Cameras for Pros, Smartphones for everybody? The death of an industry?
Apr 3, 2023 23:49:15 #
Ricoh, Nikon, Canon, Sony and other camera makers were the only way for people to capture the moment. In 1970 when I was given a Sears/Ricoh camera in High School, very few people carried a camera. Now everybody with a smartphone snaps pictures. Professionals will probably always buy "real cameras" instead of smartphones. They have particular needs and requirements. For most, point and shoot is all that is required to capture the moment.
Are there enough buyers to support an industry that sells to professionals? Perhaps, perhaps not.
Don't get me started on the looming phenomena of AI photography where and idea can produce an image that never happened, like the Pope in a white full-length parka. lol
Are there enough buyers to support an industry that sells to professionals? Perhaps, perhaps not.
Don't get me started on the looming phenomena of AI photography where and idea can produce an image that never happened, like the Pope in a white full-length parka. lol
Apr 4, 2023 06:41:36 #
PoppieJ
Loc: North Georgia
"death of an industry" Not soon! Sure the smart phone is all that is required to take a photo and maybe it is all that I really need, but this is my hobby. Maybe I am just a "hobbiest, semi-pro, pro" but I sure didn't get into photography just to see that I only had the least amount of equipment required. Or the "only" equipment that is practical for my skill level, nor did I get in to this hobby/profession to spend everything that I ever made on the newest latest greatest equipment. I got into it because there was something about photography that excited me, that fulfilled a need that I have to express myself. I think that I am not even close to unique in this respect and that between me and all of the others that feel the same way I do in this world that the camera manufactures are, at least for the near future, safe to keep on developing cameras.
Apr 4, 2023 06:51:49 #
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
ArtzDarkroom wrote:
Ricoh, Nikon, Canon, Sony and other camera makers ... (show quote)
When smart phones can do this, I will use one, end of discussion.
Apr 4, 2023 07:07:40 #
ArtzDarkroom wrote:
Ricoh, Nikon, Canon, Sony and other camera makers ... (show quote)
Are there not enthusiasts?
Apr 4, 2023 08:25:15 #
billnikon wrote:
When smart phones can do this, I will use one, end of discussion.
Apr 4, 2023 08:26:22 #
ArtzDarkroom wrote:
Ricoh, Nikon, Canon, Sony and other camera makers ... (show quote)
Remember the time when non-enthusiasts and non-ohotographers used Kodak 110 plasticky cameras?
This - albeit much better - is what cellphones are. They do well in their niche (casual shooting and quick sharing) but they fail miserably outside it.
Dedicated cameras will only disappear if something *better* arrives... Maybe an AI so powerful that it can create stunning images from a collection of cellphones which are scattered nearby the subject or something like that.
Apr 4, 2023 09:15:42 #
gvarner
Loc: Central Oregon Coast
Everybody can get a hamburger at a drive-thru. Everyone can take a picture with a camera that’s in their phone. Not everyone can afford a fine restaurant meal or to buy a camera that can’t make phone calls.
Apr 4, 2023 09:29:56 #
ArtzDarkroom wrote:
Ricoh, Nikon, Canon, Sony and other camera makers ... (show quote)
People have been predicting “The end of…” for years. It wasn’t that long ago that the end of Nikon was being predicted. It has been predicted that The End Of The World Is Near for centuries. When DSLRs were at the top no one even thought of MILCs. When everything was film no one thought of DSLRs, now Mirrorless is at the top and no one knows what will be next, but that does not mean it is the end.
Apr 4, 2023 09:31:56 #
ArtzDarkroom wrote:
Ricoh, Nikon, Canon, Sony and other camera makers ... (show quote)
More importantly, AI will not see a situation and suddenly decide to capture it. Why are people suddenly so enamored with the thought of AI? I am a Computer Scientist. “The Profession” has been kicking around the capabilities now known as ‘AI’ for at least fifty years.
Apr 4, 2023 09:42:19 #
I'm not a professional - by no stretch, but I just plopped down a good sum on a new camera, three lenses and a few accessories. I'm an enthusiast who enjoys this hobby very much. I know I'm not alone. I don't think the industry is going to die any time soon. There are plenty of prosumers and enthusiasts to keep it alive IMHO.
Apr 4, 2023 10:16:11 #
billnikon wrote:
When smart phones can do this, I will use one, end of discussion.
Don't have to say any more, your pictures said it all.
Apr 4, 2023 10:17:37 #
A different point to consider.
I suggest the iPhone will expand photography. Today 86% of the people in the US have smart phones with cameras (google). The majority is taking photographs because they have a camera in their pockets, and the social media to share those photos. I suggest this will give birth to generations of photo enthusiast who will travel beyond the smart photo in their photography journey.
I suggest the iPhone will expand photography. Today 86% of the people in the US have smart phones with cameras (google). The majority is taking photographs because they have a camera in their pockets, and the social media to share those photos. I suggest this will give birth to generations of photo enthusiast who will travel beyond the smart photo in their photography journey.
Apr 4, 2023 10:45:48 #
Basil wrote:
I'm not a professional - by no stretch, but I just plopped down a good sum on a new camera, three lenses and a few accessories. I'm an enthusiast who enjoys this hobby very much. I know I'm not alone. I don't think the industry is going to die any time soon. There are plenty of prosumers and enthusiasts to keep it alive IMHO.
Apr 4, 2023 11:02:21 #
billnikon wrote:
When smart phones can do this, I will use one, end of discussion.
I went to an NHRA drag race with my lowly Canon Rebel. Shot Top Fuel dragster and Funny Cars. 0-100 in on second. 0-330+ in less than four seconds. Camera takes 6 or fewer frames per second, jpg. Forget trying it with RAW.. too slow.
Got a few great shots. Phone stayed in my pocket.
Apr 4, 2023 11:05:09 #
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