cell phones making M4/3 and DSLRs obsolete

martok80 wrote:

While my MFT camera will certainly capture a much better image in almost every way (even my wife *generally* agrees), there are some distinct advantages of cell phones:

* People generally have them in their pockets

* It's oh so easy to backup your photos and share them with friends, family. So much simpler than using the flashair card I have in my E-PM2

* Pictures are automatically GPS tagged

* Some cellphones (Google Pixel, modern iPhones) quite acceptable pictures nowadays (much better than even 3-4 years ago)

Agree. The real culprit is the Huge Jump in Smartphone Image Quality year to year.

Every year, Smartphone image improve by leaps & bounds

Every year, Smartphone increasing produce better images than 1 year before

Difference 1 year can make

Every year, Smartphone gain new feature, that is even missing in current dedicated camera like a Dual Tone flash to prevent too warm or too blue white balance

Smartphone in 2018 is more than good enough to cover photographic needs of an average consumer.  As the result, less and less consumer are willing to pay $800 for a Low~Mid-ranged M43 (Panasonic GF7, GF8, GM1/GM5, Olympus E-PL7, E-PL8, EM10, EM10 II).  They simply rush and buy an iphone.

This reduced M43 market into just Advance Enthusiast (DPR) & PRO market that is both Bigger & more Expensive.  I think the latest rush to FF Mirrorless is in part the result of average consumer abandoning dedicated camera, forcing camera manufacture to seek PRO who tend to want FF sensor.