When will "DSLR Wars" end?

With every new release, I think, "This must be it."

I love reading car reviews. One year the 2005 Whatzat Deluxe is "the best car ever made." In 2006, something else will be the new best car ever made. In 2007, they will be calling the 2005 Whatzat Deluxe a brick that doesn't deserve to share the road with the newly released 2008 Whatzat Super Deluxe.

Cameras are the same way.

Who ever thought lenses would have effective vibration reduction technology? In fact, who ever thought they NEEDED it?

Who ever thought we would have in-camera dynamic range adjustments? Who ever thought it was possible?

As it stands right now, the major players seem to have fielded cameras with "everything" you could want. Well, maybe not. When are the top pro cameras going to have a pop-up flash or other light source to trigger slaves? Will they really refine eye-tracking to the point that it is fast and effective? How high can the ISO's go and how clean can the images become?

As I sit here and think about what I NEED in a camera, there is precious little that I can even imagine. I thought I was "done" when I bought my previous camera, because I just couldn't imagine anything better. I owned it for two years and loved it every minute until the upgrade came out. Man, it was just so much better in so many respects with so many features I had not even dreamed of that I now find I can't live without...

I don't need more that 5-6 fps. Live view is great when I need it for special applications. A touch of Active D-Lighting really can save an shot. I haven't learned to use Auto-ISO, but some swear it's the best thing since white bread. These are all things that didn't even exist in DSLR's just a couple of years ago.

"What will they think of next?" comes to mind. I sure haven't thought of it yet. The war's over for me for quite some time to come.

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The war will never end, I hope!

The dSLR market is just too juicy and rich for any manufacturer who makes money in it to quit, or even to afford losing the share. So they will keep on fighting, giving us better cameras, better lenses and better accessories all at affordable prices!

But if the war ever ends, we'll end up with overpriced, undersupported, ugly and lacking in features and quality cameras!

Because when the manufacturers compete - consumers win!

LEM.

P.S....

Ok, actually I think I know an answer to your question!

dSLR War will end when new technology is developed, whatever it will be, and will become as popular as dSLR's are popular now. Then most manufacturers will quit producing dSLR's and will start making ummm.. quantum-laser-plasma-polymorphic cameras. So there will be a war at that front, while nobody will be interested in competing in the shrinking dSLR market, and digital altogether will slowly die out, with only a few dedicated manufacturers continuing supplying their loyal dSLR customers, while the users of qlpp cameras will look at them skeptically, the way many people who shoot digital look a film enthusiasts now! Some colleges though will require their students to master digital before doing any qlpp work, so that they understand the basics of how a camera works and how to operate certain controls and functions, so that they will have a better understanding of the roots of photography!

"DSLR manufacturers are firing out new models every six months"

Mrh?

I thought only Nikon was doing that?

They seemed to have tapped into some low-budget-consumer goldmine,though, with teh d40/6D

Canon has the 300-.4k D, and thats been around For-Ev-Er, yet it's still raping Nikon in sales(according to POP photo and others)

Canon is being Active with all its clever marketing and their Masterful White L-glass is the image attached to Pretty Much all Pro Photography. The NFL give canon it's blessings also. Sublimating Cannon Systems litter the sidelines at every freakin game.

~

Nikon Doesn't seem to do as much as canon. I rarely see the Nikon advering. Well, except for that cool Motorcycle Advert. Nikon seems to sit "in the cut" and let its quality products do the talking. I think someone earlier mentioned that Ken Rockwell and the Thomas hogan dude are like advertisers for Nikon products.Nikon is just kewl like that.

It wont end. I'm sure Sony or Pentax will release something sweet and then we will have a mini WW3 going on with lots of supporters for each system

. I mean..All Sony and Pentax needs is a few more lenses and they'd probably take alot of Nikon and Canon people out of the picture..In body stabilization is crucial. Nikon and Canon lack that.

I hope never!

Competition keeps the camera makers from being stagnant and forces them to make things better. The camera makers are more apt to look at what you are wanting if the competition is heavy.

Look at Microsoft. With them, you get what they want to give you because they essentially have no competition(I know Apple and Linux exist, but their comparative market share is nothing that Microsoft worries about at this time).

If it's anything like the movie Demolition Man where after the restaurant wars, all restaurants are Taco Bell.....I hope Nikon wins and all cameras are Nikon. That's what I have and like, so that would be the side I pick.

Any transformation is likely gradual, deliberate, and slowly evolves into a new reality. Whenever existing conditions are not sustainable a change will bring about a new and improved reality. Thus, the most hurt are those who created the need for change. Insustainability is usually caused by undue stresses and strains on a system of checks and balances until it is no longer viable. Transformation of our nature does not necessarily start with a destruction but with a recognition of those stressers that are not sustainable. In tyrannical societies the stresses of maintaining the tyranny are always present until a revolution brings everyone to a breaking point where destruction and rebuilding are necessary to bring about a more sustainable society.

DSLR photography doesn't need to be over-complicated. This online photography course has been developed for beginners - intermediate levels and will teach you how to make the best use of your DSLR camera. https://tr.im/iuVPA

Learning how to confidently use your DSLR will help you get full value out of this awesome camera you have already paid for!

This course has been developed after seeing many potential photographers give up far too soon, wasting good money they have spent on the purchase of their DSLR camera.

Thats the way the market works. You have to keep making new products if you want to stay ahead of the game.

My problem is that they are pushing out products that have glitches. If one company would just hold off for like a year or two and push out a really great camera with no glitches they would make more money and have a better reputation

The new arrivals to the SLR world Canon and Nikon might suffer the twin attacks from below and above, with the resurgent long time SLR King, Pentax, and even newer Sony chipping away at the bottom and middle of the market.

Particularly as Canon is trying to position their top end cameras at the edges of the medium format market that might suffer from fallout from the emerging medium format wars.

Hasselblad's decision to freeze out third party back and lens suppliers from their latest offerings seems to have backfired.

For example Phase one have now switched from making digital backs for Hasselblads to working with Mamiya to produce their own camera bodies. And they are compatible with third party lens suppliers such as Carl Zeiss etc.

http://photography.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_me...

I think it will slow down considerably in the near future, today would be good. Camera design is fully utilizing available technology. It will take some significant advances in sensor technology before we see any major changes. CMOS has been advancing rapidly in comparison to CCD. This, I hope, will drive advances in CCD technology, which are in the R&D stage, into production.

I don't need a new camera until they can tripple dynamic range and equally reduce noise.