Friday, March 2, 2012
Buying a DSLR Is Buying a Camera System!
Buying a DSLR Is Buying a Camera System!
11 April 2009
This will be the third in the series of articles for those who are new to the DSLR (Digital Single Reflex Lens) camera system, including those who are upgrading from a compact camera to DSLR, and for those who already own a DSLR camera, but who wish to improve the camera’s performance by buying more accessories. The first article covered the choice between a compact and a DSLR, and the second focused on buying your camera from a camera specialty outlet or from an electronics retail chain store like Courts Mammoth or Harvey Norman. This third article reviews the complexity of buying a DSLR camera.
Introduction
Buying a DSLR camera is unlike buying a compact camera. Most of the compact camera purchases come almost complete as a package, and you do not need to add other accessories. In exceptional cases, you may have buyers who would buy an adapter and a zoom lens, to increase the shooting range of their compact cameras. For instance, the Canon G camera, which has become a second handy compact for many professionals because it can be used to shoot RAW pictures, comes with a lens adapter and a very sharp zoom lens. I have used this lens and the picture output is as sharp as the high grade lenses of DSLRs.
However, buying a DSLR is more complex; after getting the camera body, kit lens, memory cards and lens filter, you may need to expand your range of purchase. This may include better performance lenses (wide angle, macro, zoom, and faster lenses with wider aperture [f2.8mm or lower]). Other accessories like filters, camera bags (if not supplied), flash, etc. will require you to add another 30% or more to your original purchase. This is why buying a DSLR camera is more like buying into a “DSLR camera system” as you are “locked” into this system. If you need to change the camera system, you may need to sell or dispose off all the components of the system. Only few components of the camera system can be re-used in another camera system.
The DSLR camera systems available today are Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic-Lumix, Pentax, Sigma, Samsung and Leica. The other camera manufacturers have either discontinued their manufacture (Agfa, Contax, Epson, HP, Konica Minolta (sold to Sony), Kyocera, Toshiba and Yashica), or are producing only compact cameras (Casio, Kodak, Ricoh, Rollei and Sanyo). A new entrant into the compact camera market is the General Electric, which has limited worldwide distribution. The higher end medium format cameras are manufactured by Mamiya, Leaf and Hasselblad, which shall not be discussed here, as these are only used by professionals and serious amateurs, who prefer this higher end of cameras.
In terms of sales revenue, the biggest companies selling DSALR and compact cameras and imaging systems are the Japanese companies, Canon (48.7% of sales), Nikon (19.0%), Olympus (13.5%), Panasonic (11.9%) and Fuji (6.9%). The total sales value of compact and DSLR cameras and their accessories from these companies amount to 2308 billion Yen or US$2.31 billion (based on their annual reports of 2007/2008). There are no published figures available publicly for the DSLR cameras alone although some unit sales of DSLRs are obtainable from some manufacturers. As the camera market is very competitive, the industry has seen many companies collapsed or merged. Hence, owning a DSLR camera systems from larger companies ensure continuity in service support. Canon and Nikon have very good service support. I have personally been attended to senior Canon service executives to solve my overblown highlights images for my Canon G9 camera. Olympus has a very responsive sales service support, which has answered my queries through the phone, and has even sent back my camera by courier after service without charge.
DSLR Camera System
We therefore tend to use the word “camera system” as accessories form an essential component of the DSLR system. In addition, some of these components and accessories of the camera system are not interchangeable for use on another camera. For instance, lenses for the Nikon camera cannot be used on the Canon camera, although there are adapters sold in the market which allow their use. However, for digital cameras, the auto focus function of the lense does not work with these adapters, and only the manual focus functions. Components of the camera systems include the following long list of items:
-camera bodies (only DSLR: Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic-Lumix, Pentax, Sony, Sigma).
