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NY Times: "Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras"
Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras
By IAN AUSTEN Published: February 20, 2006 But the reasons for his commitment have as much to do with practical matters as emotional pull. The 10 Konica Minolta digital and film cameras owned by Mr. Marek, a 35-year-old quality-control engineer who is also the president of a Chicago camera club, work only with lenses designed for that brand. Similarly, Mr. Marek's collection of about 33 Minolta lenses - he's lost count - will not fit any other make of camera. So Mr. Marek was more than a little concerned when Konica Minolta said last month that it was abandoning the photo business - both digital and film - and selling some of its camera technology to Sony. "Minolta had a great name in photography - they were No. 3 in the market when I bought my first camera," Mr. Marek said. "I can't imagine being without it now." Not all of the traditional leading camera makers have taken Konica Minolta's drastic step. Faced with brutal competition in the consumer market for compact digital cameras, several have turned to high-margin, digital single-lens reflex, or S.L.R., cameras, which feature interchangeable lenses, to maintain their profits. Those high margins have not escaped the notice of relative newcomers like Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. At the annual Photo Marketing Association International show next week in Orlando, Fla., all three are expected to further outline their plans to move into photography's top tier. When that occurs, the challenge for some of photography's most venerable brands may be simply to survive. "Life used to be stable in the camera business," said Ned Bunnell, director of marketing at Pentax Imaging. "But if you look at what happened to the personal computer industry, I think it's logical to think that the same sort of consolidation would take place in the camera industry." Sony has already risen to the No. 3 spot in digital camera sales in the United States, with 15.8 percent of the market, just behind Canon, at 17.2 percent, and Kodak, at 16.9 percent, according to Current Analysis, a research firm in Sterling, Va. And as the competition gets keener, life becomes fundamentally different for camera companies, which used to operate at a stately pace with new product cycles measured in years. Nikon's top-of-the-line F-series of cameras, for example, has been revamped only six times over nearly five decades. "In the past, as a camera maker we were able to take it easy, watch what was happening," said Makoto Kimura, the president of Nikon Imaging and a senior managing director of Nikon, its parent. "Now we've had to revitalize ourselves." In 1988, Sony introduced what is generally regarded as the first successful digital camera for consumers, the Mavica, which stored its photos on a standard diskette. While not breathtaking technology, the disks meant that the Mavica was the first camera that offered an easy way to transfer photos to computers. "That was when we started to think that other players were beginning to look at the possibilities of digital photography," Mr. Kimura said. With digital photography, Sony and other electronics makers immediately boasted advantages that offset their lack of optical experience. From its video camera business, Sony knew how to design and manufacture charge-coupled devices, or C.C.D.'s, the light-sensing chips that became film's most common digital replacement. Making the chips is beyond the financial or technical reach of most camera makers, several of which rely on Sony and other electronics companies as suppliers. The electronics companies' main advantage, however, was far less technical. The shift to digital photography meant that even relatively expensive cameras were increasingly purchased at electronics chains rather than specialty shops. The traditional camera makers were, by and large, left learning how to elbow their way onto shelves at Best Buy, Staples and Circuit City as well as adjusting their systems to meet the inventory and logistics demands of the national chains. "I was with Sony for a number of years," said Jeff R. Clark, the senior digital photography analyst at Current Analysis. "Supply chain management was probably more important to that company than the products it made." Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film also have a good understanding of mass merchandisers from their film businesses. That helped Kodak, at least in the United States, become a major vendor of digital cameras and sometimes the market leader. But its sales are weighted toward lower-priced cameras, a factor somewhat offset by the cameras' ability to connect easily to home snapshot printers that use only profitable Kodak supplies. Perhaps inevitably, the number of competitors offset the higher-than-anticipated demand for digital cameras, pushing down prices and margins. New models with additional features appeared every few months rather than years apart. anon, which is unique among camera companies in that it has extensive in-house chip-making ability through its office machine division, found a route to salvation. In 2003, it introduced the Digital Rebel, the first digital S.L.R. priced under $1,000 with a lens. The move was well timed. Many early digital camera buyers were returning for their second camera, and digital S.L.R.'s offered higher image quality, partly because of larger imaging chips. Digital S.L.R.'s were equally appealing to their makers and retailers. The incompatibility of lenses between brands and a lack of similar products from electronics makers has, so far at least, minimized price-cutting. Further adding to profits are the sales of even higher-margin accessory lenses and other add-ons that digital S.L.R.'s generate. Although Pentax cut the price of one digital S.L.R. this month to $600, from $800, the category has generally avoided the price free-fall that has plagued the compact camera market. According to Current Analysis, the average price of a Canon PowerShot S410 compact camera fell to $244 last month, from $346 a year earlier. But the successor to the Digital Rebel S.L.R., the Digital Rebel XT, still retails for just under $1,000. Nikon has similarly been able to maintain prices on its two S.L.R. cameras aimed mainly at consumers. Nikon