DSLRBodies

With Nikon DSLRs now aging out in every way, this is starting to pose a problem for those who wish to continue using their cameras.

First up, NikonUSA now is specifically one-year warranty only on new DSLRs and F-mount lenses (90 days for refurbished). So you don't have a long period where you can get your camera repaired free of charge for non-user caused issues. Europe and some other locales have two-year warranties or offer for-fee extensions. 

Second, there's the issue of whether a product is still being manufactured or not. Here in the US, Nikon generally follows the California repair rules, which means that they will repair or replace out of warranty products for up to seven years after last date of manufacture. This is starting to push older DSLRs into "unrepairability." To wit: D3400 or earlier, D5500 or earlier, D7200 or earlier. The D3500, D5600, D500, and D5 are getting close to that same status.  

One thing to note is the "or replace" clause. It is very likely that at some point a non-repairable under warranty DSLR or F-mount lens might be replaced either with a refurbished item, or problematically, with a Z-system item. The latter hasn't happened, to my knowledge, but the former has happened when parts are not available for repair in a timely fashion.

Frankly, the D5 and D500 are state of the art cameras still. In particular, the D500 is still the best all-around APS-C camera today, as far as I'm concerned, even though you can no longer buy it new in the US (gray market "new" is still available, though). So it's insane that the D500 is nearing end-of-repairability (by Nikon; a third party repair facility may be able to scavenge parts and repair it). 

Moving on to older cameras, where you might eventually have an issue either to a part wearing out or an accident with the camera. What do you do when, say, your D3x suddenly needs repair? It's long past the seven year guaranteed repair rule. But maybe your camera can be repaired; only NikonUSA can tell you if they have the parts and ability to make repairs on older cameras.

My long-stated advice about repair versus replace still stands. If a repair is something other than superficial, it's going to more often than not cost US$300 to US$600 at NikonUSA to repair these days, depending upon how much tear down is involved (the only parts specific costs that tend to drive that cost higher are image sensor or digital camera board). The very first thing you should do is look at what the cost of a used version of your camera in excellent condition would be from a reputable source (e.g. B&H, KEH, etc.). In some cases, NikonUSA may have refurbished (or even new) versions of older cameras available (currently D5600, D7500, D750, D780, D850, Df). If the price of replacement is lower than expected repair cost, it's a no-brainer: replace your broken product with a new, used, or refurbished copy. Keep your broken camera around for spare parts should you ever need to have the used version repaired. 

The trickier part is if you desire to "upgrade" to replace your broken older camera. Realistically, this doesn't tend to make monetary sense. If your older camera was acceptable before, repairing it or replacing it with a used version is likely less expensive than upgrading to something new. Given that your DSLR choices are limited now, it's likely that you'd consider mirrorless for any true upgrade, and then other costs start piling on top of the body-only cost. 

Most people justify the upgrade option by convincing themselves that the newer features and performance are what they need. This is not necessarily true. Again, the D500: you can't get any APS-C camera as good as the D500 from anyone, DSLR or mirrorless,  so you end up "buying upward" (e.g. D850 or Z8). Yes, you get "more," but you're going to pay big time for that when perhaps all you wanted was what you had to continue to work.

There's little doubt that the DSLR options are going to get fewer and fewer over time. If you're the "plan ahead" type, buying an extra body today might be a wise choice, while they're still available. Either that or plan for an eventual upgrade to mirrorless and the costs that are likely to come with that. 

The number of Canon DSLRs introduced in 2023: zero.
The number of Nikon DSLRs introduced in 2023: zero.
The number of Canon EF-mount lenses introduced in 2023: zero.
The number of Nikon F-mount lenses introduced in 2023: zero.

With a year's worth—actually more, but annual is a good way of framing things—of nothing from the two big DSLR makers, it's time to make a clear point: the DSLR era is over:

The line is the three-year moving average. It's remarkably straight, which implies careful management.

2024 is the year I expect to end up calling Quiet Discontinuations. 

NikonUSA, for instance, currently lists 13 DSLR bodies "available." Nikon Japan lists only 6. 
Nikon USA currently lists 84 F-mount lenses as "available." Nikon Japan lists only 37. 

Nikon Japan is the canary in the coal mine. Nikon has a tendency to use the home region to effectively signal discontinuation of a product. The home region has been much more aggressive at reducing available DSLR products than the subsidiaries, many of whom may have unsold inventory still hanging out in their warehouses. Moreover, the yen has declined against the dollar fairly significantly in the past two years, so it's also likely that Nikon is micromanaging how much they get for the lower volumes that they're now selling by shipping it to where they fetch the highest return.

