KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

I'm not a "pro", just a keen amateur, and I'm certainly not a great photographer. But I enjoy myself, and do the best I can. Nor have I really had enough spare cash to buy the equipment that I really wanted, so I've always made do with whatever I could afford. Anyway, I'm waffling, I remember when I was shooting film using my pentax slr, and affordable digital cameras became available. I looked at them, played with them in the store, considered buying one and decided they were just the latest gimmick, toys that would never catch on. How could you possibly take real photographs without film! And storing huge amounts of images on a tiny plastic card like a postage stamp? Surely the quality of the shots must be terrible, right? I actually held out for about a year, as I watched more and more people buying them, and putting those (old) film cameras on the back of the shelf. So I gave in and bought one. It was an entry level, point and shoot Canon, and wow, my mind was blown! The picture quality, the size of it, it's speed, no more waiting for developing, and the features and capabilities. The future has arrived! Never again will I blow something off simply because it's new and I don't understand it. I upgraded a few times and ended up with a Canon T7i, (no where near the greatest, but it's what I have for now). Mirrorless cameras made an appearance not so long ago, and I found myself once again slipping into that old mindset, but this time I kicked myself in the butt and accepted that they are the next evolution in photography. I don't own one yet, but I'm hoping to get enough spare money together to treat myself, and being a Canon fan, (I just prefer the ergonomics, and they feel familiar), I think I'll wait and see what they come up with in response to the Z9!
So anyway, it's amazing isn't it? The new technology is awesome and it's moving so fast. It's kind of like electric cars. They were weird and different, no engine sound, terrible range and horrendous charging times, (if you could even find a place to charge them), but look at them now, who wouldn't like a new Tesla? Everything about them is improving so quickly. We really are living in a brave new world, and I have no idea what's next, but I can't wait to see it! What about you?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

We're living in a Golden Age of Photography. The 'entry level' digital cameras now all feature 24MP sensors and competition has pushed top-tier features like 45 cross-type AF systems and AF at f/8 into the entry models. Anyone with a camera less than 4-years old does not need a new camera, not even one of these mirrorless wonders that have changed how we think about photography, how we think about life.

At the same time, we're living at the end of interchangeable-lens based photography. Who needs another $1000 piece of equipment along with a $2000 lens when your $1000 phone takes just as good pictures and orders pizza? And, you can post online for 114 likes in a fraction of the time that it takes to transfer and edit the RAW image to your computer, another dead weight your phone has replaced.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Like the song says time keeps on slipping into the future. I have mirrorless cameras, but I also still use my Nikon Df. You don’t need to wait for the Z9 or whatever the Canon equivalent will be. Nikon makes a crop sensor Z50 (and Z fc) and a full frame Z5 (and Z6 and Z7), I’m sure Canon makes an equivalent to those cameras.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

And some cameras fly too. I bought an entry level aerial camera a few weeks ago. It is assumed they take video. The stills are marvelous.

I would love to know the sales numbers. Does a flying camera company with 80% of the flying camera market sell more units than Nikon or Canon?

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

Thanks for the quick reply, and you're spot on!

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Perhaps you are overthinking the state of the art and are too preoccupied with gear.

Electronic imaging has been around for a very long time in the form and television production of electronic newsgathering and television production. I'm surprised that it did not relace film long ago. It was just a matter of time for it to cause a transition into still photograhy combined with computer-driven technology.

No doubt the technology in cameras, optics and image processing but the elements of artistic photographers have not changed at all. as advanced into a work of complex technology. It is still all about composition, lighting, use of light and the artistic or journalistic expression and creativity of the photograher. The rest is a bunch of technobabble. The technology is there to make things more convenient and accessible and you can use as much or as little of it as you need or want. All cameras all have a lens, an aperture a shutter and a focusing mechanism and if you know how to control that thing and how they interphase with each other, you are good to go.

You no longer need the stock foil of different characteristics- speed, colour palette, grain structure, curves, etc. You can count all those aspects with the flip of a switch or the movement of a slider. You needn't store all your images on little plastic cards and electromagnetic or digital media- you can still make prints.

