State of the camera industry 7 December 2019

This is Camera Ergonomics annual review of the camera industry. Camera Ergonomics is completely independent with no affiliation to any entity in the business of making or selling photographic products.

As I see it there are now and have been for over a hundred years two groups of people who seek to make photographic pictures.

These are the snapshooters and the enthusiasts  (and some professionals but they are a numerical minority).

These  groups spring from two different cultures around the process of making pictures.

The snapshooter culture is about making and sharing family photos quickly and easily with minimal engagement in the process of image capture. Snapshooters were the backbone of Kodak’s long reign as photography top dog. Their motto, used to sell millions of Kodak Brownie cameras was “you press the shutter, we do the rest”.

Snapshooter culture is alive and well in the smartphone era with more people than ever pressing the (virtual) shutter and relying on Apple/Google/Samsung to do the rest.

Snapshooters no longer use cameras.

Cameras are now used only by enthusiasts.

The thing which enthusiast camera buyers want is an experience.

I am not sure how well camera makers understand this but if they fail to get that message their business will fail. Terminally.

So what are the elements of the experience which enthusiast camera users might be seeking ?

I think:

* They want to be engaged in the process of making pictures.

* They want to take control of the process.

* They want to feelpride and personal satisfaction from owning and using a camera. The camera becomes a prestige item not just a utilitarian device.

* They want camera ownership and the enterprise of making photos to feel special. They want to experience the mystique of photography as art and craft.

What are the characteristics of a camera which is likely to find appeal in the enthusiast culture ?

* It will be a Proper Camera.  I posted about this in 2013 here http://cameraergonomics.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-proper-camera.html

This outlines some of my thoughts about the idea of a proper camera which I think is an essential first step if camera makers are to attract and hold enthusiast buyers.

Basically a proper camera is one the use of which is engaging and interesting for an enthusiast.

It needs some basic features like a handle and thumb support, a built in always ready electronic viewfinder, an articulated monitor and a set of controls which allow the user to take command of the picture making process.

For quite a few buyers it needs to have an upmarket  appearance. This is entirely subjective of course but that is part of the challenge of marketing  cars, cameras, houses and just about anything which people might buy.

Many cameras these days are promoted on the basis of a host of specifications and features which are totally irrelevant to their potential appeal to an enthusiast photographer.

These include things like pixel count, sensor size, exotic autofocus systems the use of which is not explained by the maker, and many more, the list goes on and on. Features are included because they can be not because they enhance the experience of using the device or its appeal to enthusiasts.

The entire camera industry is in the midst of an existential crisis the like of which has never been seen before.  This has already seen winners and losers as some rise to meet the ongoing challenge and others do not.

Now on with the review by camera maker in alphabetical order.

Canon led the world with technical and ergonomic innovation in camera design for many years. In 1986 the T90 SLR introduced a design style the essential elements of which are still seen in modern ILCs. In 1987 Canon caused a consumer uproar  by abandoning the old breech lock FD mount in favour of the all electronic EF mount with no cross compatibility. It was a brave decision but the right one and gave Canon a technology advantage over Nikon in the subsequent years.

At the beginning of the 21^st Century in year 2000 Canon introduced the now famous EOS D30 (the 30D is a different model) with a, wait for it……..3Mp sensor.  According to Phil Askey’s DP Review this produced “great” resolution.  This camera gave Canon a big lead in the digital photography technology race which translated to market dominance for many years.

But then……. Something went soft in Canon’s product development engine room. Maybe  accountants or actuaries took command of the enterprise, I have no idea. But I do know they started to produce mediocre, half baked products (I bought and was frustrated by lots of them) gradually eroding their reputation built up over many years.

Now Canon has a muddled mixture of product lines none of which seem conceptually coherent to me.

In the ILC space they have burdened themselves with EF, EF-S, EF-M and RF mounts and lenses. 

They entered the full frame mirrorless arena late in the game with two low end bodies and a clutch of high end lenses. To whom did they think this mis-match would appeal ?

I saw today a rumor that Canon plans to produce a hybrid RF/EF camera. What on earth are they thinking ?   Surely they need to reprise their bold moves of the 1980s and strongly preference the new RF mirrorless over the old EF DSLR legacy.

Then they produced the EOS M6 Mk2 with no built in viewfinder, a strange variant of monitor articulation and a high resolution sensor for which none of the current EF-M lenses is sufficiently sharp. (well maybe one but that is hardly a recommendation for the camera).

