no more cameras?

[BlairW]

today I was in the Verizon store where one of the guys told me the days of a camera are dead! I guess he doesn’t know about much better optics and a larger sensor in a camera vs a smart phone.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"What he should have said was the days of low end point and shoot cameras are past."

I made that comment a while back and you all phoo-phooed it.  But in fact it is true unless Canon and Nikon, etc., make a P&S that works and operates like a iphone.  The big pro level cameras will always be with us but unless they redo the P&S they are dead.

You still need a big sensor for a big print so that may help'em. But they need to dump the SD card. Have full wireless operation and full touch screens. Lord how long do these things have to be around before Canon realizes that's what the young people are familiar with. The next generation of P&S needs to be cell phone without the phone part!

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My wife, her brother and sister, and a few of their cousins get together for dinner and drinks every year at this time. The cousin at whose house today's event was held and his wife are serious photographers, comparable to my wife and me. When he decided to photograph a particularly attractive vegetable plate that one of the women had prepared, he whipped out his smartphone to do the job. This is a 75-year-old man whose everyday camera is a full-frame Sony mirrorless. When things have reached such a pass, you have to suspect that Ernie is largely right.

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I thought Ernie's argument was from the opposite direction.  He had argued that P&S cameras need to act more like smart phones, which I assume means they need to able to make phone calls, play games, internet, messaging, etc.  I didn't understand him to argue about anything comparing picture taking performance, at all.

[ebiggs1]

"He had argued that P&S cameras need to act more like smart phones, which I assume means they need to able to make phone calls, play games, internet, messaging, etc"

I do know better than to do this but "assuming" is and has been a problem here.  If the P&S can survive, I doubt it, but if they can they do need to be more like a cell phone.  Even down to the ability to play games and attaching a 'message'. They have to be what the younger generation of 'photographers' know and are familiar with.  What they all grow up with.  Canon and Nikon don't seem to be aware of this and have suffered a catastrophic demise in sales.

"... I assume means they need to able to make phone calls..."

No they won't make phone calls!  There is that assumming thing again.  They need to operate like an iphone not be an iphone.

[Waddizzle]

"No they won't make phone calls!  There is that assumming thing again.  They need to operate like an iphone not be an iphone." 

I'll repeat this one last time.  Not many people would buy that product.  It could mean another monthly charge on your smartphone bill.  Your phone can already do all of that stuff, and make phone calls.

No, what you're describing is more akin to something like a tablet.  You're describing something like an iPad with Wi-Fi, but no phone service hardware, which adds to the cost of the device.  Who wants a tablet with a 3 inch screen?

No, the future of point and shoot cameras is going to have to be something that existing devices cannot do.  I think they have potential to be extensions of smart phones and tablets, but not compete with them.

[ebiggs1]

I new this was a mistake to continue this with you. " It could mean another monthly charge on your smartphone bill."

They are not iphones.  Get that thought out of you mind.  They need to work like a cell phone. How simple is that to understand? The proof is on my side. Just check out the plummeting sale figs for P&S and the lack luster dismal Mx series of Canon's efforts.

Good lord some cameras are just recently getting some touch screen features. Get rid of the nutty SD cards.  Make the file transfer seamless and effortless.  That is how an iphone "works".

Glad I have a job to do today..............................

[FFN]

Back in 1970s, they said paper would be gone and computers would replace it as a means of communication. Did not happen.