Are we near to the end of worthwhile camera advances ??

davethebirder

With the Nikon rumours of the Z9II and the Z900 promising to be a reality it begs the question:

...... Where is there left to go in terms of worthwhile updates ?
Nikon's rumour of 3.5X faster readout will probably put an end to global shutter MLCs (Canon) due to noise penalties ..... the top flight bodies from Canon/Sony are already at high levels of AF and frame rate and there, Nikon claims to at least equal or better their specs with these new releases.......
Where is there left to go to goad folk into keeping up with the cutting edge of technology when the returns are micro-incremental and will cost 4-6 grand a pop?

This is not an advertisement for Nikon but an observation on the rapid technological levelling the market ........
Where's it all going and for how long ??

Rover

Haven't we heard this a few times before? If worthwhile improvements all run out, we'll probably see another spiral of the megapixel race for a while, until something new is invented.

I would say the drastic increase in frame rates have probably been the biggest news of the last few years, and even low-end cameras like the much truncated Canon R8 can shoot bursts at the speed that would never be considered feasible for DSLRs. I don't whip out the 20fps high-speed continuous mode of my Z9 very often, but it did come handy with shooting ski jumping competitions this past Saturday. And 10fps of my old Canon 1D Mark IV (which was there, along for the ride, and a godsend for quick shooting of the action) now seem so slow. 😃 Though actually I'm shooting the Z9 at 10fps, tops, as well unless I'm doing action shooting. Also seems pedestrian now that 15 or 20fps are here at the turn of a dial. 😃

davethebirder

@"Rover"
Haven't we heard this a few times before? If worthwhile improvements all run out, we'll probably see another spiral of the megapixel race for a while, until something new is invented.

Yes we have heard this before and, for the most part it has been true ..... Quote:

"global digital camera shipments from 2007 to 2025, peaking at 121.46 million in 2010, then declining steadily to 9.44 million in 2025."

..... the last few years have seen a sales increase because of the transition to MLCs, which have had a meteoric rise in framerate/ AF subject tracking/ and a corresponding reduction in rolling shutter ..... which have left earlier models ripe for updating ....
now with almost bottomless buffers, 40 fps, excellent AF tracking, 45-61 Mps sensors and a recent drop in rolling shutter .... where does that leave us to go .....
I don't see 80-100 Mps sensors propping up the market .....
don't get me wrong I'm not saying the market will collapse, but a significant drop in sales set against the compact market which is again expanding .......

mike

Yes, this has been true for a while now. I believe on a practical basis for most photographers the cameras already do more than most of us will really use or need. That doesn't prohibit them from chasing the next best thing. Nor does it mean I wouldn't want my next camera to be an improvement from current one.

I'm guessing it won't be long before AI is an integral part the camera. Beyond just processing, I could see it being implemented in focusing - tracking/knowing the subject- for example.

davethebirder

mike stated ...... "I'm guessing it won't be long before AI is an integral part the camera."

I think AI is already being used for programming within the FW ..... although boasting in camera AI would create the next "must have" .....
I just think from the big three a further two generations should have AF to pretty staggering levels, it's not far off now;

Meanwhile I'll wait for the Z9II and the Z900 to see how near they get to the mark!

Rover

What do you think LLMs can be used for in cameras? Autofocus? Noise reduction?

Klaus

Noise reduction
Digital dust removal (I'd like that one)
Better white balance (I think Sony did that in the A7V via AI already)
DR boost
IS panning optimization
Bokeh simulation

Then all the stuff that you can do with phones already.

mike

Klaus

Agreed!

While not directly part of the camera, the other day I actually took some photos I had taken on a hike, moved them to my droid, used the AI "enhancer" and the auto adjust slider, and moved them back on my computer. The results were outstanding with just one click and a slide. Except for the one I used the AI to remove a contrail, which was three clicks. This took no time at all. Moving the images back and forth was the longest part.

It's a full feature app with all the other standard phone image editing features and plenty more. I paid $15 US for it. Wish there was a market for a Windows version of the app, even if it only works on JPGs. Or, maybe better yet, if the OEMs PC software would work the similarly.