Are the days of the DSLR numbered?

dezza · Feb 12, 2012

The new concept cameras from Nikon, Fujifilm and Sony, just might be indicating that. They are cameras which remind you of the early Leicas, with compact bodies and interchangable lenses. But that's where it stops.

The Nikon 1V1 works like a DSLR but is mirrorless. No dirty great clonk as you press the shutter. OK, at the moment the range of lenses is small but watch this space.

The Fujifilm looks like a Leica M3. And I do like the Sony NEX-7CSC.

But they are quite pricey, the Nikon selling for £750, the other two for over £1200.00

But they certainly look the bus, and a hell of a lot smaller and lighter than any equivalent DSLR.

Is this the trend for modern cameras? I hope it is.

Morespiders · Feb 12, 2012

Theres nothing like the clonk of a Brownie 127 Ron

beerweasel · Feb 12, 2012

I never saw the point of DSLRs, having a 3 inch screen on the back makes the viewfinder pointless.
I think the future will be in bridge cameras, already you can have a camera with a zoom lens range of 28-500 mm.
I like the look of the nikon L120.

paul80 · Feb 12, 2012

For me the biggest issue with all these new digital cameras is that most are missing one of the most important items

And that is a view finder, without a view finder you cannot hold the camera steady so need image stabilisation, with only a screen on the back it is difficult to view the screen in bright sunny conditions, and with only a screen they are a pain to use if you need to wear glasses.

The is only about 1 digital compact camera with a view finder and that is the Canon G, vertualy all the rest, including all the super expensive retro stilled cameras like the Olympus Pen.

For me the digital bridge type cameras offer the best of both worlds, with the Fuji offerings being up there with the best of them.

Paul

chav professor · Feb 12, 2012

DSLRs like everything else will have their day, but at the moment I do not believe they can be bettered. Perhaps I am a bit like Mrs Doyle on Father Ted, I like the inconvenience (of making tea in preference to the automatic tea making machine) of using a clunky body of an SLR and the reasuring click of a shutter.

I have a Nikon D60 and to view, you need to look through the view finder.... If i ask someone to take a pic they are so used to holding it at arms length to look at the screen on the back

mg:

The picture quality and versatility of a DSLR make them superior to anything else on the market. Give me £1200 to spend on a camera and I would upgrade to a professional body DSLR rather than a piece of speculative technology - but then I have got back into using cane rods again

MarkTheSpark · Feb 13, 2012

What makes SLRs better than screen-view cameras is that you are seeing the actual image, not some pixelated version of the image.

Even the very best LCD screens have only 640 pixels width, and that's not enough to determine critical focus. Additionally, LCD screens eat battery life like no tomorrow.

Non-SLR viewfinders suffer from parallax error, so are little use professionally (other than on innocuous-looking 'street' cameras). And I might add that my D700 incorporates Live View, using the LCD screen if that's what you want to do.

To the poster who said you can now get zoom lenses of 28-300mm, that's true. But they're rubbish. A whole world of distortion and softness.

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) · Feb 13, 2012

I just look at stuff and 'remember it' in my brain.

MarkTheSpark · Feb 13, 2012

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) said:
I just look at stuff and 'remember it' in my brain.

LOL!!!! U jus so buff Corker. I was like WOW innit wen I red wot you rote and stuff, U crease me up an'at

(copyright Yoof 2012)

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) · Feb 13, 2012

Glad u like it! I thought it up with my own mind and that

dezza · Feb 15, 2012

The biggest problem with DSLRs is the weight and bulk you have to carry around. I met an American pro photographer on my last trip to Oz who was using a Leica M8 digital camera for all his work at that time. He was quite impressed with my little Nikon P7000.

I happened to mention the enormous price of his Leica. He agreed, and there was no doubt that Leica was ripping people off with what was very basic equipment indeed.

Now that we have Nikon, Sony and others looking at this type of camera, we can expect some remarkable innovations in the future at affordable prices.

caesarson · Feb 15, 2012

I got myself the Sony NEX-5 when it forst came out, and now the range of E-Mount lenses has grown. I wouldn't swap for anything else. The Sony Alpha has not seen the outside of the case for over a year now.

Colin Brett · Feb 17, 2012

Still got your D300 Nikon Ron? You know the best thing since sliced bread you raved about a couple or so years back.

dezza · Feb 17, 2012

Colin Brett said:
Still got your D300 Nikon Ron? You know the best thing since sliced bread you raved about a couple or so years back.

Yes I've still got it, and for certain work it's excellent. But since then, digital camera technology has moved on a pace and as I see it there is no doubt that lots of pro photographers are looking for small, light easily transportable cameras that will give quality results, equal to the DSLR.

Camera technology doesn't stand still.

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) · Feb 17, 2012

I notice in the news that a number of Olympus executives have been arrested regarding a huge cover up to hide $1.7 billion losses over the last few years.

Where could this lead?

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC) · Feb 17, 2012

Cleethorpes Camera Exchange?

dezza · Feb 17, 2012

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) said:
I notice in the news that a number of Olympus executives have been arrested regarding a huge cover up to hide $1.7 billion losses over the last few years.

I used to have great respect for Olympus in the 70s and 80s. For a period I owned an Olympus OM 1 which was probably the best 35mm SLR I ever had.

Today, Olympus can't hold a candle to Canon, Nikon or Sony.

Jeff Woodhouse · Feb 17, 2012

Ron The Hat Clay said:
Today, Olympus can't hold a candle to Canon, Nikon or Sony.

My Olympus suits me, takes decent pictures and it's nice and fairly light. At least I can take it fishing with me if I choose to, can't say that about a D300, I know because Graham used to leave his at home rather than carry the excess weight.

dezza · Feb 17, 2012

I know what I would have if money was no object. A Leica M9P at £5595.00 body only and half a dozen Leica lenses.

And they start at about 4 grand!

Jeff Woodhouse · Feb 17, 2012

Ron The Hat Clay said:
I know what I would have if money was no object. A Leica M9P at £5595.00 body only and half a dozen Leica lenses. And they start at about 4 grand!

But why when you just said that a guy with a Leica M8 was suitably impressed with your little Nikon? Loads of cameras starting around £150 today will take very good pictures providing the user knows how to take a decent picture to begin with. You just don't need to spend loads of money unless it's to impress others who might know what they're looking at, but if they don't then the most expensive camera in the world isn't going to work. Especially if the user doesn't know how to use it.

dezza · Feb 18, 2012

What this guy liked about my little Nikon was the fact that it could be set up to work manually, either shutter priority, or aperture priority, just like the M8. What he didn't like was the lack of a shutter speed dial on the camera.

The latest Nikon 1V is better.

But the Leica is completely basic and you would have to know a little bit how a camera works to use it. No point and shoot here. More like photographic purism, combined with the best electronics and optics money can buy.

If money were no object I would buy a Leica .

By the way, the photos in my latest photo feature in Coarse Angling Today were processed using my Nikon P7000.

Are the days of the DSLR numbered?

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