Does this bother anyone else?

[Amin]

And can you IMAGINE Amin going a year without buying a camera?! He runs (at least) 3 web forums dedicated to cameras! No, he's good..... he doesn't need anything else. (Well, maybe just a couple for the boys )

I was only kidding about the no new cameras in 2013 .

 

[Luke]

I was only kidding about the no new cameras in 2013 .

I thought perhaps you were in denial. I'm glad you're well.

 

[dixeyk]

I love my digital cameras, I really do, because they allow my to shoot lots, guilt-free.

But two things bother me about digitals. The first is that I seem to belong to the camera of the month club. No sooner do you buy a camera, but the next new "improved" version of it comes out . . . and you don't know if it will actually be improved . . . there may be some tweaks or changes that are regress instead of progress.

Second, what do you suppose the lifetime of digital camera actually is? My Olympus D-550 is still taking pictures after nearly 10 years, but what if I sunk a couple of kilobucks into a high-end system . . . would I be able to get it fixed five years down the road or ten years out?

My 40-year-old Pentaxes are still repairable and usable, although I wouild hate to go back to film.

What do you think? Are our digital cameras basically disposable items?

I think they folks who make them want us to think of them as disposable yes. I think the pressure to buy the latest and greatest is pretty high because that idea gets reinforced everywhere we look. It's hard to resist but not impossible (although I've bought and sold my fair share of gear the past few years). The cameras we see every year are products and the companies that make them need to keep making sales. It's how the system works. Except for some notable exceptions I don't find they change that much year to year. Look at mu-43 cameras. IQ wise there really wasn't much significant change from the E-P1 and G1 until the E-M5. Features changed, speed and AF improved but that old models still makes nice images. I think a lot of the features are fun but not essential. Look at something like an M8 or M9. They tend to be pretty short on things like art filters, video and image stabilization but instead focus on the basics of image making.

I myself decided to go all manual focus with my NEX (an "outdated" 5n) and be done with it. I have no native lenses, shoot all manual and don't even use flash. I miss some stuff because I don't have AF, IBIS etc. but it's not the end of the world. It's a lot like using my old all manual film SLR. It feels kind of liberating. In fact the main reason I went with digital instead of going back to film was the cost of decent developing and prints (and having to scan images to share). It was waaaay cheaper and more convenient to keep digital.

 

[Country Parson]

Yes, I too am getting worn down by the constant flow of new cameras. I have begun to thin out my systems and concentrate on less variety, probably staying with NEX and dropping the Xpro system. The grass will always look greener on the other side of the fence, but most of us can do well without going over there.

 

[Ray Sachs]

Ray, I'm not picking on you.....this could easily apply to anyone here. I just happen to remember this post of yours vividly Outta GAS... - Micro Four Thirds User Forum because I was green with envy. IMAGINE how great it must feel to be wanting of nothing....totally satisfied with one's gear.

OK, busted. Well and totally BUSTED!

But...

Even in that post, I left the door open for something like the OMD body. I just didn't think it would come as quickly as it did, but really six months is a lifetime in digital camera technology. Its not quite the 18 months you need for Moore's law to kick in, but its a fairly long time in terms of new stuff eclipsing the old. So the OMD was covered there. The thing I really didn't think I'd do, right up to the moment I did it, was buy something like the X-Pro. I surprised myself (if absolutely NOBODY ELSE!) on that one. I really didn't see myself getting it, even once I knew about how good it would be. When I bought it on an impulse I fully understood it was a pure and total indulgence - it wasn't plugging any hole or filling any unmet need, and I thought there was a good possibility I wouldn't end up keeping it long. I just underestimated how much I'd love the variety in shooting experience that I get with that camera. It was a total luxury that I'm extremely lucky to be able to own. And I still go around on which lenses to have for which system so that I don't have too much overlap and both systems have reasonably defined roles in my shooting. That will continue to shake out over the next year or two I'm sure, as Fuji fills out its lens lineup. I wouldn't totally discount the possibility of moving mostly to Fuji with an additional body and more lenses, with m43 filling a really minor role with just a couple of specialty lenses. But I'd anticipate that's a long way off if it ever happens and my general attitude toward variety pretty much argues against it.