-lenses (Canon, Carl-Zeiss, Leica, Lensbaby, Nikkor, Zuiko, Pentax, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Zeiss Ikon)
-flash system (Canon, Metz, Sunpak, LumiQuest, , Lambency, Nikon, Olympus, Quantum, Sigma, Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce, StrobeLite, flash diffuser, flash bouncer, strobe)
-lighting system (Bionic)
-filters (B+W, Cokin, Heliopan, Hoya, Tiffen)
-tripod (Benro, Flashpoint, Gitzo, Manfrotto, Miller, Sachler, Stein Zeiser, Slik, Velbon Sherpa, Vinten)
-camera bags / backpack (Kata, Lowepro, Crumpler, Tamrac)
-memory cards (SD, SDHC, Compact Flash, xD, microSD types: Apacer, Kingston, PenDrive, SanDisk, Lexar, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Transcend)
-multimedia viewer/portable storage device (PenDrive, Canon)
-photo paper (Ilford, HP, Kodak, Canon, Epson, Projet)
-card readers (Delkin, Kingston, SanDisk, Sony, Transcend)
-cabinet (dry cabinet,
-digital photo printers (Canon, Epson, HP, Kodak, Lexmark, Polaroid Pogo, Samsung, Sony)
-software (adobe, photoshop pro)
-others (adapters, monitor calibration system-Spyder; remote release; remote control; stepping down and stepping up rings, HoodLoupe, Angle Viewfinder)
As camera bodies, lenses, flash and batteries are specific for each brand and model, when you purchase a camera of a certain brand, you would be buying a system. It may be quite usual for a serious photographer to own more than one camera body, and more than 2 lenses and filters. As a result, you buy a host of items, unlike purchasing a compact camera. Should you decide to change a camera from, say, Olympus to Canon, you have to dispose and sell all your camera items and buy all the camera items of the new brand. This is where buying a DSLR needs careful considerations and research. Changing your mind over a certain DSLR camera system may be costly. These considerations are discussed below:
• Preference: what is your preference in choosing a certain type of camera? Is it the color? Or the sharpness? Or the softness of the images? For instance, Olympus owners prefer the color mix of the images, which tend to be on the soft side. Nikon images are very sharp, but some say, a “bit hard”. Canon images are a mix between the sharpness and blender color of Nikon and the softness and color richness of Olympus images. Changing from one system to another is expensive, as you need to sell and buy a whole suite of items.
• Upgrading: if you are one of those who prefer continuous upgrading of equipment, to newer models, then it is an expensive hobby. Like collectors of other items, it is a constant cycle of purchase, selling and new purchase of new models, or higher end models.
• Ease of Sales: As Canon and Nikon have larger market share, and there are more owners of these two types of cameras, selling the camera and its ancillary items, may be much easier and faster than selling items of the following brands: Olympus items sell slower and may take weeks compared to Canon or Nikon items on photography forum web pages.
• Loss in value: any camera that is bought and then sold second hand on forum or through classified advertisements will lose its value from 10% (depending on how new or current the item is) to about 30% if the camera model has certain bad performance.
• Ease of purchase: Buying a lens second hand always makes good economic sense, as these lenses loses it value quite fast, with value dropping from 10% to 30%. Hence, depending on the model you desire, it is also cheaper to buy from the secondary market. Good quality lens are more difficult to come by, especially those that have aperture of f2.8, f2.0, f1.8 or wider. The normal kit lens that comes with the camera bodies tend to be more difficult to sell. For instance, the Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens was available on the second hand market in quite a large quantity, and the value dropped tremendously, to as much as 50% of its new purchase value. This was because i) upgrading of lenses, and ii) new camera body was introduced, which also came with the same kit lens.
We can compare the cost components of two camera systems, the Canon and Nikon systems, to determine how much each item form as part of the overall camera system. The table lists these items:
• Additional accessories such as memory card, tripod, camera bags, filters, etc. may add an additional $350 to the above system.
From the above, it appears that camera bodies comprise nearly 45% to 51% of the total camera system with lenses making up 19% to nearly 46% of the systems. Accessories which include batteries, battery grip, flash, memory cards, tripod, camera bags and others make up quite a substantial percentage of the system, about 10%-28% of the system. Hence, in purchasing for DSLR, budgets must be factored in to own a complete DSLR system. Owning a compact is quite straight forward as it does not require such a wide variety of accessories. Camera manufacturers make a substantial amount of money selling lenses, which form a major part of a camera system, as owners tend to own more than a couple of lenses. In conclusion, buying a DSLR camera is buying into a complex camera system of which there are many components which form a substantial part of the total camera system. Due research and much consideration should be taken to decide. Buying a DSLR as a package may be the most economical option for a “newbie” in photography.
Chan Teng Heng
A Biz Professor Who Loves All Techie, Imagery and Digital Stuff.
