Imagine ........

[Mike Farley]

The US lottery has just had a draw for a $1.6 billion (that's not a typo) top prize, which really is a life changing amount of money. Personally that's way more than I would ever want, or need, and I would not even consider buying a ticket. But that's a whole different discussion to what I am proposing here.

With that fortune, you could have any camera you wanted. Heck, you could purchase every camera and lens on the market and still have change from just a day's interest on that amount. My question is whether there is any camera which fully meets all your requirements or are they all lacking in some way? Now that you have joined the mega-rich, you could design your own camera to your exact specification without making a significant impact on your wealth, maybe 1-2% of what you now own. Which features are important to you and would you have to design a bespoke camera to get them?

[Mike Farley]

It seems as though the manufacturers are doing a good job and we like our cameras just the way they are. The funny thing is, all those I have used have attributes I like, but none have achieved perfection.

[Peter Boughton]

I could list plenty of things that could be improved, but overall and compared to most things I'm happy enough with what I have.

Of course, that's different from designing my perfect cameras from scratch, which would be an interesting exercise, but ... well, that requires too much brain power for right now.

What I definitely hope doesn't happen is a homogenised gloop of software-based low quality crap catering to the lowest common denominator - as is becoming common in other tech. Hopefully the camera industry recognises the need for (and the market demands) distinct devices that cater for different people's needs.

[Mike Farley]

I could list plenty of things that could be improved, but overall and compared to most things I'm happy enough with what I have.

Which supports my suggestion that by and large the manufacturers are getting it right.

Of course, that's different from designing my perfect cameras from scratch, which would be an interesting exercise, but ... well, that requires too much brain power for right now.

Except now you are richer than Croesus and have people to do these things for you. Just tell a manufacturer what you want, give them just a tiny bit of your wealth and let them do all the hard work.

What I definitely hope doesn't happen is a homogenised gloop of software-based low quality crap catering to the lowest common denominator - as is becoming common in other tech. Hopefully the camera industry recognises the need for (and the market demands) distinct devices that cater for different people's needs.

I doubt that is going to happen, not in the short term at least. By their nature, cameras are complex and expensive to manufacture which means it would be counter productive to package them unattractively. If anything, it is going the other way with more high end models being produced in order to counteract falling sales with increased profit margins. During January we have had four major launches, all of which advance their respective ranges and have premium prices. With the exception of the Olympus Pen-F which sneaks in at a penny under, all will be well into four figures to purchase.

For my money, the manufacturers which are getting it most right are Olympus, Fuji and Leica. Their cameras seem to be designed by people who understand photography and photographers' needs just that bit better. I am coming to like designs where the major adjustments are controlled by dials on the body and the EVF displays information about exposure and certain compositional elements such as guidelines and whether I am holding the camera level. That last is a major consideration for me.