Why would shops advise against a DSLR?

p1tse

p1tse

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Two work colleagues told me recently they were advised against DSLR

One wanted and got the Compact Lumix SLR system and the other guy is undecided, but told him the compacts will be limited as he already has one.

Do shops make more profit on non DSLR?
 
Depends on the commision structure of the shop I guess. Maybe they had a target to meet of a certain type or something, or the sales staff genuinely belived the customer would be better with the Compact lumix. Not everyone needs a DSLR.
 
Maybe they never needed the DSLR.

I think that the assistant knew that if he sold them a DSLR then it wouldn't be a good match.

Although I think that he might have made more commission on a Lumix mirrorless than say a DSLR it might just be that they need to sell more of one brand :shrug:
 
Maybe they asked if he wanted more portability or something similar?

It is no doubt a good thing that some of these bodies do not require retro focus lenses and so lenses can be a better design.
 
DannyDMR said:
you would think long term the shop would make more money by selling DSLR's as more lenses flashes etc would be bought
Click to expand...

not if the customer found the dslr too complicated or cumbersome to use and put it in a cupboard and never used it again....DSLR is not the answer to every photographic question. While undoubtedly some sales staff are clueless there are also those who are not and who will actually ask pertinent questions of their customer in order to find a good solution for them. That is more likely to result in a returning customer who will spend more money, dslr or not.
 
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I have 2 DSLRS, they are great fort he work i do. Get in the way on holiday. It might be for practicality that was advised against it. DSLRS produce stunning images (and so do compacts) but they can jsut get in the way of a holiday/event where i want to enjoy myself!

hence the reason i really want to get a nice small mirrorless/good compact
 
I would guess that profit margins and sales target bonuses may be involved. Yes, an SLR can lead to further purchases as the user's kit expands but upgraditis exists in bridges and compacts too, so once a user has decided they like (say) the Lumix range, they may well stick with it and keep getting this year's model year after year. There may also be a container full of compacts and bridges that the retailer is desperate to shift before the bill comes in. Unsold stock costs them a small fortune and earns them nothing.
 
Cynically, I would say it may be down to trying to achieve certain targets or shift some stock.

More charitably it coudl be thatthey listened to the customer and thier requirements and thought that what they wanted was not a DSLR
 
I'd say in retail (less so in the specialist shops) that's it's about stock. I could also be that a new model is due out soon so they want to shift the old stock at the current price
 
A decent sales person will sell the type of camera the customer needs then try and upsell to the best model they can. If they sell them something that doesnt suit, then all that happens is that the item ends up getting returned, so they lose the sale and gain ill feeling.

I used to work in retail sales and thats how most work, not all though.
 
I can understand this in a few small cases.

There must be people out there who have plenty of money but not real interest in photography. They see an entry level dslr in John Lewis or Jessops and just assume it'll be better then they're high compact or bridge in everyway. In practice an entry level dslr will have a much shorter zoom range (with the kit lens) and properly less feature. Not to mention that kits lenses don't do Macro.

I have a Nikon D60 and a Fuji S1500. Despite having cost less then half the price the Fuji has features the Nikon does not.
 
Could be a number of reasons, as others have said. DSLRs aren't for everybody, and lots of enthusiasts prefer something smaller/lighter for holidays and social stuff too. We only get input from a tiny fraction of the camera owning population here, and I'll bet that a lot of people who do buy a DSLR never purchase another lens or flash.
 
I suppose it really depends if the sales person had targets etc to meet on a certain criteria or if the sales person actually was a good sales person and asked the right questions. If someone doesn't really want to learn the ins and outs of exposure etc and wants something that isn't too cumbersome then why would they want a DSLR.

Clearly your first friend didn't want a DSLR that badly or he wouldn't have come away with a compact. Something convinced him that the compact was going to meet his needs better. Whilst a shop make more selling all the other bits like lenses and flashs etc if the user can't use it properly and gives up its never their fault, it'll be the shop for selling it to them in the first place.!!!
 
I would like to think the shop assistant was trying to do the right thing for the customer but I know this isn't always the case.

I was in my local photography shop a month back buying a Panasonic GF2. The assistant (youngish) asked if I was a long time photographer or just starting out. I explained that I have been doing it for around 10 years now. He didn't try and push any type of camera despite me thinking he might try and get me to buy an expensive DSLR. We chatted further and I mentioned I used to own a 1DmkIV. I was expecting the assistant to say I was stupid to go to a GF2 from such a good camera, but he said "yeah I owned a D3S and went to a M4/3, best things I've done". It's nice to know there are some genuinely helpful staff in some shops.
 
For the majority of the population the compact route is probably the best.. after all, to match the range of performance of a good compact with a DSLR will usually take three lenses (wide-normal, normal-tele, macro). And you've got to be prepared to carry the extra weight of a DSLR plus lenses, as well as the attention a large camera attracts.

But we've nothing to go on to get an idea of what the two friends might have needed..
 
one guy wants scenery and then birds etc.
For that I would say a compact is pretty limited, but the sells guy is pointing to him a compact, possibly because he wants compact swayed it.

He told me he went back in again and another person recommended a different compact.
 
I didn't see mentioned anywhere which shop it was, anywhere like pcworld/curries etc. then a lot of their staff no very little about items they are selling whether it be cameras/pcs/tvs etc.
 
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