What is affordable?

 It is a good question since in these present days that the electronic devices seem to be more and more expensive and that the manufacturers appear on their part to easy forget to refresh almost completely their entry-level line of products. And we are not speaking only about photographic goods here. Just look what is happening to the smartphone/tablet/computer market where the selling price level appears to upscale with every new generation introductions.

The basic argue in regard of entry-level photographic equipment availability is to facilitate the non-users or the newcomers to introduce themselves to the photographic activities. On a longer term, it implicate for some of them to further invest and upscale their photo gear. For many years it has been a general trend in the photo industry that small to big manufacturers have followed this "no say" rule without digression. But today things are changing when many of those iconic trade marks have decided to concentrate their offer to a more "niche" market that will be more profitable.  So, exit the "amateur" products except for the very basic (strip down) ones. 

It is futile to recap what is happened since the last decade but the trend is evident and many can ask rightly if traditional photography has been really became a true democratic practice when the digital age has reached its mature status. The next few years will certainly will confirm or not this assertion. Otherwise you can also question what is in fact affordable? Sure for a privileging part of our society, owning an expensive camera is possible although it is still a daring material choice to do. But for the other large segment of the total population it is still a luxury that many may avoid for financial reasons. 

Looking through the todays manufacturer offer, it is hard to find traditional digital cameras (with interchangeable lens - ILC) that will not exceed at least $600US or €600 and the selection of these products is limited. Yes, on the comparative level, this price point can be seen as similar to what we have observed fifty years ago at a time of doing traditional analog-film photography was also very expensive not only for the gear ownership but also for the operating cost. The big difference is the affordable promising times that the introduction of digital photography let us to anticipated as a cheap and sophisticated mass produced product appears to be long gone. This market peak didn't survive very long before its brutal collapse in favor of the large smartphone adoption. 

 After the popular saying that the traditional digital photo cameras were mainly addressed to the older generation, it appears that the youngest one are rediscovering the joy to use real or pseudo (dixit compact cameras w/fix optic) photo oriented devices. But will this trendy novelty really signify a return interest for photography as a distinctive visual expression even an art by itself? It has to be proven in the next years and furthermore the future decades. For the moment, it looks like a fashion phenomena for wearing a certain type of photo gear (like jewelry) and pretend to be a photographer (a kind of modern mascarade). 

***

The question of "affordability" in photography is may be more related to its place in our present society. On a personal base as for into the collective one, photography has been use to document people and its surrounding as an interpretive testimony of our times but it looks today that this activity is becoming less pertinent in our "no reflexion" changing world...

Photos Daniel M