Price Drop Jaw Drop

"Why would anyone buy a digital camera on its maiden launch? Total sucker move. It's like taking hundreds of dollars and hurling them up in the air, where they vanish in a poof of magic smoke."

Seems like an opening you might read on a photography forum, right?

Wrong. They're the words of the esteemed James Wolcott, Cultural Critic of Vanity Fair, frequent contributor to The New Yorker, etc.

His ultimate $45 solution might be a little over the top, but it's interesting to see this issue invading the MSM. Won't be long before the news gets around, at this rate.

Here's the article on vanityfair.com. You've probably read something similar before, except with many more spelling and grammar mistakes, on a forum.

Mike
(Thanks to Tom Voigt)

Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
A book of interest today:

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

kirk tuck: "OMG. I've made it as a blogger. I've been mentioned on VanityFair.com. Sideways compliment? And in the context of the article, I just bought (at full street prices) both the new Sony a99 and the Sony NEX-6, last Saturday. Damn, I should have read the article first."

Mike adds: OMG indeed. I was jealous. Just as an aside: the Daily Mail recently reported that the abbreviation "OMG" is not an Internet phenomenon—it was used in 1917 in a letter from Lord Fisher to Winston Churchill:

Greg: "When I saw this over the weekend from Wolcott, I had to double check whose feed I was reading! It read so much like something I would read, as you mentioned, on a forum, or something I might find here on TOP. Just another reason why I adore James Wolcott."

Mike C.: "On the OMG thing, you're probably missing some context. In the British diplomatic service, knighthoods 'come up with the rations,' but in a strictly hierarchical way: CMG (Commander of the Order of St. Michael & St. George), known as 'Call Me God.' KCMG (Knight Commander etc.) = 'Kindly Call Me God.' GCMG (Grand Commander etc.) = 'God Calls Me God.' I've been waiting years to offload that bit of trivia...."

Comments

[Andreas]

I know it's nothing new, but I can imagine someone getting that bargain and being happy for some years. Sure not us gearheads, but someone dedicated to photography.

[Richard Tugwell]

As he says about his $45 purchase - "Looking through the viewfinder almost made me swoon:"

[Craig]

At $299 the Nikon V1 is a very good deal... if you're interested in a camera with a sensor even smaller than Four Thirds (though still huge compared to most compact cameras).

The Pentax K-01, on the other hand, was pathetic in so many ways it wasn't even funny. Hideously ugly (as Wolcott notes, it looked like a Tonka toy), it was a mirrorless camera nearly the size of a DSLR, complete with enough wasted empty space inside it to fit a full-frame SLR's reflex mirror -- a misfeature made necessary by the decision to use a standard K mount. The lack of a viewfinder was also disastrous -- as with the Canon EOS-M, it immediately killed any interest many people (including me) might have had in it.

I like his conclusion that the K-1000 is a better investment. Digital devices are practically obsolete by the time they get to market these days, but decades-old film cameras can still make great pictures.

[Albano]

I agree. I've just bought a GF1 with the 20mm for less than 400 usd. I'll love to get a GX1, but I'll simply wait one year and get it for less than 400 usd when the GX3 is launched (GX2 will be launched in 6 months).

[John Camp]

I worry about James Wolcott's use of the word "obsolescent" in regard to a Pentax K-1000. He says as long as film is made, he doesn't have to worry about the camera becoming obsolescent. I'd say that the camera is already obsolescent, it's just not quite obsolete. What do you think?

[PWL]

"Why buy a digital camera on it's maiden launch?" Because someone has to do it,I guess...

Bought both the Leica M9 and the Olympus EM-5 more or less on their maiden launches. And I've had no cause to regret either decision.

[Wolfgang Lonien]

Well this early spring I bought an OM-2N with a terrific 1:1,4/50mm for just 70€. So I'm with James: "...as long as they manufacture film, never obsolescent."

My congrats to Kirk, who's now a true V.I.P. :-)

[Speed]

"Why would anyone buy a digital camera on its maiden launch?"

Because everyone is not James Wolcott.