I expect many more DSLR products to leave the shelves in the US in 2024. Neither Canon nor Nikon will announce such discontinuations—the reason why I write Quiet Discontinuations is the theme—but I'm pretty sure when we're able to look back with more clarity, we'll see that the choices dwindled. Perhaps significantly.

I'm using Nikon as an example here for a reason: they just had a really strong mirrorless year. The Zf, Z8, and Z9 have led a significant transfer of DSLR users into the mirrorless world, and I'm betting that will encourage Nikon to be even more aggressive at forcing the inevitable full transition from DSLR to mirrorless. 

The three Nikon DSLRs that use essentially the same image sensor as a mirrorless camera are the D7500, D780, and D850. Those cameras also use the now previous EXPEED6 SoC processor. There has to be end-of-life inventory management on those two key components that will likely dictate how long those cameras will still be made. However, as I've noted previously, the changes in the European cabling and charger requirements also play into DSLR end-of-life. Exactly how still seems murkily unclear, as the published regulations don't specifically forbid on-going sale, however in my talks with those trying to meet those new European standards by the end of the year, they tell a different story. 

I'm going to write a series of strawman statements that illustrate where we very well might be at this point in time (these statements will eventually become true, the question is whether or not they are true today):

• No new DSLR bodies will be announced.
• No new DSLR lenses will be announced.
• Many current DSLR bodies will be discontinued.
• Many current DSLR lenses will be discontinued.

If you're a DSLR owner and user and agree that those statements are likely true, you need to plan accordingly. New bodies and lenses would slowly disappear from the market, meaning your only source of "staying DSLR" would become the used market. As a corollary, if you think maybe it might be time to trade in your DSLR gear for mirrorless, you'd be late to the game; so many have already done so that it's lowered the future trade-in values for your DSLR gear. 

Over a decade ago I wrote about Last Camera Syndrome. Those that fell under that label tended to be a combination of two things: (1) reluctance to continually upgrade; and (2) aging into retirement (and thus a reluctance to spend more money). 

Here's the good news: you may find yourself in the Last Camera Syndrome simply because the transition from DSLR to mirrorless is just too expensive (and perhaps you're aging out of the market). How's that good news? Well, DSLRs of the last 10 years are remarkably capable cameras still. Used properly, they still have plenty of service left in them. A Nikon D7500 and two or three well-chosen lenses used well can still do most anything you need other than perhaps produce giant-sized prints. Are you making giant-sized prints? Didn't think so. 

However, don't be surprised if this site is pretty quiet in 2024. There's not a lot to say DSLR gear wise these days that I haven't already said. 

Today’s headline is a bit tongue in cheek, because you already know what to do: keep using your DSLR!

Canon’s last DSLR introductions were in 2020 (Rebel T8i and 1Dx Mark III). Nikon’s ditto (D780). Both companies seem to now be in full shift to mirrorless, so any DSLR iteration from either in the future would be a surprise. Thus, what’s on the shelf today are likely your final buy-new choices if you want to stay a DSLR user.

At B&H for example, Canon’s is still selling nine DSLRs (SL3, T100, T7, T8i, 90D, 6D Mark II, 5D Mark IV, 1Dx Mark II, 1Dx Mark III), whereas Nikon is down to four (D7500, D780, D850, D6). These numbers have been dwindling by a body or two every few months, as stock clears on older cameras.

My advice if you’re using a state-of-the-art DSLR still being sold (Canon 90D, 6D Mark II, 5D Mark IV, 1Dx Mark III, or Nikon D7500, D780, D850, D6) is to just stay put. You have a highly capable camera, and the cost of moving to mirrorless is going to be painful. Indeed, so much so that my top piece of advice if you have one of these bodies is to take a long, careful look at the used DSLR lens pool and bargain hard. You can find lots of low mileage, excellent shape, EF-mount and particularly Nikon F-mount lenses available, and at astonishingly low prices. That’s because of the large number of DSLR owners who decided to take a lot of pain in moving to mirrorless. Your DSLR image sensors are fine and basically state-of-the-art for still photography, so the way you can continue to improve your image quality is mostly through lenses (and user experience/training).

It’s typically the DSLR user that’s got an older (e.g. 7D or D300) or lower end (e.g. Rebel T1i or D3100) body that is scratching their head about what to do. I used 2010 models in those parens for a reason: the longterm-closet-user tends to upgrade every ten or more years. It’s exactly this type of customer that is least present in the current buying market but having the most difficulty deciding whether they should be. 