 In the fixed lens category they have a messy mixture of half baked products none of which seems likely to appeal to an enthusiast.

As top dog Canon has the most to lose from the current shakeout in the industry.

It seems to me that they need to conduct a root and branch review of their product strategy, dispense with half baked products of which there are many, stop trying to protect the DSLR legacy and come up with a small number of really excellent proper cameras to please enthusiasts.

Fuji has been in the camera business for many years. They have managed to find modest success with a variety of niche products which bucked the mainstream trend and found  alternative expression for the camera genre.

 It seems to me that either by accident or design Fuji appears to understand that what they are selling is more about the experience and not so much about the product specifications.

Fuji enthusiasts, some of whom I would describe as fanatics, embrace the Fujifilm experience with all its manifest eccentricities.

My own assessment is that most of Fuji’s cameras are ergonomic mess-ups. A discordant muddle of old world and new tech elements which combine to frustrate the user seeking a streamlined operating experience. If you gave me one I would not keep it.

But that is not the point I want to make here.  Fuji owners indicate they like their cameras because they are different,  and provide a special kind of  user experience.

Those who own a Fuji camera can feel they have risen above the hoi polloi with their functional but un-chic standard type models.

Many users also say they like the appearance of their Fuji cameras with all those chunky dials on every available location.  Who cares what the dials actually do.

As it happens, some of them appear to do nothing much most of the time.

Anyway Fujifilm has something which other camera brands would very much like, namely a loyal, enthusiastic cohort of users who fervently support their team.

I suspect that any maker which cannot hold onto such a loyal band of supporters is doomed to fail.

If the Fuji fanciers are under the impression that they have joined a special group, Leica buyers know  they have done so and are prepared to pay lots of money for the privilege.

Leica (a truncation of Leitz Camera) has been in the business longer than just about any other maker and in the process survived several corporate near death experiences.

Some Leicas are just rebranded Panasonic fixed lens models sold by Leica at a substantial price premium. I guess the message might be ….never underestimate the value of a famous brand.

Turning to real Leicas, many of these offer a limited feature set and peculiar controls with little in the way of common user interface themes from one model to the next.

But most Leicas offer something different from run-of-the-mill cameras even if that something is sometimes ergonomically incomprehensible and absurdly overpriced.

Of course if  Leicas were not overpriced nobody would buy them.

They are prestige items for wealthy enthusiasts and Leica has carved out a little niche for itself on that basis.

If Leica could bring its corporate self to produce some products which actually provide an efficient, streamlined user experience that niche might grow substantially.

 Of all the camera makers Nikon is the most dependent on cameras and lenses. So Nikon’s performance in the camera/lens business is critically important to the survival of the corporation.

In recent times I have read various Youtube sages predicting Nikon’s imminent demise.

Yes Nikon is in trouble but they all are.

I suspect that if Nikon has the courage to sever the umbilical cord to DSLRs and the ancient F mount, give up compacts altogether  and make a firm and full commitment to the Z Mount then they could do quite well with enthusiast camera users many of whom already have a high regard for the brand.  

Unlike Nikon, the camera business is more like a hobby for Olympus which makes its money selling and maintaining medical diagnostic equipment such as endoscopes, microscopes and other expensive stuff.

But Olympus has made cameras for many years and has publicly insisted they will continue to do so despite recent rumors that the camera business or what is left of it may be sold. I doubt any corporate entity would want to buy the camera business anyway as it apparently makes a loss.

My guess is that if people keep buying MFT cameras and lenses Olympus will be happy to supply them.

Olympus has a loyal user cohort of enthusiasts who enthusiastically support the brand despite or maybe because of Olympus’ confusing menu system. Maybe they get a sense of achievement when they finally figure out what it all means.

Some of those Youtube sages have opined about the imminent death of the Micro Four Thirds system to which Olympus is now fully committed.

I have been using MFT gear for years and in my view this is actually the ILC format most  likely to appeal to enthusiast photographers as long as Panasonic and Olympus are able to ride out the headwinds of the current storm.

Why does Panasonic bother to make cameras ?   I can’t figure this out.

Konosuke Matsushita founded the company now known as Panasonic 101 years ago. It makes all manner of things for the business and consumer market but began producing cameras only in 2001.

In terms of return on investment cameras and lenses are very poor performers. There are high barriers to entry, high R&D costs, a steeply falling market and fierce competition. Samsung opted out and is doing much better in the huge smartphone arena.

