A Question to Those Who Follow the EOS / Digital Life Cycle

The college enthusiasm I had for photography was resurrected with the advent of the 3MP digicams...I have an old F1 and an A1...both of which haven't been used in years (another story)

I bought Canon's G1 and have been having a blast for the last year and a half...so now I am on the verge of buying a Canon EOS line digital SLR...

I have been considering getting a used D30 versus the D60...($1300 v. $2200) body only....I have no glass for these machines.

Since I follow all sorts of markets quite intensely my question is how much price decline do you foresee in the next 6 months for the D30 and the D60???

I ask because it is quite evident from my viewpoint that the industry is getting quite 'heated up'...Christmas may be interesting...certainly by spring of next year the competition will be quite intense...

Many thanks to all...

James

Things are going to stay the way they are now until sometime in 2003
when Canon announces the next D30/D60-type camera. It may be as early
as PMA in Feb(?) or it may be later. Now is as good a time to get in
the game as any, unless you are willing to wait another full year or
so.

james47345 said:

Since I follow all sorts of markets quite intensely my question is
how much price decline do you foresee in the next 6 months for the
D30 and the D60???

Click to expand...

james47345 said:

James

Click to expand...

Let me whip out my crystal ball... Okay, used D30 prices around $800 by April of 2003, and by that time the D60 will still be $2200 and actually be available on dealers shelves... Of course, Canon will announce the D120 in February, release slated for August, with a suggested retail of, you guessed it, $2200 ;> )
--
Regards,

Jack

Richard Smith said:

Things are going to stay the way they are now until sometime in 2003
when Canon announces the next D30/D60-type camera. It may be as early
as PMA in Feb(?) or it may be later. Now is as good a time to get in
the game as any, unless you are willing to wait another full year or
so.

Click to expand...

Richard, so you don't foresee ANY price decline over the next 6 months?...

Jack Flesher said:

Jack Flesher said:

Since I follow all sorts of markets quite intensely my question is
how much price decline do you foresee in the next 6 months for the
D30 and the D60???

Click to expand...

Jack Flesher said:

James

Click to expand...

Let me whip out my crystal ball... Okay, used D30 prices around
$800 by April of 2003, and by that time the D60 will still be $2200
and actually be available on dealers shelves... Of course, Canon
will announce the D120 in February, release slated for August, with
a suggested retail of, you guessed it, $2200 ;> )
--
Regards,

Jack

Click to expand...

Ya Ya Jack....I could use that crystal ball if you can spare it for a while!

I have to think with all the 'players' rushing to market and the increase in the quality of the cameras on the upper end there's gonna be some price pressure soon...

Sure Canon/Nikon/whoever has their price point to continue skimming the market in order to maximize their revenues...but they are also beng pressured by intense competition....this is a typical technological price cycal ....compress just the last 5 years of time in order to see where were headed...

You're probably right....the D60 will still be 2200 by next spring...it just won't be unobtanium....

Which leaves the question of the D30 still...any opinions?

james said:

Richard, so you don't foresee ANY price decline over the next 6
months?...

Click to expand...

Well I left my crystal ball at home but...

The D30 is still a unique camera and holds it's value well (at least
until the shutter gives out at 30K exposures). Psychologically
speaking, there's a lot of pent-up demand for a "Prosumer" camera that
builds on the success of the D30/D60, but with a re-engineered
auto-focus system. When this camera becomes available (and I mean
available like you can walk down to a camera store and buy one without
getting on a waiting list), used D30 and D60 prices will plummet in a
BIG way. But not before that.

James,

I'm a D30 user and love my camera. I'm probably going to bite the bullet and go for a 1D here soon because I'm looking for better performance that can't be found in either the D30 or the D60. That said, the only significant difference that attracted me to the D60 was the backlight on the LCD display on top of the camera. Having done some night shooting it was frustrating not being able to see the camera settings without a flashlight.

Other than that, none of the other enhancements of the D60 meant much. Sure, there's a bit more resolution, but the resolution of the D30 has been more than adequate for my needs - easily 8x10 and you can go much higher with genuine fractals or other products if it's not something needed all the time.

I don't see the D60 coming down significantly in price over the next 5 months and I'm not sure the real D30 used price piont right now, but either will be a great camera. If you're not looking to print large (larger than 8x10) go with a quality mint D30 and buy 1 or 2 quality lenses for the camera.

Both of these cameras are very good photographic instruments and any time you spend waiting for "the next best thing" will be time you could have spent taking interesting photos and improving your skills as a photographer.
Good luck,
Steve

james said:

Jack Flesher said:

james47345 said:

Since I follow all sorts of markets quite intensely my question is
how much price decline do you foresee in the next 6 months for the
D30 and the D60???

