According to the Camera and Imaging Products Association, or CIPA, currently camera sales are up 11% year on year. Fixed lens compacts are the big mover, up 31% and better than 25% of all cameras shipped. This suggests people are starting to want more control and quality than their smartphones can give them.
By comparison, DSLRs are down 30% and are just over 7% of total shipments.
Aaron Berthelot, Senior General Manager – Consumer Sales & Marketing, Canon Oceania, commented to Australian Videocamera:
“These figures reflect what we’re seeing. People often start their content journey on smartphones, but when they want more creative control and higher image quality, they move to dedicated cameras. Within the content creator community there has been a resurgence of compact cameras, often referred to as digicams. As we have seen with the PowerShot G7 X Mark III, fixed lens compacts are popular especially with creators increasingly seeking to recreate that candid, early-2010s, nostalgic look but also because they are portable and easy to use, delivering sharper detail and better low-light performance“.
He went on further to say, “The decline in DSLRs simply reflects the market shifting to newer mirrorless and compact technology”.
When asked, a representative from Panasonic who have the LUMIX brand said, ”
Panasonic Australia has seen an increase in total camera demand over the past 12 months. In our key LUMIX categories of Full Frame and Micro Four Thirds system cameras, we have seen market share increase as well as growth on the previous year. We’ve also seen strong growth in the compact camera market.
Looking at the benefits of our entire LUMIX range vs smartphones, our belief is that a dedicated camera allows for a distraction-free experience, allowing our customers to connect with their surroundings and find undisturbed joy in the craft of image making.
I also asked Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm and representatives for Pentax and Ricoh their thoughts, but as yet have had no resp0nse.
One Comment
I went to Melbourne and I only used my Sony RX 1 R camera.
I had people ask me why I use such a camera and
others stated it is a fun camera to use.
It is a camera you do.not see a lot of people use, and it was the EVF that was the talking point.
I love it despite it’s age and still looks brand new
despite 15 years of use.
My camera phone did the rest.