[Alex]

On Kames Wolcott:
1. the man can write
2. he has heard about Kirk Tuck
3. he knows what a V2 is
Not too bad from a publication I would never dream of reading in the first place.

[Stan B.]

There's a certain peace of mind that comes when you embrace film's obsolescence. One no longer need worry about being made obsolete next year, next month, next week. You're free to concentrate on other things, like taking pictures... with a $45 camera.

[Chris Nicholls]

Mike, re the honours, I prefer the version explained by Bernard Woolley in the "Yes Minister" stories. GMG = Call Me God; KCMG = Kindly Call Me God; GCMG = God Calls Me God.

[Chris Nicholls]

And regarding his $45 solution: he got ripped. A few weeks ago I bought a K1000 with the same lens, nice case, and a working meter, good shutter speeds, all for the princely sum of $15.

[Gavin McLelland]

Damn - Mike C got there before me with the British diplomatic trivia. My wife is a diplomat, she took one look at the Daily Mail extract and said "so that joke is that old".

The Nikon CX cameras do seem to be over priced. The camera manufacturers are always telling people that DSLR's are so expensive because of the sensor size, mirror mechanism etc etc. They then produce a camera with a smaller sensor no mirror etc and charge more than a similar DSLR. I'm sure that there is some expensive technology in there somewhere and development costs to defray but for a lot of people I suspect they just didn't look like good value
Gavin

[Rick D]

Kirk Tuck AND Steve Huff. I already liked Wolcott, did he have to troll me so shamelessly?

Cheers,

Rick

[Peter Croft]

tapis - tapestry according to Wiktionary. I knew of Tapis crude (oil), but that's a new word for me. On the tablecloth, I assume.

Btw, seeing 9/9/17 reminded me of the significance of next Wednesday. It's 12/12/12. It's the last of a dodecade of palindromic dates, afaik. We started at 01/01/01 and progressed through the memorable 11/11/11. But as far as I can tell, this will be the last one for the rest of this millennium. We can't have 13/13/13 or 30/30/30 or anything like it until 3001. Am I right?

It'll also be the last date where you Yanks fall in line with the rest of us in showing dates - DD/MM/YY for us, MM/DD/YY you. Some European countries use YY/MM/DD, I know.

[Tim]

Stan B. ... you're right, but you do get to worry how you're going to process them, at least if one aims to share the results online, especially given a lack of shops that can process and print film in a trustworthy fashion.

That said, ages ago I gave my dad a Centon rip-off of the K-1000, and he was very happy with it for quite some years.

[Oskar Ojala]

Reminds of a friend of a friend who didn't go to any sale, since those are crowded and only poor people have time to waste on those. While I have nothing against poor people, I'm generally too busy using my cameras rather than wasting time on Internet forums thinking whether the price will drop a hundred in a few months or so. Life is just too short; buy a camera you can afford and spend time using it.

[Alan Fairley]

Actually, the viewfinder of my D800 is the equal of my F3HP. Of course, the D800 does cost $2954 more than the K1000.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Has anyone seen any of Wolcott's images?

[MarkR]

When you read "as long as they manufacture film, never obsolescent," did you immediately think of the tautology club from this xkcd comic? http://xkcd.com/703/

[Dennis ng]

It is not $299 in a sense for v1 as I found out it comes with the battery and charger that cost at least $120 to buy, if you got a d600/800 etc that use that battery. It is $199 in value for the canera and lens by itself, in a pool of battery and charger concept.

[Crabby Umbo]

Got J.W. AND Cris Nicholls both whipped, bought a K-1000 in mint condition, with a 50mm Pentax f/2 lens for 10 bucks a a resale shop in a small town between Madison and Milwaukee, WI. a little while ago! Really wanted it for the lens, as I was using a 50mm Sears lens on my current K-1000 body (altho a sharp one). Was amazed to get it home and blow the dust off it, and it looked like it was out of the box...and of course, I LOVE film...

[Dave Butler]

Wolcott's $45 solution will cost him in film and development and printing as long as he uses it.

[iñaki]

OMG
'tis a new Olympus model, right?