subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 21 March 2020 53Tech TalkfessorNewmanon...BobNewmanis currentlyProfessorof ComputerScienceat theUniversityof Wolverhampton.Hehasbeenworkingwiththedesignanddevelopmentof
high-technology equipment for 35 years and two of his products have won innovation awards. Bob is also a camera nut and a keen amateur photographerhe end of themegapi xel race?S
omethingstrangehas
justhappened.Canon
andNikonhavejust
announcedthenew
versionsof theirflagshipDSLRs.
Thesearethemodelsdesignedfor,
andtargetedat,professionalsports
andactionphotojournalists– the
camerasyouwillseeringingthe
arenasof thesummerOlympics.
Forthefirsttimein thehistoryof
thesecameras,bothmanufacturers
havedeclinedto increasethepixel
countcomparedto theprevious
version.Therecouldbemany
reasonsforthis,butI believethatin
theendit is downto theintersection
betweentheeconomicsof the
moderncameraindustryandthose
of sensorproduction.
It’swellknownthatthemarket
forspecialisedcamerasis
decreasing,asmobilephones
becomethepreferredphoto-
takingmachineforthemasses.
Forthisreasonthecompact
cameramarkethasmoreorless
collapsed.Thebridgeand
interchangeable-lenscamera
marketsarealsodeclining,butless
quickly,andtherearereasonsto
believethattherewillbea
continuingmarket,inevitably
smallerbuthopefullysustainable.Contractingmarket
Asthemarketcontractsthe
cameracompanieswillspendless
onresearchanddevelopment.
Sincetheymustmakea profit to
remainviable,anymoneyspenton
R&Dmustbereturnedbynew
camerasales.In a contracting
marketnewsaleswillnotdryup,
butthereturnis smaller.Thevery
top-endcameras,suchasthe
single-digitNikonD camerasand
theCanon1Dmodels,havea very
particularplacein therangesof
thetwocompanies.Theirtrue
target market, professional sportsandactionphotojournalists,is very
small.Thenumberof buyersis
enhancedbysalestoenthusiasts
andotherphotographerswho
wanttohavewhattheyseeasthe
bestcamerain theline,orto
thosewheretheattributesof
speed,enduranceandfastand
preciseautofocusareof
importance.Whatis alsoof great
valuetothecompaniesis
theirro
adding
theres
produc
Thisla
reason
whyth
introdu
cycleh
synchr
withth
summ
Olymp
fourye
wieldingthesecameraswill
appearontelevisionscreens
aroundtheworld,andthe
companies’wholerange gains
fromthatlustre.Newtechnology
Thereis anotherrolethese
camerasplay,whichalsoimpacts
ontheeconomicsof their
development.Usuallytheyserve
asthepremiereof new
generationsof technology,new
imageprocessingchips,newAF
units,mechanicalpartssuchas
shutters,whichwillfindtheirway
intonewmodelsdowntherange.
Theexceptiontothis,forthesetop
modelshasbeenthesensor(with
thetemporaryexceptionof the
NikonDf,whichgainedtheD4
sensor).Thishasgenerallymeant
thattheR&Dexpenseonthe
sensorsforthesecamerashasto
berepaidfromthesalesand‘halo’
of them. In a situation where R&Delythat
resourceswillbespentonthose
components,whichwillhavea
moregeneralapplicationthana
specialistsensorforthetop-end
model.Thereis nogreatdemand
fromthetargetmarketforgreater
resolution,in generaltheoutput
goestonewspapers,magazines
andwebimages,noneof which
demandextremelyhighresolution.
Whilstbothmanufacturershave
increasedthespeedof their
cameras,theyaregettingto a stage
wherethelimitingfactoris theother
systemcomponents,suchasthe
lens’diaphragmmechanism.Also,
themajorlineof developmentfor
bothcompaniesis nowmirrorless
cameras,soanyR&Dbudgetwillbe
directedthere.Thus,thedecisionof
bothcompaniestostaywiththe
samesensorspecificationmakes
economicandcommercialsense.
It doesn’tmeanthattheywillmake
a similardecisionwithrespectto
other models in their lineups.Acontractingmarketmeansthatcompaniesare
now spending less on research and developmentanonand
havenot
hesensor
fortheir
odels– a
sionthat
kesgood
mmercial
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