You know, folks, I had made a comment a while ago that if there were a sub-$500 DSLR film would be dead. To be fair I should have said 35mm would be dead and who knows about MF. The reaction to the *ist D has only reinforced this. Many things can hang around in niche markets (LF) and even with Kodak essentially putting film on the back burner there will probably be someone making 35 and 120 for quite a while. Nonetheless, all the new 35 mm's I see are ultracheap SLRs like the *ist because that's the only place 35 mm SLR's hold an advantage. I think film P&S's will be dead soon since digital P&S's are getting really cheap and the bulk of the P&S crowd will be happy with 3 MP sensors.
The conclusion is easy to see: The major manufacturers will have a low end SLR for 35 mm and the high end line will be DSLR's. Sure, some high end SLR's will still be available (after all, Leica is still selling the M9, the ultimate niche market) but the bulk of the already "relatively small" SLR market will go as stated above. I am even beginning to question if it is worth Pentax's efforts to bother to retrofit a DSLR as a companion high-end film body. What I find interesting is that Pentax is mentioned a lot more in Photo pubs since they produced this DSLR. I think this is the "badge of honor" needed to be a serious camera maker, not a niche camera maker like Leica. Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
