if anythings gonna take over DSLR world its gonna be mirrorless
LOL @ thinking a smartphone can replace a DSLR.......
DSLRs were extremely popular because there were just shiny toys for most people. Now that the camera improvements are slowing down, you don't have a ton of hobbiests buying the newest camera every other year.
Just look at Nikon's flagship line. They released only six film flagship cameras over almost 50 years.
In less than 20, we've had D1, D1X, D2X, D3X, D3s, D4, D4s, D5 etc.
Yep Anubis is right. It is a common misconception that smartphones have killed the DSLR. They killed the cheap pocket point and shoot camera market.
I think we're at a point now where smartphones are driving certain people to bigger cameras. People get a taste for photography on their phones and then decide they want to try something more serious, aka a DSLR or mirrorless camera. Point and shoot cameras used to be the gateway, but smartphones have replaced them.
It is true that the DSLR market saw years of decline, starting around the smartphone age, but it is false to assume they are directly correlated. DSLRs saw early success because tons of people wanted to try them out, and then the first time buyer market saturated resulting in a big slow-down. The same thing happened with ipads/tablets when they first came out. Tablets were huge for a while, but most people I know bought one tablet and realized there's not much need for a tablet when your phone is always in your pocket and can do everything the tablet can. Tablet sales have declined after saturating the first time buyer market.
While I don't think a smartphone will replace a DSLR in the next 10-20 years, the overall image quality at the given focal length will likely match that of the DSLR.
This will be due to advancements in sensor technology and software.
Physics are physics so it will be difficult to have a true 200mm lens in a pocketable form on your smartphone, but Apple (and others) recent 28mm and 50mm (equivalence) lenses prove that having multiple lenses on a smartphone (in some form) is not only possible but in production.
And, knowing your lenses FOV, with software there will be some pretty cool DOF tricks that can be had.
Im not saying they wont replace P&S cameras, that they will do for sure or already have. But you dont buy a DSLR to shoot only 35mm, if you do you are doing it wrong. You go DSLR to have the ability to quickly change lens to match what you are trying to shoot at the time and get the effects you are after.
I always have at least 4 Lens in my bag and no cell phone is ever going to replace that, the cell phones that have tried to be cameras with changeable lens have all failed because people just dont want their phones to be that big. I dont see them fitting a 100mm+ lens into a current sized smart phone in my life time.
It's hard to compare film to digital. In the film days, improvements in film could be taken advantage of by older cameras. That's where Nikon and Canon became more of lens sellers than camera body sellers. You can still today take any old film camera and pair it with a nice lens and get amazing results with film. In the digital age, an old sensor is an old sensor. Today, the D1's usability is squat compared to the usability of a film F3.
Huh? My midrange DSLR kit cost quite a bit less money than a flagship smartphone. There's probably a number of things that you will have spent as much or more money on compared to what a basic DSLR kit costs. It all comes down to whether the expense is worth it for you, it doesn't have to be that huge of a purchase. People spend $800+ on a phone without blinking an eye.Sorry but still DSLR is way too expensive at least for me so I think people might not able to afford it and see DSLR market going down slowly when people found smartphones are affordable.