burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Thanks. I just don't understand Format Fear.

It's like Mac OS vs Windows. Who cares? I've used both since the 1980s for their strengths, and avoided them for their weaknesses.

Cameras are tools. Use the one that makes sense for your work or play. It doesn't have to be the one everyone else uses. It probably won't be the same one five to seven years from now, but that's okay.

I've used at least ten different camera brands over the years. All of them served a purpose. Did I like certain ones better than others at the time? Yes. Did it bother me to switch brands or formats? No. It was time. My needs and circumstances changed.

Some of those cameras were clunky and ridiculous, like the Camerz Classic twin lens long roll portrait film camera I used to train school photographers in the early 1980s. It had numerous 100' film backs, all of which leaked light unless you taped the edge of the lid with black masking tape. It had several sizes of periscopes for its subject ID units, several portrait lens sets, a parallax cam for each lens set, and other crap to keep track of and maintain. It had a viewfinder composition mask for each film format (unperforated 35mm, 46mm, and 70mm in two flavors, "split" and full frame). But it was a workhorse that made hundreds of millions of school portraits over the years of its existence.

Other cameras were TRUE perfection, like the Nikon F3. Simple, ergonomically wonderful, and practically bulletproof, it just worked. Some of the early Nikon dSLRs, on the other hand, just pissed me off. The D100 was so slow to react, by the time the shutter opened, a portrait subject had changed her expression or blinked. Not Ready For Prime Time.

The best of breed cameras tend to be those made by manufacturers who really listen to their customers and add the features their customers want. WHO has listened over the years has changed considerably. I'll leave it at that!

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

The only thing that is truly new is the EVF and even that is a refinement of the live view LCD technology. Mirror less is just that, something has been taken out of the camera but nothing truly new has been put in.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Everytime a mirrorless camera is sold, another DSLR turns to dust ...

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Does it even really matter?
As long as the market forces are still working the builder are content. All the manufacturer cares about is moving ahead. That DSLR was from past sales. A new camera has been sold is what counts. Loyalty to old tech/fashion/trends or fads is a business killer.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

As long as I'm comfortable and happy with the camera I own, why should I care what cameras other people are using?

To a great extent, the public's purchasing choices are manipulated by marketing strategies - through direct advertising, as well as more covertly - through professional product reviewers supported by the manufacturers in some manner.

BlackRipleyDog

Well I just looked and my D200 is still intact. Not my turn yet I guess.

BebuLamar

My DSLR will die one day regardless of what the mirrorless is doing. It will die due to use and age. As long as they still make the SD card and the EL-E14 batteries then it won't die prematurely.
Unlike film I don't care what the others are using. With film I need fresh film all the time and if others won't buy it they won't make it.

BlackRipleyDog

And yet manufacturers continue to make new DSLR lenses while native mirrorless offerings are getting larger and heavier negating the size and weight advantage we were told was the wave of the future.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Partly true, the new Nikon Z camera lenses are smaller and lighter than their older counterparts because the new series uses IBIS and there are no VR components in the lenses.

BebuLamar

Actually I don't care for small camera. I don't worry much about the short battery life of the mirrorless. I think the mirrorless has a lot of advantages over the DSLR. I don't want the mirrorless for one and only one reason. I don't like the EVF and although the EVF is considered the best things on a mirrorless.

Robyn H Loc: MainLine PA

It's accelerating because the availability of decent models to choose from is increasing. In the high end interchangeable lens market, there are more DSLR'S to choose from than Mirrorless. This trend will be controlled by the consumer. Companies tend to manufacturer what people want to buy. As long as there is a demand for DSLR'S, companies like Canon and Nikon will continue to make them. As the MILC models begin to mature, more people will switch over, it's simple evolution. The reality is, they are both simply cameras that essentially do the same thing. Why this childish argument about MILC'S vs DSLR'S continues is ridiculous. From what I see, the argument is less about what's better and more about justification and being trendy. Like a few of my friends, I own both. I haven't bought a full frame MILC yet because they are expensive and I already own s couple full frame DSLR'S, and since I'm not a professional photographer, the thought of buying something that doesn't really offer me anything that I don't already have, is just silly.

BlackRipleyDog

Except when they start to get into the rarefied sub F1.0 range.

Robyn H Loc: MainLine PA

Do you realize how ridiculous that statement is, and how wrong it is? Are you one of the people who needs to justify their own actions by criticizing others or are you simply an antagonist looking to rattle a few cages?! Either way, you are wrong. Nothing bad happens to something just because something different was purchased.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You might want to get your bodies into zip lock bags, because statistically, one of your's is due to dissolve ... throwing out the bag is much easier than vacuuming up the mess

BebuLamar

I think he was just making a joke.