> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Tim Munro
> The depreciation rate for
> digital/computer equipment in Australia is 40% per annum, which means I
> fully depreciate the new body in 2.5 years. This reduces my taxable income
> over the 2.5 years by $15,000
That's pretty good. I THINK in the country I was born it's less then 40% and
depreciation is based on the last years value and not the new value.
> I
> therefore
> have to find $11,250 in *additional* profit over the 2.5 years just to
> achieve a payback on the equipment.
At $10 a roll of slide film including processing that makes about 450 rolls
a year. Depending on what field a pro is working in that can be a reasonable
number.
> And that is only one of many
> considerations involved in this kind of capital expenditure, not the least
> of which is what is the profitable life expectancy of new digital
> equipment.
It sure is. Regarding the second part I would think the life expectancy
should be more then 2.5 years although for tax purposes the camera has no
value anymore.
Many people will say that digital cameras will become a short-living product
like the PC. Personally, I am not convienced that in the long run we will
see new professional digital cameras come out much more frequently then the
film models. Right now there is some catch-up to do, i.e. full frame, higher
res, etc. Resolution probably will increase further but seriously how many
35mm photographers switching to digital do need more then 20Mpixels,
built-in video-camera (yieks), etc?
Something similar can be said for the consumer digital cameras. So far ever
increasing Mpixels was the most important criteria and it might still be for
a while. But how many people who shoot 35mm P&S will need more then
5Mpixels? Few, I think. So instead of increasing the number of pixels I
believe we are going to see higher zoom ranges, higher continuous fps,
higher sensitivity range (similar to Kodak's highly advertised 400 speed
film), increasing image capacity (storage improves while #pixels stay the
same) etc.
> Nothing is ever free and, guess what, professional photography is
> hard work
> to make a living from,
I bet.
Robert
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