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Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

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41–50 of 77 posts

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#41

I'm a prosumer hobbyist with a Nikon D850 and a handful of expensive lenses that I enjoy, but I'm not sure I would buy them again. I love the experience of shooting with them and loath the experience of getting my images off the device and onto a computer or phone. It creates a film-like experience where by the time I get around to processing images I've often forgotten what I've shot. What I really want is an iPhone…

Have you tried wifi SD cards? https://thedroidguy.com/6-best-wifi-sd-cards-in-2019-1096952

Clunky at best

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#42

I'm a prosumer hobbyist with a Nikon D850 and a handful of expensive lenses that I enjoy, but I'm not sure I would buy them again. I love the experience of shooting with them and loath the experience of getting my images off the device and onto a computer or phone. It creates a film-like experience where by the time I get around to processing images I've often forgotten what I've shot. What I really want is an iPhone…

For a little while, Samsung was making an Android DSLR, which they called the Galaxy NX. It didn't make a big splash in the market, which I think is a shame.

I don't know how it holds up against newer DSLRs sensor-wise, but frankly I think those have long since surpassed my needs anyway. I might try to get my hands on one just to play with the software experience.

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#43
post #7

My new cellphone literally has a Hasselblad camera on it. I get all the things that make better cameras better, but I already have stupidly high end living in my pocket. It's not like that company would put their brand on anything crap. So, it's really basic economics. The middle of the market is getting eating by what used to be the bottom. So all that's left is the top

> It's not like that company would put their brand on anything crap.

No, but that company no longer exists and the owners of the brand really have no problem selling the name for use on crap. You simply bought into that myth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasselblad#Fuji,_Shriro,_Imaco...

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#44
post #11

Some niche markets are irrationally expensive e.g. bicycles.

They are expensive for rational reasons. What is irrational is thinking that an expensive bike makes you fast. My old self on a $11k bike has no chance of keeping up with my current self on a low-cost bike. If I were to occasionally race (too dangerous), an expensive bike wouldn't compensate for my lack of tactics and strategy.

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#45
post #6
post #2

Supply and demand. Everyone has a capable smart phone now. This removes the middle market for cameras, and only the pro/prosumer high end cameras which adds all sorts of bells and whistles.

Not sure precisely where you draw the prosumer line, but the article is also comparing the prices on the same models of pro camera over time and still seeing an upwards trend. I'd suspect this means that smartphones eating the middle-tier of cameras has had a spillover effect to also hurt the pro/prosumer market. I'd speculate that although even a cheap DSLR is still better than a good smartphone camera, the phones a…

I can confirm that with phone cameras (especially iPhone) where they are now, I feel no need to bring my 8 year old DSLR anywhere any more.

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#46
post #6
post #2

Supply and demand. Everyone has a capable smart phone now. This removes the middle market for cameras, and only the pro/prosumer high end cameras which adds all sorts of bells and whistles.

Not sure precisely where you draw the prosumer line, but the article is also comparing the prices on the same models of pro camera over time and still seeing an upwards trend. I'd suspect this means that smartphones eating the middle-tier of cameras has had a spillover effect to also hurt the pro/prosumer market. I'd speculate that although even a cheap DSLR is still better than a good smartphone camera, the phones a…

Honestly the weight doesn't appeal to me. I own a lovely DSLR, but I don't take it anywhere because I don't like lugging it around.

The smartphone serves most of my needs in a camera. Yeah the photos aren't as good, but they're good enough.

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#47

I'm a prosumer hobbyist with a Nikon D850 and a handful of expensive lenses that I enjoy, but I'm not sure I would buy them again. I love the experience of shooting with them and loath the experience of getting my images off the device and onto a computer or phone. It creates a film-like experience where by the time I get around to processing images I've often forgotten what I've shot. What I really want is an iPhone…

When shooting JPEG, I just use an Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter cable, and import straight to my phone (and iCloud Photo Library).

The cable is in my camera bag, and it takes less than a minute to do the import.

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#48

I'm a prosumer hobbyist with a Nikon D850 and a handful of expensive lenses that I enjoy, but I'm not sure I would buy them again. I love the experience of shooting with them and loath the experience of getting my images off the device and onto a computer or phone. It creates a film-like experience where by the time I get around to processing images I've often forgotten what I've shot. What I really want is an iPhone…

What is so difficult with removing an SD card and popping it into your PC? If you’re a prosumer, you probably review and edit photos, which is better done on a bigger monitor anyway.

It would be easier if I had more ports on my computer, but the trend from Apple and other computing providers is to reduce, streamline, and eliminate opportunities physical connectivity. Even with a top-end Macbook Pro, you've only got 4 ports. One for power, two for external monitors, and you're down to 1 for everything else. So I have a big nest of dongles and adapters to accommodate my keyboard, mouse, microphone, webcam, printer, yubikey, and camera card readers. It looks like a major fire hazard.

It's not the end of the world, but it's enough friction that I tend to handle review/editing in batch rather than after every shoot. That's a luxury that I have as a hobbyist, since nobody is expecting me to send them my edits right away.

UX is all about small changes that have a big impact to how you use something. And the physical inconvenience of digging through my adapter/dongle nest is a deterrent, as is the clunkiness of Adobe Lightroom.

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#49

I'm a prosumer hobbyist with a Nikon D850 and a handful of expensive lenses that I enjoy, but I'm not sure I would buy them again. I love the experience of shooting with them and loath the experience of getting my images off the device and onto a computer or phone. It creates a film-like experience where by the time I get around to processing images I've often forgotten what I've shot. What I really want is an iPhone…

Thanks for that comments, that’s help me a bit in my understanding but bear with me, I haven’t use a camera in 5 or 6 years.

My favorite methods was to remove the SD card from the device and plug it into my computer thought a clunky adaptor. Usually I would do that once a month.

Is that not a option anymore?

Re: Why have cameras and lenses become so expensive?

#50

I'm a prosumer hobbyist with a Nikon D850 and a handful of expensive lenses that I enjoy, but I'm not sure I would buy them again. I love the experience of shooting with them and loath the experience of getting my images off the device and onto a computer or phone. It creates a film-like experience where by the time I get around to processing images I've often forgotten what I've shot. What I really want is an iPhone…

I haven't tried one and don't know if it actually works in practice, but it sounds like you want the Zeiss ZX1[0]. It has Lightroom on the camera.

[0] https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/photography/zx1....

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