DSLR prices

[who?]

I can't help noticing how cheap entry level DSLR cameras are getting.

The D40 is £220 and the 400D is £200 both including an 18-55 lens. I know they are not the latest greatest but this is astoundingly cheap isnt it? Almost throw away?

I also think that prices are softening on used kit - or at least at the stuff that I've been watching on fleabay.

Is this just technology/marketing/price curves as in the PC world or is it indicative of the whole global economic collapse thing?

Use the space below to express your indignation at having paid £400 a couple of months ago...

 

[markta]

IMO it's probably down to technology changing rapidly..

A bit like when DVD players first came out, or anything else....they become more and more common, more companies and brands come onto the market to increase competition and therefore prices are dropped to silly prices really...

It's no wonder really that the average consumer is buying a DLSR rather than a compact these days. Like for like, the IQ of the former is a country mile ahead of a compact and they're very affordable now..

Can only be good But from the perspective of making a living from photography, it is getting harder as a result...

I don't have any stats to hand, but since SLRs became DSLRs, the number of 'togs selling their work has probably increased 50 fold...

 

[chalky]

First post and no indignation here! As I'm currently looking to buy a D40 to re-start my interest in photography (last time I used a SLR I was 16 (now >30)). Just got fed up with compacts.

So, for me the price point for entry level DSLRs is great -it's just making up my mind which to go for and whether to buy an extra lens at the same time or not that is my biggest headache.

Prices do seem to be dropping though, also on items such as the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens (at least that is my view). I guess in response to the Sigma 'equivalent'??