10 24 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113© JAY MAISELCONTENTFORNEXTWEEKSSSUEMAYBESUBJECT TO CHANGEEurope’sbestproducts
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X-T2, which can be bought for £549 todayLeadinglightsofstreetphotographysharetheirwords of wisdomStories ofthe streetIn next week’s issueOn sale Tuesday 27 AugustDoyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround
500 wordstotheaddressonpage 12 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.Eversincetheintroductionof the
NikonF in 1959,theJapanese
cameraindustryhasbeenon
a roll.Japanesemanufacturers
haveledthewaywithnewtechnologies
andinnovationandprettymuchruled
theimagingmarketworldwide.Therapid
spreadof SLRcamerasacrosstheworld
in the1960ssawa spateof newbrands
enterthemarket.Lensmanufacturers
alsomultipliedandthrived.The1960s
and’70swerethegoldenyearsof SLR
cameras.Ofcourse,likein anyfree
market,competitionbetweenthebrands
wassevereandseveralbrandsbitthe
dust- nameslikeMiranda,Topcon,Petri
amongothersceasedto exist.Similarly,
lensmanufacturershadmultipliedto the
extentthatthereweretoomanybrands.
NameslikeSun,Sunagor,Panagor,Soligor
andKironvanishedbythelate1970s.
Thencametheautofocusrevolution
in themid1980s.MinoltaandCanon
stoleanearlylead.OtherslikeOlympus,
YashicaandFujifilmgaveuptheAFrace.
Themarket,however,continuedto
expandandthetopplayersprospered.
Thesamepatternwasrepeatedwiththe
adventof digital.CompanieslikeFujifilm
andOlympusmadea comeback.Minolta
exited.Consumerelectronicsgiantslike
SonyandPanasonicenteredthemarket
andsteadilyintroducedinnovationslike
mirrorlesscamerasandvideo.Themarket
continuedtoexpandand 2010 wasa
recordyearfortheindustry.
Thingsbeganto changerapidly
thereafter.First,thenewchallengers(i.e.
SonyandPanasonic)carvedouta niche
forthemselvesin mirrorlesscameras.At
thesametime,smartphonesmadean
appearance.Atfirst,theywerescoffedat,
buttherapidimprovementof thecameras
usedin phonessawthecompactcamera
marketcomeundersevereattack.Forthe
firsttime,theattackwasn’tfromJapanese
manufacturersbutfromotherslikeApple,
Samsunganda hostof Chineseand
Taiwanesebrands.Alongwithcompact
cameras,theDSLRmarketalsotook a
knock and volumes contracted.Theindustry’sreaction
HowdidJapanesemanufacturersreact?
Theansweris, defensively.Theymoved
moreupmarketandraisedthepricesof
theircamerasandlenses.Didtheyreact
correctlytothesmartphoneonslaught?
WillmirrorlesscamerashelptheJapanese
companiestoweatherthestorm?
Letuslookat whathashappenedso
far.Thepricesof camerasandlenses
havegallopedin recentyears.A 50mm
f/1.4lenswhichcouldbepurchasedfor
£400a fewyearsagotodaycostsfive
timesasmuchin itsmirrorlessavatar.
Theimprovementin qualityis certainly
notin thesameratio.Also,rawmaterial
pricesforcamerasandlenseshavenot
increasedsignificantlyin thisperiod.
It appearsthat,in a decliningmarket,
manufacturersaretryingtoprotectand
preservetheirmarginsbyraisingprices.
Willthisstrategywork?I doubtit. On
thecontrary,highpricesmaycompel
prospectivecustomerstoeitherdefer
theirpurchasesormovetosmartphones.
TheendresultcouldbethatDSLRand
mirrorlesscamerasbecomea niche
marketandmanufacturersshoot
themselvesin thefoot.A morerational
lookat pricesaswellasthelaunchof
competitivemirrorlesscamerasmay
arrestthedeclinein thecameramarket
orat leastdelayit. Butis anyonelistening?THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED
HowshouldJapanesecameramanufacturers
reacttorapidlydecliningsalesinan
ever-changing photography market?View pointHoshangBillimoriaHoshangBillimoriais theeditor-in-chiefofSmart
Photography, India’sbiggest-sellingphotography
magazine.SmartPhotographyis a memberof EISA,the
ExpertImagingandSoundAssociation, to whichAmateur
Photographeralso belongs.Panasonic'sLumixS Pro50mmF1.4costs
far more than its DSLR counterparts