2009 DSLR camera trends

It is just half year past 2009, but there are so many DSLR & micro four thirds cameras have been released. There are at least ten new cameras this year and the number will likely to increase to in the next few months.

What is the 2009 trends?

1. Video Mode
The biggest trend of 2009’s DSLR cameras is the video mode. So far, there are five cameras have video modes. They are Canon 500D/T1i, Nikon D5000, Panasonic GH1, Pentax K7, Olympus E-P1. The number will likely to increase because there are Nikon D300s/D400, Canon 60D, Canon 1D mark IV and Samsung NX is waiting to be released.

Although video mode is around for almost one year, there are still many limitations of DSLR video mode compare to camcorder. Some of them are:

• Inability to set aperture, shutter speed and ISO manually (except Canon 5D mark II with latest firmware).
• Non existent or very slow Auto Focus speed
• Hard to stabilize the lens especially when panning, tripod with pan head is recommended
• Many does not have external audio output or stereo sound recording

However, DSLR video mode has three major benefits:

• Easy to control depth of field
• Able to use interchangeable lenses to create different kind of perspectives
• Great in low light setting

Video mode is still evolving and I think we can expect improvement of video mode next year.

2. The camera size is shrinking!
Manufacturers are working hard to make the DSLR cameras as small as possible this year. The term big and beautiful is not cool now. Almost all DSLR cameras in 2009 are smaller compare to its predecessors. This include some new lenses.

By redesigning, manufacturers hope they can appeal compact camera users to upgrade to DSLR. Most common complaint why consumers stay with compact camera are the size and weight of DSLR cameras.

Some cameras that has compact design (DSLR standard) include: Sony A series, Pentax K7, Olympus E-620, and two micro four thirds design: Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic GH1

3. The rise of micro four thirds system
This is a good year for micro four thirds system. The interest are quite high for this innovative system. If you are not familiar with micro four thirds system check it here. There are two m43 cameras so far this year, Olympus “PEN” E-P1 and Panasonic GH1. There are also several lenses. m43 already have 7 lenses now plus up to 39 DSLR lenses available to use with special adapter.

4. LCD screen improvement
LCD screen has also been improved. Some cameras such as Canon 500D/T1i and Pentax K7 now have hi-res 920k 3″ lcd screen. Some other cameras have swivel and tilt screen such as Nikon D5000 and Sony Alpha series. Unfortunately, if you pick camera with swivel screen, you won’t get high-resolution screen just yet.

4. Megapixel war is over
Megapixel war between manufacturers are cooling down especially DSLR camera with crop sensor. Most of the manufacturers realize that increasing image resolution aggresively won’t do any good for marketing purpose anymore. If the image resolution is too high, noise will be hard to control in high ISO, as a result, that it will degrade the image quality. In addition, 10 Megapixel is good enough for large print. More megapixel also means you will need bigger storage. This year, image resolution of DSLR cameras range from 10-15 megapixel.

What to expect next?
I think that manufacturers will still working hard to perfect the video mode. LCD screen will be improved, so that we can look at the image more clearly in bright sunlight. We can also expect hybrids camera such as micro four thirds system will evolve and might take over DSLR cameras supremacy in 4-5 years.

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