My advice for these folk is trickier. You have two choices, basically: (1) push higher in the current DSLR lineup for your sensor size (e.g. a D3100 user buying a D7500, or a D600 user buying D850); or (2) move to mirrorless (e.g. Rebel T1i or original 5D model user moving to an R model). 

#1 lets you just keep your current lens set (and maybe enhance it a bit, as I noted above) but get the benefits of a decade of product iteration. 

#2 has you wanting the best-possible-current-camera at your level. Yes, mirrorless is now arguably driving the best-camera debate. 

You’ll note that I used the words “for your sensor size” in #1. There’s a simple reason for that: if you were to, say, move from DX DSLR to FX DSLR, you’re likely buying new lenses. Once you start buying new lenses (i.e. replace both body and lens), you need to look closely at what’s current state of the art, and that’s full frame mirrorless. It’s not just bodies that got better, but as I’ve commented on over at zsystemuser.com, there really isn’t a Nikon Z-mount lens that isn’t clearly better than the equivalent F-mount lens (it's a little murkier on the Canon front). So if you’re coming out of a camera buying coma to buy a state-of-the-art body that forces you to have to also replace your current lens set, why wouldn’t you do that in mirrorless?

Way back in 2011 I made the call on sansmirror.com: mirrorless would take over (>50%) the ILC (interchangeable lens camera) market from DSLRs in 2020 or so. Maybe I was off by a year, but we could argue about what “take over” means and put that marker anywhere from 2018 to 2022 or so. Mirrorless was going to win from DSLRs for a simple reason: fewer parts, simpler manufacturing. That, in turn, should turn out to mean better longevity without need for repair, particularly as we start dropping the mechanical shutter (as the Nikon Z8 and Z9 have done). 

It didn’t help that the mirrorless cameras were designed to be smaller and lighter, too. The traditional dedicated camera buyer has been aging out, and carrying three to five pound necklaces has turned out to be something those folk don’t want to keep doing. 

My sense is that the DSLR users split into two clear camps: 

1. Those that saw an advantage to moving with the camera companies to mirrorless.
2. Those that are perfectly fine with DSLR designs and just wanted those to iterate with new features and performance. 

Camp #1 has mostly already moved. Camp #2 is staying entrenched in the DSLR mounts, but I don’t think their wishes for the future are going to be granted. 

Even Nikon, who has tended to hold onto legacy users far longer than the other brands, seems to have decided to move on. I don’t expect a D580 or D790 in the future, though there’s an off chance that a D880 or D7 may still show up someday as a last legacy gift, much like the F6 film SLR once did clearly in the DSLR era. Canon, on the other hand, seems to be done with DSLRs.

We can all hope I’m wrong about this, but I think the pandemic may have put the nail in the DSLR coffin a bit earlier than most expected. Once the camera companies had to rethink based upon a smaller market, that rethinking went towards product line simplification, and DSLRs are not it. 

I’ll have more to say about this in the upcoming holiday season, as I think that year-end sales will tell us a lot about where the DSLR market really is in the minds of the camera makers.

——

Bonus: The Nikon D850 is currently US$2800. Even today I’d rank the D850 in my top five all-around cameras you can buy, and it’s the least expensive of that bunch. If you’re a Nikon DSLR user and not moving to mirrorless and don’t already have a D850, you still have a very viable choice at somewhat of a bargain price to consider.

It’s not often these days that we have an “eventful” week with DSLRs, but the past week produced two eyebrow raising bits to be aware of.

First, Nikon introduced firmware 1.30 for their D850 DSLR. This new firmware adds the Portrait Impression Balance feature to your choices when creating out-of-camera images (it’s not particularly relevant to raw files, though it may change the white balance preconditioning data slightly). That Nikon is adding features to a body that is now over five years old is encouraging, and suggests that the company is still paying attention to the users of that camera and wishes to extend its sales life.

On the other hand, the Canon 1DX Mark II seems to be on its way off sales (the Mark III is the current version). B&H [advertiser link] and some others are now offering a US$2000 (33%) discount on this still excellent DSLR. This is a limited time offer, though it’s unclear how limited (probably by supply more than calendar). 

Note that DSLRs aren’t dead: close to 2m of them were shipped (mostly by Canon and Nikon) in 2022. However, we’re now in the portion of the life curve where continued sales deterioration is likely to occur on a rapid basis. During 2022, DSLRs fell to just under one third the ILC shipments (mirrorless was the other two-thirds). Moreover, the average selling price of DSLRs is now significantly below that of mirrorless bodies, which means a lot of the continuing DSLR volume is still in the lower-end consumer products. 

