You know the smartphone camera game has improved if a giant like Nikon will stop manufacturing DSLRs
According to a report by Nikkei Asia, camera giant Nikon will stop manufacturing Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras in the future. This is a huge deal because Nikon is one of the most popular choices for DSLRs and photographers see them as a primary choice in professional photography.
A DSLR is a type of camera that uses a variety of mechanical parts and mirrors to process an image taken through its lens.
Smartphone camera improvements as well as higher demand for mirrorless cameras are cited to be the main reasons why Nikon may stop production of DSLRs completely. Mirrorless cameras on the other hand don’t use any sorts of mirrors hence the name. Instead, like a smartphone, it uses a digital sensor. Light passes through the lenses and then gets processed through this digital sensor. In comparison to DSLRs, they are lighter, processes images faster, and are more compact. Making them more practical to bring if one travels a lot.
According to Japan’s Camera and Imaging Products Association, mirrorless cameras have outsold DSLRs. In 2020 alone, there are about 2.93 million mirrorless cameras shipped in Japan while there were about 2.37 million DSLRs shipped. Numbers tell.
Due to higher demand, Nikon will primarily focus on manufacturing mirrorless cameras moving forward. The Nikon D6 may be the last DSLR to be manufactured. Mirrorless cameras also account half of Nikon’s total revenue while Nikon gets around 30% of SLRs. Nikkei reported that Nikon made over JPY 178.2 billion (~USD 1.3 Billion) from its imaging segment.
As you can tell, smartphone cameras have changed over the years and it’s time for us to accept this fact. This may be the time to accept that smartphone cameras can now potentially defeat professional DSLRs. For instance, Leica has partnered with several smartphone makers, the most recent being Xiaomi. Xiaomi brings a 1in. Sony sensor to smartphones which was unheard of until recently. To a casual consumer, smartphone cameras, even those not in flagships, are enough for photo-taking and sometimes, even pro-level photography.
In the same report, Canon, another camera giant, may also stop manufacturing DSLRs in the future. For now, NIkon will continue manufacturing its current line of DSLR cameras.
Source: Nikkei Asia