Everyone is now fully aware that professional Dslr are going to be replaced by mobile phone cameras. It is just a question of time. Already, this year, there has been more phone cameras sold than point and shoots. One main reason: Phone cameras can now do pretty much what any point and shoot delivers but are less bulky to carry, have multiple other useful functions and we carry them all the time. While Dslr cameras offer much more than point and shoots, they are already threaten by the high quality files delivered by phones.
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You could be right once they come up with a full frame 40mp phone with a zeiss lens
That Zeiss lens needs to zoom from an 8mm fisheye to 400mm and still fit in your pocket.
…and shoot 12 frames per second, with weather sealed body. Multi-point auto-focus and wireless flash transmission, custom white balance & ttl flash compensation. For starters.
While I do agree that cameras in phones are getting better every day, there will be a point when the form factor of the phone will limit that improvement. Unless engineers can shrink all what makes a DSLR into a phone, size of an iphone, galaxy S4, I think it will be tough for cameras on phones to really overcome the DSLRs.
Agree with Mike and Ted; there are size constraints to good optics, but then again there have been some pretty amazing (on screen, not print) photos taken with the Nokia 1020 with it’s “Zeiss” lens and 41MP sensor.
I get the author’s points about media being seen only on the screen, but to me this article sounds more like an advertisement for a startup industry (six companies are linked at the bottom) that is trying to justify its existence and build acceptance and awareness. Whether this fledgling industry actually takes flight remains to be seen.
More likely, functionality like this (selling stock images) will be adopted by instagram, which already has the large user base and the application.
I agree to a point on this statement. There will always be the photographer that want a certain depth in his or her image that a phone lens just cannot replicate. I personally use my DSLR’s far less on my event and wedding jobs in favour of the X100S, but for portraits, an 85 or 100mm on a 5DMK3 is the right tool for that look.
Hey, wait a minute…. Didn’t I read on this blog that photography is dying?! So what difference will it make?
I do agree with the editor up to the point and shoot comment. I personally sold mine and my kids point and shoot cameras. There are some great apps that will give you an outstanding outcome on your images. I have a Galaxy Note 3 and the I ages are amazing. Long way from replacing my DR though!
I don’t disagree. Still, one issue of “the future” is not that technology is getting so good but rather that camera makers are not meeting certain expectations of photographers — and not just the gray-haired ones.
With the current technology, it’s challenging to get a steady low light shot because you can’t brace the camera against one’s body without a proper viewfinder.
Also, unless screen brightness really ramps up (a bigger drain on battery consumption!), it’s impossible to see an LCD in a bright environment without a proper viewfinder. Forget those commissioned shots on the beach.
Also, are speedlites or some alternative flashes going to shrink, too? Unlikely. If not, why should I use a slim phone camera if I already have to carry a big camera (and a bulky flash, too).
Advances in technology is a good thing for photographesr. I do want a smaller professional camera. However, what I don’t want is a phone that’s a camera. Rather, I want a camera that’s a phone: a traditional styled camera that will accept a smartphone as a camera back. Until then, I’m pretty happy with what I have.
“r, I want a camera that’s a phone: a traditional styled camera that will accept a smartphone as a camera back. Until then, I’m pretty happy with what I have.”
Check out the new sony’s that do this. Sorry I can’t remember the model number… but basically they’re a lens/sensor cylinder that attaches to the phone physically and bluetoothily and uses the phone as the viewfinder and storage.
It’s not for me, but that is the kind of innovation I want to see – rethinking what a camera can be.
Also IGZO displays are just starting to be produced in mobile sized amounts and they offer 50% power reduction for the same brightness level. This should greatly help the LCD in the sun issue.
Dell actually has a coup in being the first to offer a near 4k 15″ IGZO on a pro-level laptop, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple does a mid-year refresh of the macbook to use them next spring.
Really? Everyone? Fully? It’s news to me.
I’ll use the one example I know the most about, where in theory a phone would be fine: street style fashion. It pretty much only exists on the web (Bill Cunningham still gets his in print, but that’s about it), is full of young, hip shooters, doesn’t really require great image quality, and images often need to be uploaded right away during things like a Fashion Week. And almost everyone uses a DSLR. Mostly for the shallow DOF, but also for things like durability and weather sealing, fast frame rate and focusing, and long lenses.
And this is just one example I know about. I’m sure there are many others. But I have a feeling this post was written by someone who doesn’t actually know much about photography in general.
…and DSLRs will make film cameras completely obsolete…and CDs will relegate LPs to the trashbin of history…always the new thing supposedly killing off the old.
New technologies maybe replace the old workhorses for the casual consumer — the typical point & shoot user probably only uses their camera to take pictures these days — but as everyone else has mentioned, a phone can’t and won’t be able to replace the quality, usability and versatility of a DSLR (or digital rangefinder).
