The Cycle - by Thom Hogan

The Cycle
June 11 (commentary)--Another pro sent me a short summary of what he's learned over the years. I've re-adapted it and call it the "cycle," and it's a version of what I've been writing about in recent times:

1. We start with a simple, uncomplicated, small camera.
2. We yearn for bigger, fancier cameras.
3. We earn enough to buy a series of bigger, fancier cameras until...
4. We have the biggest, fanciest camera.
5. We get tired of lugging heavy stuff around and learning hugely complex controls, so...
6. We yearn for smaller, simpler cameras.
7. We buy progressively smaller and simpler cameras until...
8. We end up shooting with a simple, uncomplicated, small camera.

It seems that most of the camera companies got stuck producing products for Step 3 and 4. They don't see the value in producing the product we want for Step 8 (e.g., FM3D or 28TiD). Meanwhile, the truly small cameras (e.g. iPhone through Coolpix) get progressively better and are cheap. 

Original Author - Thom Hogan www.bythom.com