Over at DSLRBlog, there’s a post discussing When to Buy a New Camera. The case in point given is someone who purchased a high-end Nikon DSLR for about $5000 and is now disappointed they’ve released a new model… should he upgrade?
I’ve pondered a new camera body myself. I currently use a Canon EOS-300D which isn’t the newest kid on the block. Every time I think about it, I can’t come up with a good argument for upgrading. The pictures that come out of my camera are just fine, and are just as good as the day I bought it. Sure, a newer body would give me a few more pixels or a slightly larger buffer or another shot per second, but are those things really worth another $1,000? Not yet.
Every camera will be obsolete at some point. But what does that mean? Does it matter if the camera is “obsolete”? Will the fact that it’s obsolete prevent the camera from serving its purpose? No.
To me, determining when to buy a new camera isn’t that hard of a question to answer. One should purchase a new replacement camera when the set of new features becomes worth the re-investment price. If a new camera is only going to offer a small marginal improvement, then spending the money to buy something which is 90% the same as something one already owns doesn’t make much sense. That money could be spent more wisely on better glass or accessories which will outlive the camera body.
Technorati Tags: cameras, lenses, dslr, photography, photo gear, nikon, canon