said this month that its success with high-margin digital S.L.R. cameras helped account for a 26 percent increase in third-quarter sales, tripling its profits. And Canon ended 2005 with sales up 8.3 percent and a net revenue increase of 11.9 percent, performance it attributed largely to its digital S.L.R. cameras and photo printers. But Steve Hoffenberg, the director of consumer imaging research at Lyra Research in Newton, Mass., said that it was not just the high margins of S.L.R.'s that had drawn manufacturers' interest in the segment. The compact camera market, he said, is likely to be squeezed further as high-quality cameras are introduced into mobile phones and hand-held devices. He also expects the electronics companies to match their earlier digital imaging successes in the S.L.R. market. "A new wave of technology has given the newcomers the upper hand," Mr. Hoffenberg said. "For the consumer electronics companies, digital photography has been all upside, while the photo industry was stuck in a slow evolution stage." Some smaller camera makers appear to be looking for a truce. While neither Pentax nor Olympus has followed Konica Minolta's lead and retrenched to more profitable lines of business like medical imaging, both have allied themselves with electronics companies. Pentax is producing a Samsung-branded digital S.L.R. and supplying the Korean maker with its lenses. Olympus and Panasonic's parent company, Matsu****a Electric, have similarly joined forces, although they have yet to unveil specific products. Those alliances, like Sony's deal with Konica Minolta, give electronics companies access to a full range of established lens systems and other accessories. James Neal, director of digital imaging products at Sony Electronics, said his company expected interchangeable lens cameras to maintain a strong position in the market. "It is key for Sony to be in this market at this time," Mr. Neal said. "Consumers are really interested in moving up the ladder in terms of quality and performance to digital S.L.R.'s. If we just stopped at point-and-shoots, we would not have met all the needs of consumers." Mr. Neal said Sony was counting on sales to owners of Minolta lenses. (Konica, a maker of film, photocopiers and mini photo labs, merged with Minolta about two years ago.) For customers like Mr. Marek, it may be a tough sell. While Sony has been skilled at making its cameras easy to use, particularly for newcomers, it has sometimes omitted features like optical viewfinders and tripod sockets, which serious photographers often view as essential. Similarly, Sony cameras use proprietary memory cards that are generally more expensive than industry standards such as Compact Flash. Mr. Marek is eager to see what Sony offers, but he is also wary. "They're going to get my first look next time I buy a camera because of my investment in my current equipment," Mr. Marek said. "But if they don't meet my needs, I'll go elsewhere." |
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NY Times: "Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras"
Using the term "Top-Tier" is somewhat laughable, though in all not too
bad an article with an overview of the industry. I think it actually raises more questions than it answers. Sony are the main imaging chip supplier to Nikon. Samsung have been supplying chips for smaller compact cameras, but can easily move into a higher level now with the help of Pentax, though the Pentax name brand might need to remain in some markets. Panasonic has been making chips for quite some time, and had a nice lens design relationship with Leica, though now align themselves more with Olympus. The Olympus 4/3 system cameras have used Kodak imaging chips. So it seems that Olympus could stop being a customer for Kodak imaging chips, and while it might seem a stretch perhaps Sony and Nikon could part ways. Canon already make their own imaging chips for their D-SLRs. Okay, so here is the stretch in imagination, and it might be a good 18 to 24 months . . . with Kodak ceasing their Nikon mount D-SLRs, yet still producing large imaging chips, it seems that it might be natural for Nikon to source imaging chips from Kodak, at least at the high end (true high end) of D-SLRs. That move could also easily allow a shift to full frame chips, since Kodak has been making those for several years for medium format digital back users (starting at an 11 MP 24 mm by 36 mm chip they still produce, and upwards from there). What is interesting about PMA is the focus on consumer gear. Sure, that is the main part of the show, but some other news seems to have been missed. Perhaps everyone on this newsgroup stopped using film? Both Fuji and Kodak announced new films . . . yes, films. I recall many stating that film R&D stopped years ago, and to not expect any new emulsions. Well, when a new film gets released, it means at least five years worth of available product. So while ISO 400 and ISO 800 films don't generally excite me much, I did notice a new ISO 64 Tungsten film .. . . . . . It has been a while since I used any Tungsten film, but for some reason I want to get some of this to try. I will probably start with the 35 mm size, but I am tempted to run some through my 4x5. So a little weird bit of outside reality. In San Diego, which should not be used as a model for any general trends (except high prices), I have recently noticed many more old film SLRs in use. While that might not sound surprising, the part about it that surprised me a little is that people fresh out of high school are the ones picking up on this. Even the professional lab I used made a comment about it. So I asked a few people last night at this one cafe' I frequent, and the answer to why an old film SLR brought some not too surprising answers. One was the low cost for things that seemed to be made very high quality; with the average mobile phone barely lasting more than one year prior to replacement, that old metal and heavy glass seemed very different. Second point was a sense of control; these younger adults grew up with computers, and even spend countless hours on them, yet they wanted something they controlled completely; even to the point of acknowledging that some of the old cameras they chose could be used wrongly very easily; in other words it took effort to master the old gear. The third item was that it got them "old school" photos just by dropping off the film somewhere; which also meant less time on the computer, and gave them images to just pass around to show to friends. Anyway, it was probably an anomaly just happening in San Diego, and mainly just downtown areas and at the beaches. It would surprise me to hear about any similar trends in any other city . . . maybe it is the strange weather we have experienced lately . . . or I could blame it on El Nin~o. Ciao! Gordon Moat A G Studio http://www.allgstudio.com |
