Submitted By: Carrie Sylvester on May 11, 2010
In a move to bring DSLR-like functionality in an easy to use and carry form, Sony has introduced two new interchangeable lens cameras – the NEX-3 and NEX-5. The name hints that Sony sees these cameras as the next generation of cameras, they are mirrorless hybrid cameras the size of a typical high-end point and shoot camera. The removal of the bulky mirror box, as found in DSLRs, gives it a smaller form factor that can fit in the palm of a hand. The company reports that the camera bodies are just about an inch thick at their slimmest point.
Point and shoot cameras are the most popularly used camera in the consumer market today. Sony is banking on that familiarity and hopes these new cameras won’t intimidate the average photographer. These cameras are designed to appeal to the everyday snapshooter and the advanced amateur, as well. Many consumers want the performance and quality of a DSLR but in a more portable size. Although not “pocketable” they certainly are more portable and something one can carry with them in a purse or jacket pocket. Read more »
Submitted By: Eve Padula on December 16, 2009
InfoTrends recently published its 2009 Digital Still Camera End-User Survey for the United States. We have now been tracking this market for over a decade, but the changes that have occurred in just the past six years have been truly staggering.
Although the digital still camera market was not exactly in its infancy in 2003, it was certainly a much newer technology than it is today. Only 45% of the respondents to our 2003 survey owned digital cameras. According to our most recent survey, that percentage currently stands at about 70%.
Prior to 2005, digital cameras were primarily being adopted by more affluent households. Back in 2003, the mean annual household income among digital camera owners was $98,700. This average fell to $75,700 in 2004, which was still quite high but represented a considerable year-over-year drop. From 2005 through 2009, the average household income of our digital camera owners has hovered around $60,000 annually. The Figure below illustrates that the digital camera market began to enter the mainstream in 2005, and household incomes among digital camera owners have been much more stable since that time.
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Submitted By: Kaspar Roos on December 2, 2009
On December 1st, Canon gave notice to the AMF (Dutch Authority Financial Markets) that it had acquired through market purchases a number of Ordinary Shares representing approximately 20.0% of Océ’s total issued share capital. Canon acquired these ordinary shares at an average price of €8.546, with €8.59 being the highest price paid. Canon reports that it has now acquired approximately 25.3% of Océ’s total Ordinary Shares.
A Dutch financial newspaper stated that it will be difficult for Canon to buy more of Océ’s shares, as this will increase the trading price and Canon cannot buy shares at a higher price than its public offer.
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Submitted By: Eve Padula on November 9, 2009
Over the past several years, InfoTrends has been publishing its Online Photo Services surveys on an annual basis. The changes that have occurred in just a few years have been truly staggering. When respondents to our 2006 Online Photo Services survey were asked which online photo service they used most often, Kodak Gallery (25%) and Snapfish (19%) captured the top spots. Fast-forward to 2008, and it becomes clear that traditional online photo services are being strongly affected by popular social networking sites. During InfoTrends’ 2008 Online Photo Services survey, the share of respondents who reported most frequently uploading their photos to Kodak Gallery (7%) and Snapfish by HP (7%) had slipped considerably. The top responses during that year were MySpace (48%) and Facebook (26%).
Our 2009 Online Photo Services study showed yet another shift. Although Facebook was a distant second place in our 2008 study, it surpassed MySpace to capture the top spot in 2009. Meanwhile, many of the traditional online photo services suffered year-over-year declines, which can again be attributed to the strong and growing popularity of social networking sites.
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Submitted By: Carrie Sylvester on April 22, 2009
These days, it’s difficult to find a mobile handset or smartphone that does not feature an embedded camera. In the early days of camera phone technology, the embedded cameras typically offered VGA quality (300k pixels). By 2007, the typical resolution was between 1 and 2 megapixels. These days, the average falls somewhere in the 2-3 megapixel range. In my 2008 camera phone forecast, I stated that “Since the introduction of camera phones, consumers have been demanding higher resolution. Although, “higher resolution” does not necessarily mean “better” pictures, in the case of camera phones, low-resolution certainly means low quality images.”
When I was evaluating my camera phone upgrade options, the photo enthusiast in me won out over the analytic part of myself. I’m a DSLR user, but I wanted a mobile device with a quality camera that included some smarter features than my old RAZR. After selecting the 5-megapixel Samsung Behold, however, I was promptly reminded that a good camera phone photo requires much more than just megapixels.
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Submitted By: Ed Lee on February 24, 2009
InfoTrends predicted in its 2009 Digital Photography Road Map analysis that retailers would be hurt as the digital camera market takes a tumble. Alas, it appears that Ritz Camera will be one of the first victims in 2009.
On Monday, February 23, Ritz Camera announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This announcement will send ripples across the imaging industry. With almost 800 stores, Ritz Camera is the largest photo specialty retailer in the U.S. The company blames the recession and consumers’ shift to digital photography for part of its losses. Ritz is seeking court permission to obtain $85 million of financing to keep operating while it restructures, and it hopes it may eventually emerge from Chapter 11. We wish them the best of luck.
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Submitted By: Carrie Sylvester on February 11, 2009
A couple weeks ago, I heard of a new service that is bringing the ability to create and print photo books from Facebook. At first look, the Facebook application was not all that exciting, until you notice that HotBook (from HotPrints Ltd.) prints a photo book (16 pages and approximately 50 pictures) for $2.99. Before this application, there was little that could be done with Facebook images other than sharing with friends. For under $4 (including shipping), this is a nice offering for people hoping to do more with their photos on the social networking site.
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Submitted By: Carrie Sylvester on November 21, 2008
Reading a Photo District News (PDN) news feed yesterday morning, I saw that LIFE Magazine images will be available for public search and viewing on Google Images. Back in September, LIFE partnered with Getty Images to breathe (forgive the term) new life into the LIFE.com brand.
LIFE Images Google Landing Page
The new service went public this week with an estimated 2 million images. LIFE’s full historic archive of nearly 10 million images, many previously unpublished, is expected to be online by February 2009. The ability to search is being brought about through a revenue share agreement between the companies. Not to worry, Getty won’t lose money; the free sharing is for personal use rather than commercial use.
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