Written on 29 August 2008
11 April 2009
This will be the third in the series of articles for those who are new to the DSLR (Digital Single Reflex Lens) camera system, including those who are upgrading from a compact camera to DSLR, and for those who already own a DSLR camera, but who wish to improve the camera’s performance by buying more accessories. The first article covered the choice between a compact and a DSLR, and the second focused on buying your camera from a camera specialty outlet or from an electronics retail chain store like Courts Mammoth or Harvey Norman. This third article reviews the complexity of buying a DSLR camera.
Introduction
Buying a DSLR camera is unlike buying a compact camera. Most of the compact camera purchases come almost complete as a package, and you do not need to add other accessories. In exceptional cases, you may have buyers who would buy an adapter and a zoom lens, to increase the shooting range of their compact cameras. For instance, the Canon G camera, which has become a second handy compact for many professionals because it can be used to shoot RAW pictures, comes with a lens adapter and a very sharp zoom lens. I have used this lens and the picture output is as sharp as the high grade lenses of DSLRs.
However, buying a DSLR is more complex; after getting the camera body, kit lens, memory cards and lens filter, you may need to expand your range of purchase. This may include better performance lenses (wide angle, macro, zoom, and faster lenses with wider aperture [f2.8mm or lower]). Other accessories like filters, camera bags (if not supplied), flash, etc. will require you to add another 30% or more to your original purchase. This is why buying a DSLR camera is more like buying into a “DSLR camera system” as you are “locked” into this system. If you need to change the camera system, you may need to sell or dispose off all the components of the system. Only few components of the camera system can be re-used in another camera system.
The DSLR camera systems available today are Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic-Lumix, Pentax, Sigma, Samsung and Leica. The other camera manufacturers have either discontinued their manufacture (Agfa, Contax, Epson, HP, Konica Minolta (sold to Sony), Kyocera, Toshiba and Yashica), or are producing only compact cameras (Casio, Kodak, Ricoh, Rollei and Sanyo). A new entrant into the compact camera market is the General Electric, which has limited worldwide distribution. The higher end medium format cameras are manufactured by Mamiya, Leaf and Hasselblad, which shall not be discussed here, as these are only used by professionals and serious amateurs, who prefer this higher end of cameras.
In terms of sales revenue, the biggest companies selling DSALR and compact cameras and imaging systems are the Japanese companies, Canon (48.7% of sales), Nikon (19.0%), Olympus (13.5%), Panasonic (11.9%) and Fuji (6.9%). The total sales value of compact and DSLR cameras and their accessories from these companies amount to 2308 billion Yen or US$2.31 billion (based on their annual reports of 2007/2008). There are no published figures available publicly for the DSLR cameras alone although some unit sales of DSLRs are obtainable from some manufacturers. As the camera market is very competitive, the industry has seen many companies collapsed or merged. Hence, owning a DSLR camera systems from larger companies ensure continuity in service support. Canon and Nikon have very good service support. I have personally been attended to senior Canon service executives to solve my overblown highlights images for my Canon G9 camera. Olympus has a very responsive sales service support, which has answered my queries through the phone, and has even sent back my camera by courier after service without charge.
DSLR Camera System
We therefore tend to use the word “camera system” as accessories form an essential component of the DSLR system. In addition, some of these components and accessories of the camera system are not interchangeable for use on another camera. For instance, lenses for the Nikon camera cannot be used on the Canon camera, although there are adapters sold in the market which allow their use. However, for digital cameras, the auto focus function of the lense does not work with these adapters, and only the manual focus functions. Components of the camera systems include the following long list of items:
-camera bodies (only DSLR: Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic-Lumix, Pentax, Sony, Sigma).
