Forecasted Death of the Point and Shoot Camera
Journalist Herb Greenberg, senior stocks commentator for CNBC has predicted the death of Point and Shoot digital cameras. Although journalists like to take things to the extreme when it comes to their predictions, Greenberg has stated his prediction is on expected profit figures. A report from Molex is expecting lower profits from camera manufacturers in its fiscal third quarter. Martin Slark CEO said that is in part due to “digital still cameras clearly being impacted by increased smartphone sales with built in cameras.”
This prediction is not new news and is a blanket statement when you look at the numbers. There has been a market shift away from the use of Point and Shoot cameras with in 2011 “Percentage of photos taken with a smartphone grew from 17% to 27%”[i]. The same study also found that in 2011 cameras with an optical zoom of more that 10x was up by 16%.
Toshi Terada, Manager, Product Planning SLR products,Olympus, has recently admitted that Smartphones have had an impact of compact camera sales, but in return camera manufactures are having to change up and make cameras that have better image quality.
“Smartphones have had an impact on compact camera sales – especially for affordable compacts. We have to make some kind of differentiation from smartphones, whether that’s in terms of image quality, optical capabilities or photographic control,……..We’ve shifted to high-value products – long zoom, enthusiast compacts and TG-type cameras that have benefits to differentiate them from smartphones.”
Smartphones are good for camera manufactures and for the point and shoot market. As Toshi Terada has said it means they need to up there game and outperform the smartphones. Quality is the key. If someone starts taking pictures on their phone, there will come a time when they will want better quality images and a camera with less limitations. Also the highest commentated images on Instagram are not taken with smartphones but with DSLR. This shows that people like quality in an image and this quality is visable a phones screen. I do think the hybrid cameras using android are a stop gap including Samsung’s galaxy camera but they are a gimmick I feel will not catch on.
Astronaut Tweets from Space
Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield is currently an inhabitant of the international space station. He has been sharing his unique views of the world via Twitter. Chris has captured and shared such views as, Moonrises, African desserts, brewing storms and Reno Nevada.
It is unknown what camera he is using because the images having been stripped of their metadata but you could guess it is a Nikon due to NASA’s history with using this brand.
If you want to follow Chris Hadfield he can be found at @cmdr_hadfield.
Paul Schneggenburger’s
“The Sleep of the Beloved”
Paul Schneggenburger has created a marvellous collection of long exposure images in his recent work “The Sleep of the Beloved”. The images were created in his apartment in a second bedroom, where the subjects slept. The camera was set up with a plain backdrop with the only light source being some christmas lights. The six hour exposed images show both the quietness and noise of a couples sleep. Paul Schneggenburger was not present to take the pictures but had set up his 5×4 camera on a timer to capture the darkest hours of night to ensure there was no additional light affecting the shot.
This work is interesting looks at how couples interact in their sleep, with most being still through the night others being a blur of movement.
Paul Schneggenburger is willing to photograph couples as long as they pay for a print, though you would need to go to Vienna. The latest works will be shown at the Anzenberger Gallery Later this year.
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[i] In quotations because I don’t believe these figures are that accurate. There is no way to know how many pictures around the world were taken with a smart phone or point and shoot.
Aperture64 
I’m not sure taking one quarters figures is terribly meaningful. Profits get impacted by many things and without proper data to analyse it seems pretty much a guess as to the underlying cause. In reality it may have many causes including a strong Yen ( now reversing), people with limited disposable income holding back for Christmas etc etc. part of the challenge for buyers may be the ever shortening product cycle. If I buy something today it’s been superseded in months. Trade in values are terrible if anything. At the other end some stuff has simply crossed a line of affordability. Times are tough.
Of course Andrew you are right, taking just the last quarters figures is not a proper way to predict anything. I would say in the short term Point and shoots might have drop in sales as the Iphone effect wares off and people look for a better independent camera to their phone.
Short product cycles are becoming very popular but i don’t feel it does justice to a product. If you look at mid range to professional DSLR like the Canon 5D mk II it had a long life cycle.
Do I want to upgrade my gear every year not really, maybe the problem comes that in the past people kept the same camera for years. I don’t believe my grandfather even replaced his. We did this because the film was what recoded the picture. With digital it is the pixels and so there are constant races to squeeze more and more pixels onto the same space.
Times are tough and i would recommend people to buy a camera second hand because there are still life in the beasts yet.
I agree on buying 2nd hand from a reputable dealer and similarly for lenses. I have a second hand 70-200mm F2.8 Canon lens that has no IS. Optically it is superb but everyone seems to want image stabilisation nowadays. Used off a tripod this is excellent and I have used it handheld at night to shoot Chinese Opera with very satisfactory results/ We discard far too much too soon these days.
smart phones may cause an issue with the sales for point and shoot cameras in the short term, I don’t really think they will in the longer term..as they can only do so much…I use my iPhone sometimes and my point and shoot at other times…
My Smartphone camera is used a lot but then again it is because i have found candid shots easier to capture than using my compact or DSLR. I do believe as people get into photography they will yearn for something which has better quality images and less limitations.
I have seen that to create headlines companies talk about smartphone images with even Getty now excepting them as a way to attract attention.
This reminds me of the film is dead arguments i used to hear, where in fact film is doing nicely when you look at Ilford and Fuji.
Couldn’t agree more, on all points…I’m a case in point regarding wanting a DSLR…which I purchased…the second hand one…I haven’t had a chance to do anything with it yet but I’m excited to learn. the person I purchased the camera from has a smart phone, a point and shoot, DSLR,with multi lenses and a film camera and he loves all for specific purposes.
A camera really is a tool and as in everything there is no universal tool. Each needs to be used for the desired effect it will create. Lomography is a prime example of this.
Seems there is a resurgence going on among the under 20s for disposable cameras – who would have thought – because they like the image quality and randomness that this medium gives them. Like film, no matter how hard big business tries to kill off point and shoot the consumer will make it into the next trend and bring it back to life…