48:14 #
wdross
Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado
CHOLLY wrote:
Folks, sales of the tools we love to practice our craft and trade are dropping like a stone.
Why?
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
The problem with where the market is going is this; we as consumers are losing options and choices. The market is rapidly contracting, and if we aren't careful, many of us will be left out in the cold.
Why?
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
The problem with where the market is going is this; we as consumers are losing options and choices. The market is rapidly contracting, and if we aren't careful, many of us will be left out in the cold.
The market is changing. The interchangeable lense camera (ILC) market will be more of a niche market than it is now. Part of it is satisfaction with the camera at hand (the cellphone) and the increased quality of the image. As long as people think whatever image they got is good enough, that will continue the downward spiral of the ILC to an eventual leveling off. Until we photographers start looking at the bad cellphone pictures (and there are some good ones - just not nearly as many as the bad ones) and start pointing out the flaws to someone who will gives a rat's ass about how good it is, this decline will continue. Once we get someone to care about their pictures, we need to provide them with a photography solution that will not cost them $5K or $6K; the majority of young people do not plan, or see the need, to spend that kind of money when the image can be generated "good enough" by their less costly cellphone cameras along with all the other convenient features cellphones have. Multi-purpose cellphones will almost always win out against a single purpose camera.
But as long as there will be some that will not settle for lesser quality photographs, there will be a market for interchangable lense cameras. That market will be the cameras that will produce the most "bang for the buck". Right now, that is the mirrorless APS-Cs and 4/3rds cameras. Why would a newbie buy a 15fps 24mp $6K full frame camera when they can buy a 4/3rds 60fps 20mp $2K camera that in reality is only 11% or less difference in megapixels for all the standard picture sizes? And even those mirrorless markets will still get a little smaller as cellphone cameras get more sophisticated in imitating the ILC cameras. The camera manufactures that will be left in the eventual coming shakedown will have to be very innovative to compete with each other and the cellphone market.
Jul 9, 2017 05:30:44 #
All this will come to pass, sooner or later.
CHOLLY wrote:
Folks, sales of the tools we love to practice our craft and trade are dropping like a stone.
Why?
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
The problem with where the market is going is this; we as consumers are losing options and choices. The market is rapidly contracting, and if we aren't careful, many of us will be left out in the cold.
Why?
Many think Cell Phones with cameras are the problem... and to a certain extent this is true. But what professional photographer does a wedding with an iPhone? None... yet.
The problem with where the market is going is this; we as consumers are losing options and choices. The market is rapidly contracting, and if we aren't careful, many of us will be left out in the cold.
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