Are DSLR's on their way out?

Actually, it's not phone cameras that could soon challenge DSLRs, it's the mirrorless systems.

I looked at about 2/3 of the images linked and only saw a couple that I'd call "decent". Only a few looked even marginally sharp and I seriously doubt any of them could be printed at an 8 x 10 size. The only cameras endangered by photos taken with a smartphone/android are the simple point & shoot compacts and declining sales of those cameras are proof. The majority of people whose only interest in photography is to take snapshots of family and friends and be able to actually recognize the people and places in the pictures will be satisfied with the low quality of snapshots taken with their smartphone/android. These are the same people whose parents and grandparents were happy with the results from their Kodak 126 or 110 Instamatics.

Those with a serious interest in photography, whether as an advanced amateur or professional, will continue to buy DSLR cameras and lenses for them.

Do you think a smartphone/android could take a picture like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drifter45h/4048796836... If you look at the face at the bottom about 2/3 to the left you can read "Louisville's Ali" - the picture is of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight boxing champion who was born in Louisville, Kentucky.

or this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drifter45h/7308479950...

So don't worry about the future of the DSLR. There will be further evolution as the current crop of mirror-less cameras and Sony's Translucent Mirror Technology influences DSLR design but a large sensor and interchangeable lens capability will never be replaced.

Smartphone cameras won't ever match a dedicated camera. It's not their primary function. While a smartphone camera improves, so would dslr technology.

Eventually Light Field Cameras will take over. But not for a while since it's a new technology and not at the level of current leading dslr yet.

Check it out, multiple focus photography, shoot without worrying about focus. So easy a caveman can do it. The technology could even move into the motion picture industry.

http://www.lytro.com/

Smartphones are killing the pocket camera market, true enough, and the manufacturers admit this, but they've had no impact whatsoever on the sales of Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILCs).

ILC cameras include DSLRs, and the overall sales of ILCs are rising, not falling. DSLRs are evolving as they always have, and the balance of the major players when you take the ILC sector as a whole has already changed to the point where you may see some consolidation over the next few years.

Hell no. Phone cameras will never replace DSLRs.

Is film on their way out too? Will the lens industry go out too ?