I spent the day working the Philadelphia Car Show with a local organization raising money for land preservation. We auction off a 1956 or 1957 Thunderbird every year as well as run a Concours Show in the fall and have a good sized booth at the show that has some pretty spectacular classic cars. These attract lots of picture takers and it was very interesting to see what they were shooting. No editorial comment intended.
1. It seemed like everyone was taking pictures. Cell phone clickers were very common.
2. I was very surprised at the number of DSLRs. many more than I remember from past shows - probably in the range of 25%. Very strong showing by Nikon, surprising number of Sony's and fewer Canons than I expected - well less than half. Interestingly, most of the Nikons were low-end and many of the Canons were 30/40Ds. Not many XT range Canons.
3. Saw 3 red rings on lenses all day and one of them was a pro covering the unveiling of the new Dodge Challenger. Only one prime lens (a guy with a fisheye and a D300) and the rest consumer level zooms.
4. No pro level cameras. A couple of D300, one 5D and a good number of 30/40Ds.
No, I wasn't expecting the place to be swarming with pro-level equipment but I was surprised by the huge dollar volume of DSLR consumer gear showing up.
I completely agree with you! I went to the Houston auto show last weekend...everyone was using their phones which was very surprising since I work in a store and I personally sell cameras...I see how much volume we do in point and shoots I was very surprised with the amount of cell phone cams people were using...as far as DSLR that market has been going through the roof last year or so. I average out selling at least 2 entry levels a day and that's on a slow day excluding the holidays. between the xt,xti, and the d40/d40x its a really close race...they are all huge sellers and its just your average joe buying them. consumers are just tired of "blurry" pictures from the "slow responses" of point and shoots and they assume that and SLR will fix this and they are partially correct if they knew how to use it. The problem is they don't and the way DSLRs are marketed is almost the same mega pixel gimmick that the point and shoots are marketed with. the faster the better which in a lot of cases works great but these consumers simply do not know how to take advantage of them. If someone came in asking me for a SLR and they have the money, all I have to do is take out an xti and a 40D put them in their continuous modes and if the customer has the money to spare disregarding everything else they will go for the 40D simply because of the speed. At the auto show there were so many XXD bodies with the 28-135 kit lenses and a ridiculous amount of Nikon d40/d40x. I didn't see any red rings except for mine and my friend's that came with me. We both had manfrotto monopods as well and we got the royal treatment at the show it was very weird...I think everyone thought we were media lol.they let us in behind everything...really cool. Overall the market is changing very quickly when it comes to DSLRs and I would love to hear what you guys think about this...
I have also seen this trend. I was at the end of the Thames River Festival out in London and there were many, many dSLRs. However, if you look closely, there's still a gap between serious photographers and those that simply buy the gear to solve their P&S problems. Looking at what's in their hands, it might not seem so.
I went to the Philly auto show a couple years ago - a few months before the Dodge Charger came out - they had one there...I'm guessing 2004 or 2005. Back then, I had a 20D, 17-35 2.8-4 tamron, and 420EX with me, and I remember people acting like I was someone special as well...I only remembered seeing a few SLRs, a decent amount of P&S, and few phones with cameras built-in. A few people came up to me and asked me about the camera.
Last car show I went to was a small one in NJ in 2007, and I had my 1DIIN, 15 fish, 16-35, flash, and had a friend with some decent nikon gear. We were allowed full access, including inside the ropes access around the porsches, lamborghinis, and other high-ticket cars. I saw very few SLRs, but bunches of P&S cameras and more cell phone cameras.
I live in one of the most wealthy counties in the country, believe it's usually ranked in the the top 10 nationally. I have always thought it strange that I rarely see cameras beyond the entry-level rebels and d40/50 nikons ( and occasionally, sony now). I almost always see the 18-55 zooms or 75-300 zooms or even 28-300 zooms, but very rarely anything better....and this is even at events held at schools in the wealthiest towns - like plays, football games, etc. I will occasionally see a 10/20/30/40D and decent glass, but that is rare. Around here, I would say I see 70% canon, 5% sony and other brand SLRs, and the rest nikon - at least when talking about SLRs. I don't think I've ever seen a true pro series body like a 1DIIN or D2h in the hands of anyone except birders, press, and people at organized events (like an FM meetup). Same could be said of any supertelephoto...never seen anyone else use them outsode of press or birders....
