danielb59 Loc: The South

Saw the following advice from the Atlanta Journal/Constitution regarding Christmas shopping. Thought you all should know that we are dealing in dead technologies. Can you believe it?! Wow, guess I need to sell all my digital cameras and their accessories before the bottom falls out price wise.

Do not buy dead technologies like digital cameras (cell phones and tablets are taking their place), GPS systems (cell phones and tablets have eliminated their need) or DVD's/DVD players which are a waste of money when you can stream movies and shows.

donrent Loc: Punta Gorda , Fl

"Do not buy dead technologies like digital cameras (cell phones and tablets are taking their place), GPS systems (cell phones and tablets have eliminated their need) or DVD's/DVD players which are a waste of money when you can stream movies and shows."
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Typical half-assed media reporting.... What a bunch of BS...

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

Just trying to push the internet streaming and CHEAP pics!!
Still have to use an actual camera to get decent pics and cds/dvds still make videoss and music more accessible to the masses!

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I agree with donrent... digital cameras are not a dead technology.

No cell phone or tablet made, with a camera about the size of a woman's thumb can possibly produce the quality of a dslr camera with a sensor about the size of one of those small cameras - not possible right now anyway.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

Even the small P&S cameras by Nikon/Canon/Sony/Panasonic are better than the cell phone cameras!! And just as easy to carry with you all the time!! And then it just keeps getting better as you move up the chain to the 'bridge' and interchangeable lens camera. Shoot, I think the GoPro probably takes better pics than cell phones!!

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

I think this is a stupid discussion and at the same time probably a wise one too.

In terms of the "wise" part, practically all the technologies we buy these days are dead. I remember my film days, once you had the top manual SLR and some glass there was nothing left to buy but film. Now it's all changed. Now it's no longer the film and the glass that determines the quality, it's also the camera body. If you want more functionality, more pixels, higher ISO you're forced into upgrading what is actually a perfectly functional camera.

The electronics industry has a vested interest in getting you to always buy the next model inline. They do this by enhancing the new model just enough to entice you but not enough to make it last for years. After all they want to sell you the next model too so they hold back new features allegedly to do more research first and then shower you with excitement as the new "ground breaking" toy hits the market.

But you can also fight this. Buy what you need or, perhaps a bit more than you need. After that there's really no need to upgrade again as long as you can ignore the marketing pitches that obsolete your current model. Face it, everything electronic we buy is designed to be obsolete in the next two years.

But I said it was also a stupid comment. Well, that has to do with the difference between an ignorant consumer and a seasoned professional. In the consumer market I agree, the cell phones and the tablets have pretty well taken over in terms of cameras. But look at who is using them. The iPad doesn't obsolete the sophisticated SLR it simply offers a picture taking opportunity among the intellectually challenged who simply want to get a picture not really caring about quality. In this sense again there is some truth to the assertion that the cameras are doomed but only insofar as it is cameras used by amateurs who are not fussy.

It was like that in the seventies too, you could buy an SLR at an extortionate price or you could buy an instamatic where you got pictures regardless of what the conditions were.

Curiously, I note that the SLR still exists and has morphed into the DSLR in the process.

All that's happening is that we're expanding the range of choices for people. Technologies today are dead since they're supposed to be obsolete quickly to keep the gears of industry turning. But at the same time we're not obsoleting classes of products, they remain, we're simply adding to them.

larrywilk Loc: Palm Harbor, FL

Question, what type camera do they use to take the promotional pictures of these cell phones, tablets and so on?

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

there's no denying the practicality of having a cell phone/camera at your disposal. But for people who care how a camera works and how the settings affect the overall photograph, there is no substitute for having a real camera with you. Camera/phones probably will cut into the sales of lower end point & shoot cameras but their for the point & shoot crowd anyway.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I would agree on the DVD as well as CD players (include blue ray too).

The rest?

An argument can be made over the cross pollination that takes place.

Trouble with photography is the very same thing I tried to say a few weeks ago about the equipment and the photographer. A pro needs great equipment to produce greater work when the other guy needs very little as he/she does not care about 'better work' through 'better format choice', 'better workflow' and 'better equipment' not to mention....

Then again, why purchase a 'snap shot camera' if your phone gives you the results you want? The statements are just too broad. Average Joe or Jane WILL save money using their phone vs a digital camera and will save space too. Do not only consider your single point of view but that of the population at large that does not give a rat ... about photography.

Anyway, foolish? yes. Inaccurate? not quite, premature more than likely.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

WOAH! In a single statment you reduced the planet population into idiots because they do not share your interest in photography????

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

WOWwowowowowowowow

Are you just plain nuts?

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

The first time I see a Nat-Geo photographer with a tablet duct-taped to the back of his 800mm, I'M IN. !!
SS

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

:-D :thumbup:

Weatherbird Loc: East Lothian, Scotland

Strangely, a recent Nat. Geo. did have a photo taken by a pro of a rock climber within its covers!

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: