I just received the September/October 2007 issue of Digital Photo Pro magazine. I wrote an article for this issue called “The Upgrade Game”, so receiving my copy got me thinking more about this topic. I’ve been giving some thought to the digital photography upgrade cycle over the past five years or so.
As is no surprise to any photographer who has actually held a camera in their hand over the past five years, the rate of development in the world of digital photography has been nothing short of astonishing. And as technology has developed at a frantic rate, photographers have seemed equally frantic to upgrade their camera gear, hardware, and software on a regular basis for a variety of reasons.
As the capabilities of the various tools used by photographers has reached a certain threshold, and as photographers start to re-evaluate whether they’re getting an adequate return on their investments (and re-investments as they upgrade at a rapid rate), I wonder if things are about to change. I wonder if we’ve reached the point where most photographers have their needs met (or more than met) with their current equipment, and if possibly they’ll start slowing down in their rate of upgrades.
Of course, the other possibility is that photographers will always want to have the latest technology, the best tools, and any edge they can give themselves to produce better images. So maybe this trend will continue. But either way it is interesting to watch the developments (even with myself as I continue to upgrade various components in my digital photography).
This is certainly something that is new with digital photography, as film cameras would stay in use for far longer than digital cameras ever do, and not because the digital camera has necessarily gone bad or stopped meeting the needs of the photographer. I find it fascinating to see how technological developments have changed the behavior of photographers, and continue to do so.
You can find my article “The Upgrade Game” in the September/October 2007 issue of Digital Photo Pro magazine, which should be on newsstands any day now.
Another great forum for knowledge-thirsty digital photographers!
Don’t know how you get the time to meet all your commitments.
Well done Tim.
There is another darker factor behind the rapid evolution in today’s digital technology, and that is planned obsolescence. Why produce a product that will serve the purchaser for twenty years when you can entice the same purchaser to buy four “enhancements†of your product? Better yet, ten “enhancements.†Unfortunately, with the planning for rapid turnover go negative changes in manufacturing and support. I regularly communicate with repair technicians and a consensus of them believe that the construction of the current line of new digital cameras is inferior to that of three or four years ago. Add to that the usurious pricing of manufacturer repairs and you’re created an environment where people either upgrade or leave the market.
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I for one have stopped upgrading. A year and a half ago I was happy to replace my Nilon D100 with the new D200. Reviewing the features of the new D300 it does not add enough new to get me to rush out and spend $1700. And I am a very active photographer who asks a lot of his gear. Once more we are at the point were a good image is 90% photographer and 10% equipment.
Having been a pro photographer for a long time, and an amateur for quite a bit before that, I remember how film cameras were just boxes that let light in. Nice boxes. mind you, I shot with Leicas. But film was a critical component and cameras simply put the light onto the film in a measured way.
Now comes digital. I used the old 1.3 mp NC2000e that cost $15,000 and rendered very magenta photos in artificial light. But I saw how it would benefit me as a newspaper photographer. It wasn’t until quite a few years later digital was better for what I did in the the studio which required better color accuracy than film was able to offer me. But digital camears were getting much better with each generation.
I’ve been shooting with a Canon 1Ds Mark II at work, and personally with Nikons. And now I see a camera I can buy that could last me for many years, if what I’ve seen so far is true. The Nikon D3 is the first camera I think I could live with for many years. It’s high ISO noise is amazing (I love available light).
So I can feel like I’m not going to get any significant improvement in image quality for a long time to come. More features, yes, but maybe once again cameras are boxes that let the light in, and not the next must-have thing that will remove major issues I have with the images coming out of the camera I’m using.
Maybe then we can get back to asking where our hovercars and jetpacks are?
my guess is that the constant upgrades in camera bodies that all of us have lived through in this transition to digital will significantly slow with the latest nikon and canon offerings. after all, the 1ds mk2 showed flaws that never showed up with film with the canon wide angle lenses. i can only imagine what the 21mpx mk3 will show in my 7 other lenses. there’s not much point in buying a camera that is limited by your lenses.