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NY Times: "Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras"
On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 17:37:43 -0800, Gordon Moat
wrote: So a little weird bit of outside reality. In San Diego, which should not be used as a model for any general trends (except high prices), I have recently noticed many more old film SLRs in use. While that might not sound surprising, the part about it that surprised me a little is that people fresh out of high school are the ones picking up on this. Even the professional lab I used made a comment about it. So I asked a few people last night at this one cafe' I frequent, and the answer to why an old film SLR brought some not too surprising answers. Gordon Moat A G Studio http://www.allgstudio.com Gordon, I haven't been to San Diego in 2-3 years now, always like the small, convenient airport access near to downtown hotels and such. What *I* have noticed is that all those old Nikon F series mechanical bodies are being bid up on ebay. And there can't be THAT many collectors, especially for the "user" cameras. Father Kodak |
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NY Times: "Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras"
Father Kodak wrote: On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 17:37:43 -0800, Gordon Moat wrote: So a little weird bit of outside reality. In San Diego, which should not be used as a model for any general trends (except high prices), I have recently noticed many more old film SLRs in use. While that might not sound surprising, the part about it that surprised me a little is that people fresh out of high school are the ones picking up on this. Even the professional lab I used made a comment about it. So I asked a few people last night at this one cafe' I frequent, and the answer to why an old film SLR brought some not too surprising answers. Gordon Moat A G Studio http://www.allgstudio.com Gordon, I haven't been to San Diego in 2-3 years now, always like the small, convenient airport access near to downtown hotels and such. What *I* have noticed is that all those old Nikon F series mechanical bodies are being bid up on ebay. And there can't be THAT many collectors, especially for the "user" cameras. Father Kodak It would be very interesting if some university statistics students ran a data gathering investigation of EBAY, maybe just being specific with 35 mm SLRs, or even just Nikon SLRs that still function. EBAY is very strict on not providing statistics on buying habits broken down to specific data sets. If I were to guess, I would imaging there are more usable Nikon film cameras sold on EBAY world-wide each year than what Nikon sell new . . . just a guess, but probably would be surprising numbers. While I did not notice any really collectible cameras in use recently, there were many Nikon and Canon manual focus bodies that I saw. Like I stated, probably just some weird local activity. Though it is interesting to see how many auctions run for this gear, and like you stated a great deal of it is not dust collector shelf pieces. Ciao! Gordon Moat A G Studio http://www.allgstudio.com |
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NY Times: "Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras"
In article ,
Father Kodak wrote: What *I* have noticed is that all those old Nikon F series mechanical bodies are being bid up on ebay. And there can't be THAT many collectors, especially for the "user" cameras. I wonder where those people get the batteries for the light meters. At least the F2 uses regular ones. For available light print film, I would get an F3HP. And for other situations (including slide film) I would just get an F4. In my opinion, the view finder of the F3HP is much better than the ones on the F and F2. The F4 is much more complicated than the F3, but the lack of a spotmeter and the poor display illumination make the F3 less comfortable outside normal daylight on print film. But as a fashion statement, an F with photomic FTN, F36, and a 45/2.8 looks like it came from outer space. -- That was it. Done. The faulty Monk was turned out into the desert where it could believe what it liked, including the idea that it had been hard done by. It was allowed to keep its horse, since horses were so cheap to make. -- Douglas Adams in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency |
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NY Times: "Digital Moves to Top-Tier Cameras"
On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:36:14 -0800, Gordon Moat
wrote: It would be very interesting if some university statistics students ran a data gathering investigation of EBAY, maybe just being specific with 35 mm SLRs, or even just Nikon SLRs that still function. EBAY is very strict on not providing statistics on buying habits broken down to specific data sets. If I were to guess, I would imaging there are more usable Nikon film cameras sold on EBAY world-wide each year than what Nikon sell new . . . just a guess, but probably would be surprising numbers. Gordon, It would not be that hard to collect statistics on completed ebay auctions. While Ebay might not want to provide detailed statistics, any person in effect could compile these statistics. The only difficult part might be tying together price and condition of the item under bid, since you would have to rely on the seller's description. I'm not sure that more Nikon cameras are sold on ebay each year than by Nikon. For SLRs along you would be talking about easily 400K, may be more. That would be over a thousand a day on Ebay and I don't think Ebay sales come close to that amount. But Nikon still wins, even with all those EBay sales. All those new camera owners need lenses, and some of them will be bought new. And you know how it is with NAS. You're hooked for life! :-) Father Kodak |
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