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The other day the thought crossed my mind that if one wanted to buy top quality gear at really good prices and could wait for about 2 years, the Nikon and Canon DSLRs along with the older mount professional level Nikon and Canon lenses should be a real bargain. The analogy that came to mind is when the vast majority of us switched from film to digital. Film cameras and lenses became very inexpensive as they flooded the used market.
Both companies are now going full bore into mirrorless camera bodies—from inexpensive entry level ones to high end professional bodies and everything in between. Both companies are developing a brand new extensive line of mirrorless lenses to compliment those new bodies. For these new lenses both companies have developed a new mirrorless lens mount. Also, both companies have announced the planned discontinuation of the older mount lenses and, in fact, already started discontinuing the older mount lenses.
From all accounts these new lens mounts are allowing both Nikon and Canon to produce sharper (all the way to the edges and corners) and higher resolving lenses. That makes them highly desirable and will encourage enthusiasts and professional photographers to, more likely than not, eventually switch to mirrorless and take advantage of the attributes and features of those mirrorless bodies as well as those new, better lenses.
The upshot is that leaves all of the old full frame (and APS-C) DSLRs and all of those old Canon EF and Nikon F mount, but excellent, lenses orphaned as buyers will want the newer, mirrorless gear to use without the hassle of using an adapter. The result, I think, will be similar as what happened with film cameras and lenses. There should be plenty of the old (some would consider obsolete) gear at great prices from which to choose.
Think about it. These DSLRs and older mount lenses produce professional level results now and they will continue to do so in the future. There just won't be the latest, greatest mirrorless technology built into those older cameras. But if you don't need it, why pay top dollar for it when you could buy older gear that will more than serve your needs.
What about Sony? Sony has been entrenched in mirrorless longer than the other two photographic giants. They abandoned their A mount line of lenses along with their cameras, the A99 being an example, way back around 2013. The problem with older Sony gear is that it was never very popular to begin with and Sony didn't have a system to rival Canon or Nikon. The prices for that old Sony gear stabilized long ago.
My gut tells me things seems to be stacking up in the same way as when the film cameras and gear were largely abandoned. If you aren't into video (DSLRs aren't great for video using their Live View), the current crop of Nikon and Canon DSLRs are excellent and would serve a variety of photography genres well into the future. For some types of photography, even the old 4” x 5” cameras will suffice. Certainly a 47mp or 50mp Nikon or Canon DSLR could well serve wildlife, landscape, studio, food and other photographers just fine just as they now do. For some kinds of photography there is no need for the new mirrorless stuff. Nor is there a need for cutting edge eye tracking (human or otherwise) focusing abilities. However, each of the DSLRs listed below have excellent focusing systems—some better than most of today’s mirrorless cameras. So, if you don't really have a need to lock onto a person's eyes or create videos, a DSLR may serve your needs perfectly for years to come.
Here are some current DSLRs that, in the future as photographers transition to the 'newer and better' mirrorless cameras systems, may dramatically drop in price, especially in the used market.
Nikon D850
Nikon D780
Nikon D500
Canon 5D Mark IV
Canon 5D S or SR
Canon 7D Mark III
If you really want to go high end DSLR and/or lens, you might even be able to pick up a Canon 1 DX Mark IV or a Nikon D5/D6 along with an older 400mm, 500mm or 600mm fast telephoto lens for very reasonable prices.
If you are interested in picking up a top quality, professional level DSLR with great lenses, keep you eyes open over the next few years. I'm betting that their prices will drop and those high priced cameras of today that you desire but can’t quite afford may just be obtainable in the future.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Greetings Dennis -
ReplyDeleteI still have my D500 (perhaps the best APS-C DSLR ever made). Live view is not convenient on this model, but it is built as a tough professional camera. It's sensor gives me what I need and I don't need 50 or 100 megapixels.
The Nikon D-4 series (toughest DSLR ever produced?) also appeals to me, but I have to admit my small Z50 gets more use due to the smaller size & weight for "on-the-go" photography work.
Overall, it is the convenient live view that makes mirrorless a great way to go. I am reluctant to give that up for most of my work.
Chris in Wisconsin
I agree about the real value in the past generation equipment. Many of the best images seen on the internet sites were made with those cameras and lenses. I admit to becoming enthused by the acclaim and tests of new equipment that I read on the internet. I rent the cameras and lenses only to find they make essentially the same photograph as my older gear. The real difference is in the improving feature set of the new cameras. That difference may not even apply depending on the subjects photographed.
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