Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Excellent way to make the point!!

alexol

Misses the point completely.

Reread the OP.

Nothing is saying that long lenses will be replaced by cellphones - yet - as...

(a) the miniaturized technology either isn't there yet OR isn't there yet at a marketable price

and

(b) there probably isn't that much interest in that kind of photography (very good though it is) by celphone users.

No-one suggesting for a second that robotic surgery for example is now suitable for all surgeries. Wait, and it wil be.

Similarly, cameras as we know them are dying. Simple, unarguable fact. This is partially borne out by the average age on this forum, which is probably 147;)

We are becoming old and irrelevant; technology marches on. Embrace or deny as you like.

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

Interesting comment, yet most camera companies producing mirrorless camera's are staying in business. ( I wonder why that is, you wonder too, please keep reading and I'll tell you)
My son and his buddies produce documentaries for various companies, their main camera is the Sony, several models are designed for video recording professional documentaries.
I visited there studio in NY and their is a GROWING number of YOUNG photographers using Sony and other mirrorless camera's to do professional presentations.
They told me a growing number of KIDS are into it, and NONE of them seem to be using phones, it is all being done on mirrorless camera's from various manufactures.
I put forward this, most folks here are two old to keep up on the latest trends by YOUNGER people.
And YOUNGER people are using the same camera's as us, but they are doing video's instead of stills.
LONG LIVE MIRRORLESS CAMERA'S. Just ask anyone younger than 50.

CrazyJane Loc: Limbo

Serious photographers, primarily professionals, will always use cameras. Recreational and amateur photographers will use just about anything that works. The market for serious cameras will shrink but it won't disappear. The market for point-and-shoot cameras will likely dry up.

alexol

I have two mirrorless cameras, one is brand new Fuji XT-5 received a few weeks ago, which I'm sure I'll enjoy using. During that time, since I bought my camera, parts of the extended family signed up for some special Verizon deal and took delivery of 9 top-end celphones between them. 1:9.

At Thanksgiving dinner (21 people) and Christmas dinners (2, totaling 32 people, different from the Thanksgiving lot) just one person was using a camera, although just about everyone was taking snapshots with their phones. 1:43.

Simple fact: camera sales are in steep decline, and the ratio of cameras to celphones is increasing exponentially.

Regrettably, the "GROWING number of YOUNG photographers using Sony and other mirrorless camera's to do professional presentations" - which I'm sure is correct - represents a miniscule drop in a very large bucket.

This conversation isn't about image quality - some of the phots on this site are spectacular, others would be an embarrassment to a Kodak Brownie user - but is simply referring to camera sales volume, nothing else.

Dedicated cameras will be around for a while for specific purposes, but "around" almost certainly won't be long a time, and probably shorter than many of us think.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

They were not using the phone to take photos, they were using the camera.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Do you have any idea just how ridiculous that sounds?! Older music sounds better in analog because it is older music!

It has absolutely nothing to do with the age of the music or even the actual music itself. It has to do with the nature of sound waves and light waves and sine waves. Sound is analog, it is vibrations in the air. Even digital recording are played back with speakers that vibrate the air to create sound. I'm not going to go into more detail; everything I'm saying may be looked up on the internet. Also, there is a lot of good music being made today, and a whole lot of other music. Just because it may not be your taste in music, doesn't mean it is not good music, and sound waves don't care what kind of music it is or how popular it is.

JeffL Loc: New Jersey

Look, it is really quite simple. A lot of people, in every age group, spend way too much time on their phones. Texting, Tik Tok, emails, and actually talking to other people. So, having a handy camera which takes decent photos on the device you carry constantly means you don't have to carry another device to take photos. For 99% of the smartphone users picture quality and all the things you can do with a standalone camera are not major factors, recording events and places in your life is. And, if the photos are decent quality all the better. The smartphone camera technology is just a convenience factor for most people. And, they don't have to learn more than point and shoot.

Hemp Imagery

& Now i have that song in my head. Thanks & LMBO !

Hemp Imagery

Awesome imagery ! Thanks for sharing !

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

Family snapshots, record keeping, travel snapshots to say "I was there" - yes. Long distance, art work, large prints, macros, etc. - NO

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

Mirrorless camera's continue to sell at an all time high. Just as high as DSLR's in 2010-2018 area.
No one can predict with any certainty what the camera market will be in the future, no one, not even you.
The vast majority of Professionals and advanced shooters will NOT be using cellphones anytime soon.
The casual shooters will use there phones instead of camera's, no instruction book needed, no thinking involved, they are popular for the same reason the first Kodak camera was popular, the person using it does not have to think, just point and shoot.
But for those of us who cherish the process, we will always have a great camera at our disposal.
For no phone can do, or will ever be able to do the following.
People will continue to use their phones to take images, yes, this will continue and the vast majority of folks will use them for that reason, and they do a very good job at that, but they cannot do EVERYTHING, that's why there will always be a market for instruments that do a much better job than phones.

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

________________________________(reply)
WHEN HAS PHOTOGRAPHY BEEN STAGNANT FOR MORE THAN A DECADE?---Throughout it's nearly two hundred year history. And photography's progression has also shaped the other visual arts along the way.

That said, the algorithmic results of smartphones offer only convenience, not quality. Much like the Kodak box in the earlier era of professional camera men. The more phones the better. There is no way you get photos from them except synthetically. Yes,---selfies are the norm. My relatives all use the latest phone cameras and the "long-arm" of selfies. And technically all the photos are rotten. But yet better than nothing---like the box Kodak.

This could and should be an opportunity for the "two tiered" photography model---------the pros and the Kodak successors. (amateur should be left out of the vocabulary) This is an opportunity for events pros and those simply wanting technically good representation. But like with the simple Kodaks, old people look better in a blur without much detail and will be therefor popular. Which then puts a burden on real photographers to depend on exhibiting character in the increased resolution, detail and renderings o capable cameras. Again---cell phone cameras increase the need for good cameras for those who know how to take advantage of their capabilities.------------------ew

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Today's best phone cameras are way better than box Kodaks, or even modern point and shoot film cameras. The quality of your relatives' phone photographs goes to show that even with a cell phone, skill in photography still matters. When you look at the best cell phone photos, they are professional quality, because the photographers know the capabilities of phone cameras and work within that.
I don't know why amateurs should be left out of the discussion. The two tiers I would suggest are serious photographers and point and shoot photographers. There are plenty of serious amateur photographers who are doing professional quality work. They are just doing it as a hobby rather than a profession.

alexol

Anyone who considers celphones suitable only for selfies and snapshots either has their head in the sand or just isn't paying attention.

All these are taken with an iPhone - I'm an Android guy myself - and are very easily better than 90% of the images seen on this site. (Yes, we have some VERY talented photographers on the Hog!)

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gallery/2022/aug/15/best-of-the-iphone-photography-awards-2022-in-pictures