Why you shouldn’t ditch your digital camera just yet…

Since 2010 digital camera sales have decreased by over 80%, is this trend set to continue until digital cameras join the ranks of portable CD players and floppy disks? Or will they regain custom in the age of Instagram?

On the one hand, a huge proportion of the population carries a fairly good quality camera with them wherever they go by means of their smartphone. On the other hand, photos have never played such a large part of our day-to-day life; with high-quality images appearing throughout print and online, as well as the over 1000 million active monthly users of photo and video-sharing app Instagram, many of whom use digital cameras of an excellent quality to achieve great shots. So, what is the future of the digital camera? Is it a continuing trend or a slow fade into our collective memory?

The Death of DSLR?

The digital single-lens reflex camera or DSLR divides opinion on whether it is soon to become obsolete in a world of advancing mirrorless cameras, or whether a loyal customer base and dependable image quality will keep it around for years to come.

Whilst DLSRs tend to be bulkier than their cousins the mirrorless CSC’s, they also have a longer battery life, particularly when used with a high-quality battery such as Duracell’s camera batteries.

CSCs are however beginning to iron out the small issues that leave it lagging behind the DSLR- Sony’s full frame CSC for instance was of an equal image quality to many DSLRs.
-The jury’s out on this one.

Is the market stagnating?

Digital camera production is steadily reducing as demand decreases, and with camera giants such as Nikon announcing “extraordinary losses” throughout 2018, it is no shock that other camera manufacturers are reluctant to create model upgrades when many customers are not calling out for higher megapixel counts, and lighter models as they once were.

Will digital cameras be around for years to come?

The short answer- yes. Whilst the digital camera market has undoubtedly slowed in the last decade this is not a piece of technology that will be completely taken over by the smartphone camera in everyone’s pocket. Whilst the younger generation is hugely snap happy, they are also one in which photography is only increasing in popularity, and in turn an interest in DSLR and CSC cameras. The market may have slowed, but it is by no means facing extinction.