I plead fully guilty on that one. So I obviously don't have any credibility in any similar statements I make today. But nonetheless, what I wrote then was absolutely what I felt then and what I write now is absolutely what I feel now. And only time will tell what I feel NEXT year this time! But only if I've replaced either the X-Pro or OMD will I plead guilty! I WILL buy and sell a few more lenses (buy mostly Fuji, sell mostly m43) and I may buy another compact. I seriously doubt I'll feel any need for another m43 body (although if we do a big trip next summer and Fuji hasn't gotten some of their promised lenses to the street by then, I may buy a used second m43 body and then sell it within a few months - a rental of sorts).

Thanks for keeping me honest!

-Ray

 

[Luckypenguin]

To be fair to Ray, the E-M5 was a camera that no one was quite able to predict jut how good it was going to be, and the X-Pro1 is the interchangeable lens version of the X100 that many had hoped for. Both of those cameras were two of the very best from the last 12 months.

 

[Archiver]

There are quite a few enthusiasts who keep only one or two cameras and move to the latest and greatest digital camera when they come out. Then there are hoarders like me who just keep adding to the collection. At the rate that technology and consumerism pushes along, in a few years we will see some excellent cameras at very affordable price points, even better and cheaper than what we see now.

Here's an analogy from the audio market. Up until about 2006, the only solution for high quality portable audio recording was the Sony Hi-MD. Limited to 1GB per disc and a few hours of battery life, Hi-MD was the only portable high fidelity recording solution. Then solid state recorders came on to the market, and now I have a Sony digital recorder that records in better than CD quality WAV files, supports up to 32GB microSDHC cards, and the rechargeable AA's will last for dozens of hours. And at a price point that is cheaper than Hi-MD recorders were in their day. As much as I like MD and Hi-MD, using the new recorders is just easier, cheaper and better.

High end equipment will remain the province of pros who can write it off on tax and monied enthusiasts who just really want it, so repairing such cameras in decades to come won't be an issue for most. And I think that by the time this gear gives out, there will be cameras that do a lot more for a lot less money, which makes replacement a bit of a doddle. The trick is picking a lens system that will still be supported, or factor the possibility of replacing lenses as well.

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I guess I'm at the opposite extreme from hoarding.

Actually went to my Flickr and saw I had posted nothing since Dec 2010 and then looked on my camera (G1) and the last picture I took was August of 2011. How does time go by so fast? Yet this year I've been to Montana 3 times, Saskatchewan, Kananaskis in Alberta and various places here in BC. Every picture I've taken has been with my phone - not entirely by choice. Been thinking about that and realized it is mainly because I'm not happy with the capabilities of the G1 anymore given where technology has gone and it technically is not my camera as it belongs to my work and nothing on the market has had the list of features I want in a rangefinder style body for a price I want. Add to it the irritation with the fact that the technology is there - just companies messing around trying to differentiate products forcing you into higher end which for a number of reasons (mostly stubbornness and no range finder style body) for me is a no go. The best example I can give you is NEX7 - if it had decent bracketing (save RAWS and more stops) I'd have bought it the day it came out but no Sony wants you to buy a big body if you want to bracket. I also know that I never buy and sell - in fact I realized I have never in my life put something up for sale in a paper or internet or anything. I buy the features I want and then keep it forever or I throw it or give it away or in some cases I have had somebody approach me to sell something I have and sold it. I have never liked the concept or action of discussing a price with somebody. If the features are not there I don't buy. Do I miss out on lots of opportunities? Yeah I guess so like this year - but at the point of sale I'm usually over-whelmed with disgust at the idea of buying something I know I don't want just to play. Anyway that is just me.

That said I've about convinced myself that the x-e1 is close enough even though - not weatherproof, about 5 or so mp short, one stop short on bracketing and a little high priced. On the other hand maybe the dynamic range of the sensor is good enough that another stop of bracketing don't matter, maybe it is tough enough and maybe 16 high quality megapixels is enough - maybe. We will see when the camera is in one hand and visa is in the other. The IQ is awesome even at high ISO and so I know the sensor is good as are the lenses and the lens roadmap looks about ideal for me. If Fujifilm comes out with a FF rangefinder ILC for a semi-decent price I'll probably be there.

-Ed-