Thoughts on DSLR's future developments

[Don Hoey]

Since the creation of this forum photography as moved from No3 to No1 interest ... been here a few times over the last 40 years. Each time has led to a major kit upgrade. This time though funds are limited so I have spent some time looking at getting the max out of my D100. To upgrade would involve a new PC, maybe new software as well, due to the file sizes involved.

I have spent some time looking at what I can get out of my current kit in terms of resolution and film like quality and comparing info on images available from the latest kit. OK I'm a Nikon guy so have been looking at D2X and D200, but it might just have well been any other brand. From this it appears that the latest cameras are really stretching lens performance now in a way that only the finest grain film would.

Have we now reached the point that modern kit will last in the same way that film cameras did. Manufacturers introducing limited upgrades without users other than ' gear heads ' feeling the necessity to upgrade to this latest kit, just as it was with film based cameras.

Don

[Adey Baker]

The recently announced Canon 30D seems to be more of an upgrade than a total new model, so things may be slowing down a bit though you never know what new idea may be just around the corner.

As I mentioned in the 30D thread, I'm sure the camera-makers would love to have a model that just sold steadily without the need to be constantly upgraded - like the EOS3 35mm camera which must be the longest-running production AF SLR by some margin without any revised 'N' or 'V' or 'HS' model.

One problem with making the 'ideal' camera is the fact that different manufacturers have their own USPs, often protected by patents, making it difficult to put everything into one super model.

Konica/Minolta/Sony have the anti-shake system in the camera body, Canon still haven't incorporated eye-control auto-focus into a digital body, Olympus have the built-in sensor cleaner and firmware that recognises each lens and applies corrections to its' aberrations - I wonder how difficult it would be to extend that idea to tackle the problems of diffraction?

[Tannin]

There will always be room for improvements, but I think you have hit the nail on the head, Don and Adey: we are seeing a clear trend towards some stabilisation, a sign that today's good quality gear is already good enough and that to improve your pictures you need to be looking at taking better pictures, not at spending yet more dollars on the latest mega-new release. (But yeah: I'll buy a 30D because I want that buffer and the spot meter. After that though, it might be a long. long time. Hey, do you know which camera lasted me the longest? The 1MP Sony that was my first-ever digital camera. No, wait, there was the box Brownie I had as a kid. Used that for years. I think my father still has it somewhere in a back room.)

[jseaman]

The companies that make the cameras are being driven by profits. They could create a super DSLR - they could give us the features we want all at once. But then, what would they sell us next year?

The latest offering from Canon, the 30D, is an example of a camera designed by the company shareholders. A minimum of real new features, just slight improvements. They don't want to give us too much at once since they want to release another new camera next year.

The 30D has spot metering - great. It has 1/3 ISO settings - ok. It has a larger LCD screen - ok. It can take 3 or 5 frames per second - ok. It has a longer life shutter - ok. It displays the ISO in the viewfinder (but only when you push a button) - bah. It has enhancements to PictBridge - WHO CARES! There is only one really nice new feature (spot metering). None of the others alone could cause anyone to upgrade.

The next offering from Canon in the 10D, 20D, 30D line will likely have even cleaner high ISO settings, maybe a slightly brighter viewfinder, perhaps enhanced focusing at f/4 and (if we are lucky) more improvements to PictBridge!

They are just going to keep trickling out the improvements - now and then they will need to really do a big upgrade of the body or processor to accommodate the incremental minor improvements such as we saw this year with Canon. Next year will likely be a slack year for Nikon improvements.

[Don Hoey]

On the theme of this thread I have just found this. A comparison between the Canon 5D and 35 mm and 6 x 6 cm.
http://www.ales.litomisky.com/shooto...alshootout.htm

Don

[Tannin]

Interesting. I visited that same comparison a while back and I'm certain that one of the cameras was using a large zoom ratio lens. I remember commenting on it at the time (in another forum). Now they are all primes. They must have re-shot the comparison.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Tannin

Interesting. I visited that same comparison a while back and I'm certain that one of the cameras was using a large zoom ratio lens. I remember commenting on it at the time (in another forum). Now they are all primes. They must have re-shot the comparison.

They must have seen your avater !!

Don

[Canis Vulpes]

Imager sensors employed in DSLR's are similar in technology to sensors used in CCTV cameras. The Early 90's saw the CCD in mainstream use in the CCTV industry and over the years light sensitivity was improved and improved and improved again (get the picture). For instance 4-5 Lux was a quoted performance figure for low light 15 years ago and today a colour camera camera should be around 0.8 to 1 Lux.

Applied to DSLR imager technology light sensitivity should increase allowing ISO 50 or lower to be common place with lower noise as a result in he next few years.

Another CCTV innovation is SIMDY technology created when Sony deliberately squeezed supply of their 1/3" CCD imagers to the market. A number of camera manufacturers formed a consortium and developed SIMDY. SIMDY imagers are CMOS and allow greater flexibility and programming from the internal DSP (Digital Signal Processor), essentially a SIMDY camera will have greater dynamic range because each photosite can have its own electronic iris (aperture) so shadows become more detailed and highlights can never be blown.

Add better focussing systems and greater processing speeds from general electronic circuitry, I am sure the next five to ten years will be an exciting time for our DSLR friend.
If DSLR imagers used CMOS SIMDY technology you have perfect exposed images with no risk of blown highlights!

[Tyler Vargo]

I'm not sure if many improvements to image sensor technology will make much of a difference in DSLRs, Image quality is stunning as it is now, hell, my 6mp D70 outpreforms anything 35mm I've ever shot... I don't care what the numbers say.

I'm thinking that more buffer improvements will come along, larger buffers with faster write-to-memory speeds. I'm hoping we can do away with mechanical shutters on DSLRs, except to keep dust out when the camera is off. Electronic 'shutters', like the stuff the D70 uses to get it's high shutter speeds, could help increase FPS and decrease shutter lag. I'm sure focus system improvements will be made sooner or later, maybe instead of using many tiny sensors to AF there could be one big one, maybe in the 1mp range... On which you could choose many points for it to focus on, maybe even cursor-style.

[hollis_f]

Got to agree with Tyler about sensor technology. Already a good dSLR will out-resolve most of the lenses available.

As for AF systems - has anybody tried Canon's eye-guided AF?