« Expanding on the Opus | Main | The new Firefox 3. »
June 06, 2008
Is 2008, the year of the DSLR?
Terry's probably noted before, that there is a second coming in Photography, in the way of Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras. Amateur and family photographers have been chimping on their Digital Point and Shoots for a long while now and many are looking for the next leap forward. In many ways, the state of technology is such that barriers to entry have fallen, in terms of pricing, good-enough picture quality, ease of use and portability. Sony have joined in the fray and are frightening the big two - Canon and Nikon. Not in terms of professional use or perceived professional use - because establishing a reliability, longevity, comfort level and rental market is not an overnight thing. But in terms of making DSLRs very approachable to the Point and Shooters. Olympus has been doing sterling work in portability and Pentax is a long soldier in providing value for money.
But, even within the same brand, the new buyer has a tough time time making up his or her mind. This is the phenomenon of electronics affecting the equipment pricing, longevity and shelf life. In every brand, you have overlaps between outgoing, heavily discounted models and incoming new models with new features. For example, Olympus has the e-410 and e-510 being replaced by the e-420 and the e-520. Sure, the new models look juicy, but the hot deal now is an e-510 two lens kit for about AUD 1000. Last Christmas, it was still AUD 1500. Nikon's redoubtable and favoured D40 refuses to go away - this in light of the D40X, D50 and the new D60. And now the D80, one level up, is being heavily discounted. The Canon EOS 350D could still be found. In the midst of the EOS 400D, the new EOS 450D. And the 40D is being heavily discounted.
Every end of financial year sees particular products being pushed by retailers. I remember, it used to be LCD screens. Printers. Then, laptops. Of course, slow moving Hifi stock. This year, DSLRs are in the picture, so to speak.
Are you in the market? Confused? Well, guess what, advice comes to you from everywhere. Even computer magazines. What do computer magazines know about DSLRs? Probably more than what your neighbourhood department store knows about the motor oil or vehicle battery they sell. How much more? Hmmm...
Posted by Anandasim at June 6, 2008 01:09 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://bleedingedge.com.au/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1501