Upgradable Digital Camera

What happens if your $32,000 camera becomes obsolete in a couple of months?

The beautiful Hasselblad H4D-200MS

While most of us are fussing about whether we really need 16 megapixels to take great party photos for facebook, there are some pretty serious photographers demanding a heck of a lot more from their machines. Hasselblad uses some amazing multishot technology, turning a 50 Megapixel camera into a 200 megapixel camera!!!

While impressive, the real story is… what if you had forked out an enormous sum of money for the previous H4D-50MS sans the super ultra level of pixel mania? Ship it back to them, part with a few extra thousand dollars and they will add some hardware, fiddle with the software, and send you back a super, duper version of the greatest camera you had ever owned.

Upgrades! On digital cameras?

Designing the possibility for upgrades adds cost to the development of a product. The logistics, forward and reverse engineering, all require additional funds. The tipping point in digital cameras is obviously at a very high price point, with professionals who are committed to their equipment.

For a scenario where this level of upgradability occurs regularly, what will be the tipping point? High costs of material / components? Increased standard components / platforms?

Hmm… stay tuned for a post on “platform design”… you’ve got me thinking now…

---