Is the point and shoot nearly dead? (Page 3): I can see them replacing the brownie or equivalent. Of course the brownie is no more and for a good reason. They have been replace by a...

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

wdross wrote:

Olympus has made the decision to no longer make point and shoots. They will only be making cameras that will take interchangeable lenses or are the tough style like their TG-4. In my opinion, they see little future in the point and shoot market in the face of the on-slaughter of the cellphones and all the coming improvements to the cellphone cameras. Does anyone have any other thoughts on the subject?

I can see them replacing the brownie or equivalent. Of course the brownie is no more and for a good reason. They have been replace by a more modern version. But P&S have their limitations but the problem is the masses. And their money talks. I just hope their ideas to not ruin the world for the rest of us.

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

rpavich wrote:

I don't think so.

In fact, I'd say just the opposite; the days of the huge DSLR are dying. The feeding frenzy is over.

Folks are looking for small cameras to use that are better than their phones, but good enough for what they do which is post online or make small prints.

Halfway agree. Folks are looking for small cameras but from what I read about future camera technology for cell phones, the cell phone will fill the void, not a small camera as we know it. Why would anyone want to carry around a extra camera when the cell phone will do what 95% of the population wants. All you have to do is go to any family event, especially birthday parties for children. You would be lucky to see one person using an actual camera, they all use their cell phones.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

wdross wrote:

Olympus has made the decision to no longer make point and shoots. They will only be making cameras that will take interchangeable lenses or are the tough style like their TG-4. In my opinion, they see little future in the point and shoot market in the face of the on-slaughter of the cellphones and all the coming improvements to the cellphone cameras. Does anyone have any other thoughts on the subject?

Cameras with a fixed lens are as close as it gets to a P&S now-a-days and even most of those have many of the features of much more advanced "system" cameras. But if it's ultimate flexibility and expansion you're after, a system camera can't be beat. To each his own. I myself only use only about 20% of what my D7000 is capable of providing but I can expand if I want to. Other than that I do have a twinge of angst every now and then when my daughter takes a better picture than I do with her cell phone. But she'd have trouble printing to a large format.

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

But if they have any non-p&s modes, then they're not point-and-shoot cameras for the purposes of this discussion. Heck, even my FF DSLR has p&s modes.

phlash46 wrote:

In one of 2 auto modes, they are point and shoots...

billwassmann Loc: Emerson, NJ

As an old man, with 73 years at this craft, I find this interesting. We seem to be headed back to the earlier days of photography when George Eastman brought out box cameras to get people involved. Now everyone thinks he is a photographer. Unfortunately, they forget about lighting, posing, composition and other "unimportant" stuff.

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

hamtrack wrote:

The smart phone is always in focus, as far as it can see. As soon as they make it easier to transfer shots into a computer, it will probably count ten your out for the P&S. In the meantime I still carry my Panasonic Luminx in my pocket, in case I spy a great shot at Walmart.

So, you're the guy getting all the shots of WalMartians.

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

billwassmann wrote:

As an old man, with 73 years at this craft, I find this interesting. We seem to be headed back to the earlier days of photography when George Eastman brought out box cameras to get people involved. Now everyone thinks he is a photographer. Unfortunately, they forget about lighting, posing, composition and other "unimportant" stuff.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Hard to say, but there is pressure from the phone industry for sure. I think the low-end P&S are a dying breed and will be replaced by cell phones. High end P&S (I think) will retain a degree of demand as back-ups for the pros and enthusiastic or advanced amateurs looking for larger sensors and a more versatile pocket cameras.
That said, somewhere in a drawer is a 20 year old Olympus Stylus Epic film camera that looks in pretty bad shape aesthetically, but still functions like new. Fixed 35/2.8 lens that was my favorite camera for snapshots and travel years ago. I am sad to see the line go. They were awesome for their time.
I agree with rpavich in that DSLR sales and ownership are diminishing rapidly as MILC/M4/3 technology accelerates. I think they will be around for awhile though. I still enjoy using all of them. One thing is for sure. We have a terrific assortment to choose from. The race to stuff more technology into a smaller body continues. Honestly, sometimes I find them too small to be practical for anything besides causal use for travel or family snapshots. Weight is not always a bad thing, although my doctor disagrees.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

billwassmann wrote:

As an old man, with 73 years at this craft, I find this interesting. We seem to be headed back to the earlier days of photography when George Eastman brought out box cameras to get people involved. Now everyone thinks he is a photographer. Unfortunately, they forget about lighting, posing, composition and other "unimportant" stuff.

You know, there really is a ton of good stuff on Instagram that is taken entirely with, and processed on, smart phones. Now, as prolific as teenagers are, there's a lot MORE crap than good stuff, but the volume is so high that there is plenty of interesting photography to see there.

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

billwassmann wrote:

As an old man, with 73 years at this craft, I find this interesting. We seem to be headed back to the earlier days of photography when George Eastman brought out box cameras to get people involved. Now everyone thinks he is a photographer. Unfortunately, they forget about lighting, posing, composition and other "unimportant" stuff.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

billwassmann wrote:

We seem to be headed back to the earlier days of photography when George Eastman brought out box cameras to get people involved.

For sure. As for that box camera that my dad used for years, one like it now occupies a sacred corner of a home bookcase. Whereas, old phones with cameras that haven't been recycled, are thrown in a drawer somewhere.

BebuLamar

The phone can take excellent photographs if the subjects are suited to it. It does have good resolution and image quality. It has only 1 focal length lens so the subject has to be suited to the lens. It has a lot of DOF and you need a subject that lends itself well to that. It needs good light as it tends to be noisy in the dark.
But if you can find the right subject it can takes excellent images. Compared to the old days 110 and disc cameras those have too poor resolution to take good images no matter what.

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

burkphoto wrote:

You know, there really is a ton of good stuff on Instagram that is taken entirely with, and processed on, smart phones. Now, as prolific as teenagers are, there's a lot MORE crap than good stuff, but the volume is so high that there is plenty of interesting photography to see there.

Photography proved the 'infinite monkeys' theorem at least somewhat valid. (Which isn't to say that there aren't competent photographers using cellphone cameras.)

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

BebuLamar wrote:

The phone can take excellent photographs if the su... (show quote)

My problem is not with the sensors but with the cover or the plastic vs glass and the quality of glass. I can usually tell a photograph that is taken with cellphone and I will pass but I am a somewhat unusual duck.

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

Absolutely, the phone is the new "point-n-shoot.

I took the photo below with my phone & it's not even an iPhone, but the camera in it is 10megs. The IQ is pretty acceptable. It can't match a "real" camera but comes close.

I think the trick is in treating it like a real camera, take time, compose, hold steady, etc..

Shot with Motorola mini droid

(Download)