-lenses (Canon, Carl-Zeiss, Leica, Lensbaby, Nikkor, Zuiko, Pentax, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Zeiss Ikon)
-flash system (Canon, Metz, Sunpak, LumiQuest, , Lambency, Nikon, Olympus, Quantum, Sigma, Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce, StrobeLite, flash diffuser, flash bouncer, strobe)
-lighting system (Bionic)
-filters (B+W, Cokin, Heliopan, Hoya, Tiffen)
-tripod (Benro, Flashpoint, Gitzo, Manfrotto, Miller, Sachler, Stein Zeiser, Slik, Velbon Sherpa, Vinten)
-camera bags / backpack (Kata, Lowepro, Crumpler, Tamrac)
-memory cards (SD, SDHC, Compact Flash, xD, microSD types: Apacer, Kingston, PenDrive, SanDisk, Lexar, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Transcend)
-multimedia viewer/portable storage device (PenDrive, Canon)
-photo paper (Ilford, HP, Kodak, Canon, Epson, Projet)
-card readers (Delkin, Kingston, SanDisk, Sony, Transcend)
-cabinet (dry cabinet,
-digital photo printers (Canon, Epson, HP, Kodak, Lexmark, Polaroid Pogo, Samsung, Sony)
-software (adobe, photoshop pro)
-others (adapters, monitor calibration system-Spyder; remote release; remote control; stepping down and stepping up rings, HoodLoupe, Angle Viewfinder)
As camera bodies, lenses, flash and batteries are specific for each brand and model, when you purchase a camera of a certain brand, you would be buying a system. It may be quite usual for a serious photographer to own more than one camera body, and more than 2 lenses and filters. As a result, you buy a host of items, unlike purchasing a compact camera. Should you decide to change a camera from, say, Olympus to Canon, you have to dispose and sell all your camera items and buy all the camera items of the new brand. This is where buying a DSLR needs careful considerations and research. Changing your mind over a certain DSLR camera system may be costly. These considerations are discussed below:
• Preference: what is your preference in choosing a certain type of camera? Is it the color? Or the sharpness? Or the softness of the images? For instance, Olympus owners prefer the color mix of the images, which tend to be on the soft side. Nikon images are very sharp, but some say, a “bit hard”. Canon images are a mix between the sharpness and blender color of Nikon and the softness and color richness of Olympus images. Changing from one system to another is expensive, as you need to sell and buy a whole suite of items.
• Upgrading: if you are one of those who prefer continuous upgrading of equipment, to newer models, then it is an expensive hobby. Like collectors of other items, it is a constant cycle of purchase, selling and new purchase of new models, or higher end models.
• Ease of Sales: As Canon and Nikon have larger market share, and there are more owners of these two types of cameras, selling the camera and its ancillary items, may be much easier and faster than selling items of the following brands: Olympus items sell slower and may take weeks compared to Canon or Nikon items on photography forum web pages.
• Loss in value: any camera that is bought and then sold second hand on forum or through classified advertisements will lose its value from 10% (depending on how new or current the item is) to about 30% if the camera model has certain bad performance.
• Ease of purchase: Buying a lens second hand always makes good economic sense, as these lenses loses it value quite fast, with value dropping from 10% to 30%. Hence, depending on the model you desire, it is also cheaper to buy from the secondary market. Good quality lens are more difficult to come by, especially those that have aperture of f2.8, f2.0, f1.8 or wider. The normal kit lens that comes with the camera bodies tend to be more difficult to sell. For instance, the Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens was available on the second hand market in quite a large quantity, and the value dropped tremendously, to as much as 50% of its new purchase value. This was because i) upgrading of lenses, and ii) new camera body was introduced, which also came with the same kit lens.
We can compare the cost components of two camera systems, the Canon and Nikon systems, to determine how much each item form as part of the overall camera system. The table lists these items:
• Additional accessories such as memory card, tripod, camera bags, filters, etc. may add an additional $350 to the above system.
From the above, it appears that camera bodies comprise nearly 45% to 51% of the total camera system with lenses making up 19% to nearly 46% of the systems. Accessories which include batteries, battery grip, flash, memory cards, tripod, camera bags and others make up quite a substantial percentage of the system, about 10%-28% of the system. Hence, in purchasing for DSLR, budgets must be factored in to own a complete DSLR system. Owning a compact is quite straight forward as it does not require such a wide variety of accessories. Camera manufacturers make a substantial amount of money selling lenses, which form a major part of a camera system, as owners tend to own more than a couple of lenses. In conclusion, buying a DSLR camera is buying into a complex camera system of which there are many components which form a substantial part of the total camera system. Due research and much consideration should be taken to decide. Buying a DSLR as a package may be the most economical option for a “newbie” in photography.
Chan Teng Heng
A Biz Professor Who Loves All Techie, Imagery and Digital Stuff.
Written on 29 August 2008
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