Still, it’s heartening to hear any DSLR news these days, as it’s not the primary product the camera companies want to sell you.

It's both tough and easy to recommend new DSLR cameras for the Holiday 2022 season. Tough because models are being discontinued and camera makers would rather you buy a mirrorless camera. Easy because its easy to point out the few DSLRs that still are at the top of the game and useful.

I've updated the camera section of this site to more properly identify the true "current" cameras versus older cameras for Nikon.

Canon

Canon's remaining DSLR lineup in the US these days appears to be:

• EF-S (APS-C sensor)— Rebel T100, Rebel T7, SL3, Rebel T8i, 80D, 90D, 7D
• EF (full frame sensor) — 6D Mark II, 5D Mark IV, 5DS R, 1DX Mark II

Some of these are only still available in kits, some appear to just be lingering inventory (7D, 5DS R). 

It's getting more difficult for me to recommend any of the Canon DSLRs, as many are starting to age poorly, to the point where I'd tend to say "just buy mirrorless" if you thought you wanted one of them. But here are my late 2022 recommendations:

• EF-S user (other than 7D) looking to upgrade in EF-S: buy a 90D. It's the most up-to-date EF-S model, and it's very competent at a reasonable price. 
• 7D user looking to upgrade: Sorry, but it's time to move to mirrorless, and the R7 is your answer.
• EF user looking to upgrade (e.g. earlier 5D, 6D users): The only camera still worth looking at in my opinion is the 5D Mark IV. I suppose if you were on one of the oldest 5D's and Canon's discounting this holiday were aggressive, the 6D Mark II might come into play, but I'd strongly suggest that if you are an EF user looking to stay an EF user, you should get the best EF all-around camera that was made, and that's the 5D Mark IV.

Pros shouldn't be afraid of the 1DX Mark II. If you're using any of the earlier 1D's and can tolerate 20mp, this camera is an excellent upgrade choice, especially since Canon has been off-and-on discounting stock.

Nikon

Nikon's remaining DSLR lineup these days is:

• DX — D3500*, D5600*, D7500
• FX — D780, D850, D6

That's not what the NikonUSA Web site says, and even my short list is deceptive. The D500 is still obtainable via gray market, for example, and the remaining D3500 and D5600 units tend to be in and out of stock (thus my asterisks). My guess is that the D7500 will be the last DX standing, and once it is gone, we'll be down to just the three FX DSLRs.

Thus, if you're a Nikon DSLR user, want to remain one, and are in the market for upgrading this holiday season, I'm only going to have three recommendations for most of you:

• DX user (other than D500) looking to upgrade in DX: buy a D7500, stat. It's an undervalued camera capable of excellent results, and a bit of a bargain. 
• D500 user looking to upgrade in DSLR: consider a D850. You'll still have a 19mp DX coverage, but you get the benefits of one of the best full frame cameras made. 
• FX user (D600, D610, D700, D750, Df) looking to upgrade: buy a D850. It's still the best all-around DSLR you can buy. 

If you're willing to gamble a bit, a gray market D500 is still a remarkably good camera for the lower-body DX owners to move up to. It'll just be more difficult to get repaired if you drop it. 

Pros shouldn't be afraid of the D6. If you're still using a D3 or D4, the D6 is definitely an upgrade. The focus system alone just works far better. But workflow is also better, SnapBridge and GPS are built-in, and the video capabilities are better, too. The D6 is still built like a brick, and still has all the bells and whistles you expect. And if you haven't tried a 120-300mm f/2.8E VR lens on the D6, you're in for some wonderful surprises. 

Lenses

Here's the thing: DSLR lenses are slowly going out of production, across the board. EF-S and DX lens production have been cut by everyone in order to use parts and manufacturing facilities for mirrorless lenses. Overall, Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina are all cutting back on DSLR lenses, both crop sensor and full frame, but particularly crop sensor. This holiday may be your last best chance at picking up new copies of many lenses you desire.

The DSLR-to-mirrorless transition is putting a lot of EF and F mount lenses on the used market, despite the fact that both Canon and Nikon encourage their continued use on mirrorless through lens adapters. In Nikon's case, their Z System lenses have generally been clearly and obviously better than their F-mount equivalents, which is sparking a lot of Z-mount lens buying and F-mount lens dumping. 

This holiday season is probably a good time to pick up used lens bargains. Why? Because once the largest portion of the herd has moved to the mirrorless pasture, the DSLR lens dumping will lessen, and people are going to discover that a lot of those lenses are actually more valuable than the lowest prices they fetched when they hit the used market during the stampede.