Is the point and shoot nearly dead?
Dec 8, 2015 18:02:08 #
wdross
Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado
charles brown wrote:
Absolutely. Been saying the same thing for many months. It's my understanding that the bottom has fallen out of the P&S market. And from what I am reading the quality of cellphone picture taking ability will be greatly improved in the not to distant future. Will they replace the middle and high end of the DSLR market, most likely not. But I can see a future where they will replace the entry level.
I agree with the thoughts about enter level. And I think Sony and Olympus do too. Both have put out attachable camera sensors for cellphones. But again, the Olympus OA-1 is an attachable 4/3rds camera with interchangeable lenses. Key word here is "interchangeable". It just does not come with stabilization. Sort of a how to improve one's cellphone pictures without buying a new cellphone or camera. If one goes to the Olympus website, there are only OM-D cameras, Tough cameras, and the OA-1 under their mirrorless section. That says to me hang on to the P&S you like because they will be collector items sooner than later.
Dec 9, 2015 07:05:08 #
hj
Loc: Florida
rpavich.... I think you are more right than those who believe P&S camera's are finished. There are still tons of folks who don't have smart phones and wont pay the data cost of such. Yes, they do want controls on their cameras and the higher end P&S cameras provide them.
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.
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.
Dec 9, 2015 07:06:36 #
I think folk have already voted with their wallets, the market for P&S cameras has crashed just as Smart Phone sales have forged ahead.
I never felt the need for a P&S camera but my Xperia Smartphone comes with a 20MPix camera whether I needed it or not but I find I do use it occasionally. Thing is, the Sensor in this phone is a 1/2.3 Exmor RS and AFAIK, that is the sensor size in most P&S cameras so, who needs a P&S any more? You can tell by the market sales that the probable answer is none, or at least not many.
edit: BTW, let's not get confused over what constitutes a P&S and what constitutes a Bridge camera.
I never felt the need for a P&S camera but my Xperia Smartphone comes with a 20MPix camera whether I needed it or not but I find I do use it occasionally. Thing is, the Sensor in this phone is a 1/2.3 Exmor RS and AFAIK, that is the sensor size in most P&S cameras so, who needs a P&S any more? You can tell by the market sales that the probable answer is none, or at least not many.
edit: BTW, let's not get confused over what constitutes a P&S and what constitutes a Bridge camera.
Dec 9, 2015 07:09:11 #
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.
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.
I agree with rpavich about huge ugly DSLR's losing favour !! Here in the UK we have only one electrical superstore group left that is Currys/PC World, they have hundreds of branches all over the UK.
Not long ago they stocked a huge range of all types of cameras but now the range is much smaller they only stock a couple of Nikon or Canon DSLR's and they are the basic models. At the other end of the scale they do stock a good range of P&S and and also carry good selection of CSC's.
This is a good indicator of the trend away from DSLR's
Dec 9, 2015 08:21:29 #
warrior wrote:
Old school here. I will carry my D810 with a 28-300 lens.
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
--Bob
Dec 9, 2015 08:48:50 #
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?
Are they stopping production of the SH-2 and the Stylus 1s?
They are still available on their site...granted they are listed as premium point and shoots.
There is still a market (at least for my day job) to have a small compact point and shoot camera, like the canon s110, Sony rx100, or panasonic LX-7. Granted we used an ipad mini to do a lot of our documentation now, we still occasionally need the point a shoot to do a decent before/after photorendering.
Dec 9, 2015 09:14:49 #
charles brown wrote:
Absolutely. Been saying the same thing for many months. It's my understanding that the bottom has fallen out of the P&S market. And from what I am reading the quality of cellphone picture taking ability will be greatly improved in the not to distant future. Will they replace the middle and high end of the DSLR market, most likely not. But I can see a future where they will replace the entry level.
I agree with this, entirely! The P&S market is dead, or nearly so. Why anyone wants to carry a smart phone AND a P&S camera at the same time is beyond me. I gave my P&S away when I got my old iPhone 3GS back in 2009!
Casual photography with a smart phone already results in much better images than did most P&S photography in the film days. It's certainly going to get better and better.
I think there will always be a market for serious, adjustable, interchangeable lens cameras. When you need the features they provide, a smart phone camera simply won't do.
Then there is the choice people now make regarding photography: Am I going out today with the SOLE PURPOSE or a KEY INTENTION of *making photographs,* or am I leaving the house to do something else, yet always equipped with my smart phone to simply "take pictures" or "capture video", should an opportunity arise to capture something important that would otherwise be missed?
Frankly, the smart phone has disrupted MOST of the camera market to a degree, but it has disrupted the low end the most. There is always a market for the very best of anything... even turntables and AM radios and newspapers are still around.
Dec 9, 2015 09:41:20 #
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.
Dec 9, 2015 09:48:54 #
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.
The iPhone has autofocus that can be controlled manually by tapping the screen on the point where you need it in focus. You can control exposure the same way. Third party camera apps let you control other capture parameters, but the aperture is fixed.
Transferring images happens automatically, in the background, to an iCloud account an Internet server that is also the same account you use on your Macintosh. If you make an image on your iPhone or iPad, it shows up on any other device you own, through the Internet.
There is no difficulty whatsoever to this... just a monthly charge for the server space. BEST news is, the backup is done for you by Apple, so you don't have to worry about losing images due to drive failure or phone theft/loss.
You can capture the People of Walmart MUCH more surreptitiously with a phone than with the Lumix.
Dec 9, 2015 09:56:55 #
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?
Since cell phone are so popular for photography, I'm surprised they would drop a camera line that is similar. It's a big switch for someone to go from a cell phone to a camera with interchangeable lenses. You have to spend a bundle for the camera and then spend more bundles for lenses. The most common cameras I see are non-interchangeable lens cameras.
Dec 9, 2015 10:01:21 #
I hope there will always be a market for a more capable P&S. I use my phone only when I've neglected to have one of my other cameras with me. If phones with cameras had existed in the 50's and 60's, instamatics (sic?) would still have a small audience.
Dec 9, 2015 10:05:36 #
What about image stabilization? Whenever I look at specs of interchangeable lens cameras, I don't see image stabilization. I don't want to use a tripod. My PowerShot G1X Mark II has image stabilization and a 1.5" sensor.
Dec 9, 2015 10:13:32 #
texashill wrote:
What about image stabilization? Whenever I look at specs of interchangeable lens cameras, I don't see image stabilization. I don't want to use a tripod. My PowerShot G1X Mark II has image stabilization and a 1.5" sensor.
Olympus OMD m43 cameras have in-body image stabilization. Panasonic Lumix m43 cameras have in-lens image stabilization. One Lumix, the GX8, has DUAL stabilization (it has in-body stabilization and can use in-lens stabilization at the same time).
Many Nikon and Canon cameras can use IS or VR lenses. Tamron and other third parties also make VR lenses to fit Canon and Nikon bodies.
I'm sure there are plenty of other examples.
Dec 9, 2015 10:17:57 #
I see, good to know. What about tilting viewfinder? I often take photos from above my head or around my knees.
Dec 9, 2015 10:21:00 #
jerryc41 wrote:
Since cell phone are so popular for photography, I'm surprised they would drop a camera line that is similar.
Jerry, sounds a lot like an iTouch or a number of Samsungs.
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