In my own "world", I do photography for a living so if my equipment fails or is inadequate or if my picture is not up to snuff, I don't eat! Yet I am not all that preoccupied with gear upgrades. Even professionals do not have unlimited budgets and every purchase needs to be justified.

There are folks who spent all their photography time testing gear, chang it up, trading it in, worrying about the latest and greatest, etc. I would rather spend my time taking pictures or "making photographs" as the purists say. I buy good gear and use it 'till it disintegrates and I have no issues with image quality.

Cars? I drive an 11-year old Saturn SUV. it gets me from point A to point B and accommodates all my stuff. If my next car is electric, so be it. Hopefully, there will be plenty of charging stations and battery technology is improving every day. I certainly won't miss the gas pump and all the pollution- especially with the current prices for gas.

Bill 45

I like what you are saying. I may not understand everything you are saying. What is important is you are showing how fast "camera" is changing. You write how a$1,000 phone is better than $1,000 piece of equipment and $2,000 lens. What going to happen to the $1,000 phone in a year? Being a person on a fix income a $1,000 phone is out of the question. I may not care for high tech cameras, phones or what every. That does not saying that I not trying to understand it.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

I don't want a Tesla. I'll take a Z9, though.

twosummers Loc: Melbourne Australia or Lincolnshire England

Very interesting conversation. I am a pro photographer and I have a Canon EOS R and I love it. Expensive Canon lenses too. However I'm often frustrated when I see just how good my wife's photos are compare to mine - I shoot in RAW and spend some time editing the images on my (expensive) computer. My wife uses her (older) iPhone or her iPad and shares the images immediately with friends and family all over the word - all with zero editing.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

The pleasure of making great images does not mean you need the latest and the best there is. You can perfectly well make excellent photography with what you have right now. Because technology evolves on a daily basis many old cameras are sold now at very attractive prices and that includes mirrorless.
You do not have to spend an arm and a leg to have a good camera that will make great photographs.

From all I have heard it seems as if the Nikon Z9 will be an excellent tool with pretty advanced technology. In my case I do not need one, I am perfectly happy with what I have but I also understand others may have a different approach and need the latest. Nothing wrong either with shooting film although I am sure the majority here will agree how convenient digital is. I just bought film and I am waiting for the opportunity to use it. I am still spending lots of time at home.

Technology is wonderful and is making our photography better. Take time to review your techniques and also review basic photography knowledge. Understanding basic photography you can make outstanding images with practically any camera.
Yes, in another five years the majority of the cars in use will be electric and the majority of the cameras will be mirrorless.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The first digital camera I looked at was a Sony Mavica in the late 90s. I didn't trust a camera that stored images on tiny floppy disks, but there was talk about a new camera that offered the option of storing images on a stick of gum-sized media, which I thought was an amazing concept. The early Sony cameras were .78 mp, (1024x768px), but by the time I got around to actually buying one in 2000, they had ditched the floppy disk, fully committed to the memory stick and increased the resolution to 2.6 mp - The DSC-F505 with its huge 5X Zeiss zoom and a little tiny camera attached to the back of it. It was $1000 but miles ahead of the Nikon Coolpix 990 - which had a little more resolution, a little less zoom, and similarly weird look and the same price tag.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I still have and shoot my Nikon D3s, guess I have the new and improved GAS (Goodenough And Sufficient)

National Park

Your experience is similar to mine--doubting new digital cameras, and then buying one and entering a brave new world of photography. And then I learned how to edit my new digital "masterpieces" on my computer. No longer do I spend hours and hours with chemicals in a dark room, and I quickly get far superior results!

Same thing with electric vehicles--I doubted their efficacy but a year ago I decided to take the plunge and bought a Prius Prime. Now I go 25 or thirty miles using only battery power and no gas at all, after which it becomes a hybrid getting me around 55-60 mpg. And soon there will be a plethora of charging stations.

ELNikkor

Tesla really woke me up as to how good electric vehicles could be. (The first Nissan Leaf showed how bad they could be!) Until 2006, digital cameras were either too expensive, or not good enough quality, but since 2006, they are all I've been using for the most part.

Walkabout08

Don’t be so sure if you haven’t driven one.