I've been saying this for years, that the camera market had gotten silly and a little out of control - so many people walking around with cameras who had no enthusiasm at all for photography and often no knowledge of it - but for a while it was 'hip' to have a DSLR even if you left it in auto. Mirrorless was a similar smaller fad. P&S cameras were the one market that was mostly filling a basic need for non-photographers to snap photos when needed - and that market is indeed being filled in or replaced by phones, by sheer convenience. They have the phone, it has a camera, so why bother bringing another camera? Meanwhile, less people with no real interest in photography are still going out and buying far too much camera anymore, so DSLR and mirrorless sales are contracting too.
I personally think it's a good thing. As an enthusiast photographer, I wouldn't mind seeing the market shrink to mostly accommodate true photographers and enthusiasts...with DSLR/SLT/Mirrorless bodies growing in ability, features, ergonomics, etc in ways that photographers care about, and less in ways that every-day consumers care about. And prices can stay on the higher end to maintain profitability in smaller volume...eventually dumping the cheap entry-level models. Personally, I'd love to see it go even further, and see phones and pocket devices take over the entry-level all the way to enthusiast video market, so cameras can stop trying to load up with video-centric features, letting still photography be the main focus of design and advancements...but that's unlikely to happen as quickly at least on the enthusiast end.
I shot with SLRs in the late 70s, when you really didn't see very many at all. Most people back then either didn't take photos, used instamatic type cameras, or even disposables which came along in the 80s. For decades, SLRs were much more rare, and mostly for enthusiasts and photographers...when I ran into someone else with an SLR, you could start a conversation - 99% of the time, they knew something about photography. Over the past 10 years, when I run into someone with a DSLR, probably 15% of the time they know about photography, and many of the rest don't even know most of the settings or functions on the camera outside of the green box mode. I would like to see things go back to small but profitable volume of sales to mostly enthusiasts and pros, and let the snapshot photography be covered mostly by phones or other convenient pocket devices. I think the companies could be profitable on less sales but higher profit margins...at least some companies...there might be some contrition, but there should still be 4-5 solid companies and a good selection of excellent devices available for those who love photography and would never want to take serious photos with a small thin rectangle that rings when people call or text, no matter how good the photograph it can take.
Drove him crazy. And I honestly tried to fight it and the level of disrespect. And simply couldn't. And then I had to say "why am I doing this when my joy is in simply taking a picture?". To prove something to those who are skilled? Is that it? To be part of some group. Nope. No need.
And although post production is an absolute skill and art (not to mention a joy and passion to many), I fully understand that - no argument, I have some very strong thoughts about it.