Click to expand...

james47345 said:

James

Click to expand...

Let me whip out my crystal ball... Okay, used D30 prices around
$800 by April of 2003, and by that time the D60 will still be $2200
and actually be available on dealers shelves... Of course, Canon
will announce the D120 in February, release slated for August, with
a suggested retail of, you guessed it, $2200 ;> )
--
Regards,

Jack

Click to expand...

Ya Ya Jack....I could use that crystal ball if you can spare it for
a while!

I have to think with all the 'players' rushing to market and the
increase in the quality of the cameras on the upper end there's
gonna be some price pressure soon...

Sure Canon/Nikon/whoever has their price point to continue skimming
the market in order to maximize their revenues...but they are also
beng pressured by intense competition....this is a typical
technological price cycal ....compress just the last 5 years of
time in order to see where were headed...

You're probably right....the D60 will still be 2200 by next
spring...it just won't be unobtanium....

Which leaves the question of the D30 still...any opinions?

Click to expand...

james said:

Richard Smith said:

Things are going to stay the way they are now until sometime in 2003
when Canon announces the next D30/D60-type camera. It may be as early
as PMA in Feb(?) or it may be later. Now is as good a time to get in
the game as any, unless you are willing to wait another full year or
so.

Click to expand...

Richard, so you don't foresee ANY price decline over the next 6
months?...

Click to expand...

I agree with Richard. The "prosumer" (I hate that word) level of cameras are not going to be susceptible to the quaterly price changes that you see in the consumer-grade electronics. I don't think the price of the D30 changed until the D60 came out, and I don't expect either the new D30 nor D60 prices will change at all until the D60 followup is introduced.

Andy Frazer
http://www.gorillasites.com

Steve I appreciate your insight...I definitely haven't lost time taking photos lately...

I particularly like nightime photography....long exposures...my G1 is a no show in that category....

Fortunately I do have genuine fractals and have rezzed up panoramic shots to 26x38....they look great considering...i can't even imagine what I am missing, but everybody who sees the prints can't believe it came out of my digicam...

I really don't mind buying a D60 (if it can be found!) or a D30 used...I would just rather not get caught in the steep drop of the depreciation curve on the D30 (if indeed one is coming)...

Steve said:

james said:

Jack Flesher said:

Steve13285 said:

Since I follow all sorts of markets quite intensely my question is
how much price decline do you foresee in the next 6 months for the
D30 and the D60???

Click to expand...

Steve13285 said:

James

Click to expand...

Let me whip out my crystal ball... Okay, used D30 prices around
$800 by April of 2003, and by that time the D60 will still be $2200
and actually be available on dealers shelves... Of course, Canon
will announce the D120 in February, release slated for August, with
a suggested retail of, you guessed it, $2200 ;> )
--
Regards,

Jack

Click to expand...

Ya Ya Jack....I could use that crystal ball if you can spare it for
a while!

I have to think with all the 'players' rushing to market and the
increase in the quality of the cameras on the upper end there's
gonna be some price pressure soon...

Sure Canon/Nikon/whoever has their price point to continue skimming
the market in order to maximize their revenues...but they are also
beng pressured by intense competition....this is a typical
technological price cycal ....compress just the last 5 years of
time in order to see where were headed...

You're probably right....the D60 will still be 2200 by next
spring...it just won't be unobtanium....

Which leaves the question of the D30 still...any opinions?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Thanks Andy and Richard,

Richard, very good points... I consider myself a typical prosumer...I know enough to be dangerous with a digicam in my hands, but miss and realize all the potential lost from my film cameras...I am very 'pentup'...I suspect that there are alot of people such as myself 'out there'...

Andy another good point...the price cycle has been slower in the upper end of the market, but it most definetly has been quickening....we are currently at year over year adjustments...and moving to half year adjustments as competition increases...you can never win!...but we're all winners in the end!

Out of curiosity...do either of you consider yourselves Early Adopters?

andyfrazer said:

james said:

Richard Smith said:

Things are going to stay the way they are now until sometime in 2003
when Canon announces the next D30/D60-type camera. It may be as early
as PMA in Feb(?) or it may be later. Now is as good a time to get in
the game as any, unless you are willing to wait another full year or
so.

Click to expand...

Richard, so you don't foresee ANY price decline over the next 6
months?...

Click to expand...

I agree with Richard. The "prosumer" (I hate that word) level of
cameras are not going to be susceptible to the quaterly price
changes that you see in the consumer-grade electronics. I don't
think the price of the D30 changed until the D60 came out, and I
don't expect either the new D30 nor D60 prices will change at all
until the D60 followup is introduced.

Andy Frazer
http://www.gorillasites.com

Click to expand...