-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [nmlist] News From Japanese Camera Manufacturers Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 22:53:58 -0600 From: Larry Kopitnik To: Post to Nikon Mail list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
If you haven't seen it yet, Popular Photography's web site has an interesting article from editors' recent visit with camera manifacturers in Japan. The article starts at <http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=5&article_id=766&page_number =1>. Among the points manufacturers told them: * All of Nikon's digital SLRs will continue using only smaller sized sensors. While they are researching 24x36 mm sensors, they say no product using one is currently planned, and say the sensor size will not make a difference in picture quality. They see the next advance being an 8+ MP sensor. As we've seen, they will have a line of smaller, lighter lenses developed specifically for the smaller digital format. And, as we've seen with the D70 announcement, they plan a broad line of digital SLRs covering users from beginners to pros. * Canon, meanwhile, says superior saturation, greater ISO range and less noise are among the benefits of a 24x36 mm sensor, though it will remain too expensive for anything but a high end camera. Except for some wide angle lenses, Canon does not plan a special line of digital-only lenses, saying photographers will prefer to use standard lenses on their digital SLRs. * Fuji says that sports photographers and snapshooters will go completely digital but portrait and pictorial photographers -- and others who just prefer it -- will stick with film. The camera manufacturers as a whole predict that film camera sales will level out in 2004 and digital camera sales will level out in 2005. The article predicts that by 2005, film products will have settled down to be a smaller but profitable product area. * Nikon is planning a new high level film camera. Canon says they will upgrade their current film cameras when necessary. Minolta is developing 2 new film cameras. * Minolta will also show a digital SLR at PMA, to be released by Photokina. Mamiya is hoping to introduce a digital-only medium format SLR at Photokina using their current 645 lenses. * It's predicted that sales of camera cell phones will soon greatly outnumber sales of all other types of cameras combined. Zoom lenses and flashes will be coming next to cell phone cameras. Japanese camera manufactures are furnishing optics to the phone manufacturers.