Now, time to windup the Victrola so I can listen to 78s while I print in the darkroom…
funny logic in there. customer asks for image. photographer takes picture with phone and sends it in. doesnt need a DSLR for it. quite realistic if the customer asks for a portrait of a lion fighting an alligator. or a skydiver jumping off a cliff. etc etc. because all that is *of course* always in front of the photographer while he sits in his favourite caffe downtown waiting for clients to send requests he can shoot on his phone.. sweet mother of zeus..
I’ll buy the notion that camera phones could eliminate the need for most point-and-shoot cameras, but there are a lot of things you can do with a DSLR (not to mention medium format and other technologies) that you simply can’t do with a camera phone. So I think the death of the DSLR is greatly exaggerated. I think the bigger threat is camera phones have altered the notion of what constitutes a good photograph and has diluted the notion of quality photography.
I think the *SLR part will be strongly curtailed to a few niche products. Mirrorless cameras offer a lot of possibilities – you can redesign the whole idea of the shape and user experience of a camera when you don’t have a mirrorbox as the restricting factor.
I carry my NEX on vacation (with a nikon adapter and a couple of small primes) and love it. With the flipout LCD I can hold it like a waist level viewfinder, or above my head, or wherever makes a good composition. It has focus peaking so I can manually focus with the nikkors.
If someone really focused on making a professional level mirrorless camera line, I’d be all over that.
It’s close. Actually, OM-D E-M1 is as professional as they get. And Sony has released their full-frame cameras for people who want the additional resolution. I agree we’ll see more fragmented market and there will be certain well-developed niches. Ordinary people don’t care about more sophisticated aspects of photography, nor do they have such capacity. But that also means companies will focus on enthusiast and high-end products, which is a good thing for people who are interested.
The Sony A7 is pretty close to the size of my old Nikon FM (and I think they look very similar, too). So maybe we’ll just a least get back to where we were with 35mm film cameras. Because as much as I like my DSLR, it is annoyingly big and heavy at times.
I’m OK with chunky cameras because they balance out long and fat lenses well. Nobody makes a mirrorless that handles well with big lenses though.
Technically I can attach them to my NEX, but it looks silly and is hard to hold.
One could add things like handles, different grips, move the switches and buttons around… truly customize the unit for the job at hand, when you do away with premise of “must hold up to face to see”
When this happens, the only defining quality of larger sensors will be the control of Bokeh. Shallow depth of field cannot be had on a 1cm sensor.
Snap … I used my iPhone yesterday on a commercial product shoot. The client needed a macro shot of the interior of an electronic device. I stuffed the iPhone into the tiny space, snapped and all was good. Client pleased.
I’ve ditched all my DSLR gear. It’s overpriced antiquated gear. Are some of you are familiar with the Sony qx100? I love using my iphone & I get amazing resolution. I also incorporate a iPro lens system which is incredibly sharp. Didn’t Ansel Adams say “Your equipment DOES NOT affect the quality of your image.” It’s the artist not the gear.
I’m excited for the future & what it holds & I’ll be shooting it with my smart phone.
Depends on what kind of images you produce. For snapshot style images – maybe (if smart phones get multiple lenses or zoom lenses. Their current wide angle is highly insufficient).
For all others:
Canon’s going to introduce a medium format camera within the next year. A higher megapixel professional dslr is expected next year as well. Hasselblad, Phase One, and Mamiya have good business. Not only will many photographers continue to use professional dslrs, we also want larger and larger sensors.
A tool depends on what to do with it.
But maybe I’ll soon be able to make a phone call from my professional dslr…
I am not sure they will replace DSLRS, (in their form they can’t do everything a dslr can do) I do believe however, that they are responsible for and will continue to radically change the DSLR world. No one would have predicted that you would be able to shoot movies with a DSLR, download your images almost instantaneously to your PC or network or magazine, that’s a direct response to the cell phone. I am sure that if the DSLR makers don’t continue to evolve, they 9dslrs) will be replaced. So it will not be because of the CP but the DSLR’S makers failure to adjust to changes.
One thing that will make this a slow change for commercial photographers is that many clients still expect a photographer to arrive with a big Canon, or big Nikon. Unless some company starts making a giant grip system for smartphones, we’re going to have trouble convincing some clients that a smartphone is “good enough”. Obviously we know that photographers bring ideas, and not gear, but the confidence levels of some clients drives a requirement for impressive gear.
I think this is a non issue,it’s a small camera with a phone ,so what. Rangefinders have been around for years but I won’t use one, I love the SLR format. I’m not all that thrilled about how you shoot with a camera phone so if I have a choice I’ll go with the SLR.
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