Death of the SLR? Maybe not, but...

On Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:09:05 -0700 (PDT), eNo
wrote:

Rumored death of the DSLR
by eNoBlog on Oct.29, 2009
http://esfotoclix.com/blog1/?p=781

Ben Gottesman has written an insightful article (http://
www.gearlog.com/2009/10/death_of_the_dslr.php#more) predicting a
downturn of DSLR sales once large frame all-in-one cameras, akin to
the Canon Sureshot of film days come out. As someone who switched from
a Canon SLR, a lowly T50, to a Sureshot some time around 1992, I
certainly identify with Gottesman argument and think it makes a great
deal of sense.

I do look, however, upon the advent of this transition with some
reluctance and sadness. I have never learned and grown so much in my
photography, as in the last two years of DSLR ownership. Gottesman is
ultimately right, however. Consumers will value high quality and
simplicity of an all-in-one over the complexity and wealth of features
of a DSLR. Achy backs and necks no doubt will welcome the lightened
load as well.

Ultimately, however, this won’t spell the “death” of DSLRs in general,
as much as it will hurt sales of entry level, low-end DSLRs. The
professional will still have use, and indeed, need of the DSLR
advantage that no simple camera can bring.

There's an important difference this time around, though: the sensor.
With film cameras the film, of course was sold separately. Digital
cameras include the sensor, and there's a cost for higher quality. If
camera makers cut corners on sensor quality to bring price down,
consumers wanting greater image quality will still have incentive to
get DSLRs.