Lifespan of digital cameras?

Hi,

Not having alot of money to blow every 2 years on a new camera, I am slightly concerned with the life that a new digital camera will have.

Do you think that buying a digital camera right now is like buying a new computer; it will have a couple of good years, but you will need to replace it in a few?

I know people that bought high-quality 35mm SLRs and point and shoots years ago, and they still use them now, and the pictures are just as impresive now as they were then.

With digital, is the technology still that young that we will have to wait until a certain point (maybe 6 megapixels), when the new cameras will be better, but the old ones will last 10 years without looking very dated. I look at the digital cameras from 3 years ago, and think that if mine will be like that in 3 years, then thats not good..

Thanks alot,
Lawrie

ps. I would love to hear from those of you who cant afford to upgrade every 2-3 years.

Lawrie S said:

With digital, is the technology still that young that we will have
to wait until a certain point (maybe 6 megapixels), when the new
cameras will be better, but the old ones will last 10 years without
looking very dated. I look at the digital cameras from 3 years
ago, and think that if mine will be like that in 3 years, then
thats not good..

Click to expand...

I don't think it would be pixel count that we are looking for. With 3mp, a photo-enhancement software, and a decent printer, we can now get results as good as 35mm up to 8"x10". What makes digital such a dog now is processing speed. I am sure that I can be happy with my digitcam for 10 years if I get the following improvements:

1) 1 second power on time;
2) 0.1 second shutter lag time, including auto-focus;
3) 1 second to next picture;
4) Reliable focusing in low light conditions.

For the moment, digital technology is advancing at a rate that the technological lifespan of the camera is much shorter than the physical lifespan. (The technological lifespan of a digital camera is about 1 year!) This is also the reason why 35mm cameras retain their value. That technology has matured and changes in that system are incremental and easily incorporated into existing hardware. Users of 20 year old 35mm cameras can benefit from current advances in film technology without needing any upgrades of their base equipment. This is similar to the early digital camera that used Type I CF cards. They can use any of the Type I CF cards and take advantage of the increase in storage capacity. (That is if you want to have 2500 640x480 images on one 128Mb card??)

However, digital cameras were never designed to be upgradable (beyond simple ROM patches which served more as bug fixes than upgrades) and when technology moved on the only solution was to dump your current gear (at a horrendous loss) and buy new. You could keep some of your old peripherals but what good is an 8Mb card with new 3Mp camera??

On the other hand, if you are able to wrench free of the upgrade deadend, any digital camera you buy will take pictures as well 2 years from now as now. But you will have to put up with the snickers of the "cutting-edge" fanatics who think that, unless you have the latest "HOT" equipment, there is something wrong with you. They don't upgrade every two years; they upgrade every YEAR!!

In short, you don't have to upgrade you digital camera just because some group of insecure equipment-heads finds it necessary to compensate for less than adequate physical endowment buy always having the latest and greatest!

Do your research as well as you can; make sure you get to hold the camera in your hand and shoot with it to get the feel; take the best composed and exposed pictures you can and be happy. You may find that you will want to upgrade at some time in the future but it will be on your terms and, yes, you may actually skip a generation or two without physical or spiritual danger.

Lawrie S said:

Hi,

Not having alot of money to blow every 2 years on a new camera, I
am slightly concerned with the life that a new digital camera will
have.

Do you think that buying a digital camera right now is like buying
a new computer; it will have a couple of good years, but you will
need to replace it in a few?

I know people that bought high-quality 35mm SLRs and point and
shoots years ago, and they still use them now, and the pictures are
just as impresive now as they were then.

With digital, is the technology still that young that we will have
to wait until a certain point (maybe 6 megapixels), when the new
cameras will be better, but the old ones will last 10 years without
looking very dated. I look at the digital cameras from 3 years
ago, and think that if mine will be like that in 3 years, then
thats not good..

Thanks alot,
Lawrie
ps. I would love to hear from those of you who cant afford to
upgrade every 2-3 years.

Click to expand...

The cameras of three years ago take pictures as good as when they were new, but consumer level digicams weren't ready for anything other than web work then. Once the image quality and performance gets to a certain level, I doubt that (most) consumers will pay more for improvements they can't see or won't notice. I expect the megapixel wars to stop at about the 6 MP level, and they have already cooled off coniderably at 3 MPx.

I bought a Coolpix 950 a year and a half ago. Though the 990 is better in some respects, it is not enough better to get me to upgrade at this time. Maybe in a year or two I'll give the 950 to my wife and get something better...

Lawrie S said:

Hi,

Not having alot of money to blow every 2 years on a new camera, I
am slightly concerned with the life that a new digital camera will
have.

Do you think that buying a digital camera right now is like buying
a new computer; it will have a couple of good years, but you will
need to replace it in a few?

I know people that bought high-quality 35mm SLRs and point and
shoots years ago, and they still use them now, and the pictures are
just as impresive now as they were then.

With digital, is the technology still that young that we will have
to wait until a certain point (maybe 6 megapixels), when the new
cameras will be better, but the old ones will last 10 years without
looking very dated. I look at the digital cameras from 3 years
ago, and think that if mine will be like that in 3 years, then
thats not good..

Thanks alot,
Lawrie
ps. I would love to hear from those of you who cant afford to
upgrade every 2-3 years.

Click to expand...