dalethorn wrote:
If the iPhone5s camera is an indicator of where at least Apple is going, then I'd say a large segment of the consumer camera market is being dumbed down, and that could take years to recover from.
Quite the contrary. The P&S segment's demise is being shepherded in by powerful smartphones with optics and computational capabilities accompanied by large, ultra- high resolution displays that allow for PP software manipulation of images a (larger P&S) camera often can't match. Far from 'dumbed-down', it is as the adage goes, 'your best camera is the one you have with you'.
If anything, the Flickr-Getty Image alliance shows that the pressure is on the paid professional who now competes with amateurs whose lighter, very capable equipment that is always carried along and ready for a serendipitous moment.
The Leica-fication of the market, is evident in the compact but amazing Sony RX-1, (imperfect as it is with the VF wart on top) and the M3-inspired Fujifilm offerings. These are harbingers of an end to the 1-2 kg DSLR bodies for all but a few specialized users.