Anyway for whatever reason Panasonic is in the camera business and appears to be surviving as a minor player.

I have owned and used lots of Panasonic Lumix cameras over the last 11 years and have appreciated most of them although some have been complete dogs.

I think Panasonic has way too many products and models on the market and needs to do some drastic pruning.

I would like them to drop poorly performing products like the FZ80 and LX10, offer just one really desirable travel zoom compact, rationalise and streamline their MFT catalogue and  merge video oriented and stills oriented models into one line.

They could transform the LX100 into a really desirable enthusiast’s camera by upgrading  lens quality, autofocus reliability, viewfinder size/quality and monitor articulation.

Their decision to enter the full frame mirrorless space last year was courageous and might be seen as foolish if the adventure is not well received by buyers. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess but going full frame has been a big risk for Panasonic.

Either way the full frame adventure is consuming most of Panasonic’s imaging R&D leaving nothing for some product lines which I think might have greater appeal in the long run.

These include

* Their established MFT line which could benefit from some worthwhile improvements especially to autofocus.

* Fixed lens cameras especially the so-called bridge camera type. I believe that this is the type of camera with the greatest potential to appeal to enthusiast photographers over the next ten years. 

Models like the Sony RX10.4 and Lumix FZ1000.2 demonstrate just how versatile and capable such cameras can be.

Unfortunately all the camera makers are preoccupied with their full frame adventures right now and are neglecting bridge cam development.

Cameras are a hobby business for Ricoh so they could probably continue making niche products like the GR series and Theta compacts for a long time.

Where that leaves the Pentax side of things is less clear. Ricoh has been reported as saying they think buyers will “come back” to DSLRs. I think they are dreaming and that it is probably too late to rescue Pentax from its slow decline.

Sigma’s main business is making  good third party lenses for many interchangeable lens systems. I suspect this will sustain them quite nicely.

They also keep trying to make cameras but with very little success due to the idiosyncratic nature of their creations of which the strangely named and configured fp (piano-fortissimo) is just the latest example.

From a solid background in the video camera business from the 1980s (remember the Sony Handycam ? ) Sony started to field digital still cameras from 1998 with Mavica and Cybershot models.

Since then they have pursued an aggressive course of camera technology development and sensor design/fabrication.

Sony also made some good corporate decisions about product development. They dropped the  A Mount which had been acquired with Minolta’s camera assets and moved all interchangeable lens production to mirrorless using the new Sony E Mount.

This gave Sony a big head start over Canon and Nikon in the full frame mirrorless interchangeable lens sector.

This is now starting to pay off with Sony overtaking Nikon for the number 2 spot in world camera rankings and challenging Canon for the number 1 position.

I have little doubt Sony will get there fairly soon, given the disarray at Canon.

I currently own two Sony cameras and have used several of them over the years.

I find them to have mostly (but not universally) good technology but they are not particularly engaging or pleasant things for enthusiast  use.

Sony has not yet managed to implement  “camera-ness” in the way Panasonic does (and which Canon had but seems to have lost) and has not yet figured out how to bring good ergonomics and user interface design to their products. They are improving but have a way to go.

If Sony can rise to these challenges I suspect it will become the most dominant force in the camera business.

Sony has all the bases covered, full frame and APS-C interchangeable lens models, bridge cams and compacts.

And Sony designs and makes the sensors.

I only mention Zeiss because in September last year they announced development of a full frame compact running on Android. This looked as though it could be interesting  but over a year later the product has not materialised. Hmmmm……

Right now in Australia and elsewhere most camera makers and their retail outlets are engaged in an increasingly desperate  discount war for sales and market share.

I see persistent and savage discounting like this to be a sign of an industry in big trouble.

Discounting to move product off shelves is bad for everyone. It reduces profits and therefore R&D budgets negatively impacting future development. It  destroys the value of used gear and of any new gear purchased outside the discount period.

Who will win this war ?

I have no crystal ball but maybe the winners, if there are any, might be those who are not discounting. 

One of these is Leica.

Leica Sydney has the Q2 on pre-order at AUD8000 and the Q-P on backorder at AUD7300.

They have the SL2 on pre-order at AUD10,000 and the 24-90mm lens at just AUD7,000.

With eye watering prices and no discounting at all Leica has buyers lining up for their products.

Consider that.