Digital Camera Information

Here’s a good review by Ephotozine on the Sony A700 which rates it quite .

It writes: “There’s no doubt about it, Sony have pulled out the stops on the A700, it’s a fast, well-built camera with plenty of photographic features for the enthusiast. The handling is good and would have been better overall than the Canon EOS 40D, if there had been a top plate LCD. Sony’s decision to omit this because everything could be placed on the rear LCD smacks of cutting corners because the other cameras at this price point have one. If you don’t mind, then it isn’t a problem, but it’s the small things that can make the difference when deciding to commit yourself to a camera brand”.

For the full review click here

Finally Sony has announced their mid range Alpha model called the A700. Actually the replacement for the Konica Minolta 7D and it will be interesting if it the new A700 puts Sony up there with the big boys. How will this camera compete against competition such as the Canon 40D, Nikon D300, Pentax K10D and the yet to be release Olympus E-P1?

Well after looking at the specifications, it seems they’ve done their homework. This new model is a path for those wanting to upgrade from the A100 or hopefully for Sony, those wanting a switch brands – Canon?, Nikon?….

Sony is a great marketing company and I’m sure the new A700 will increase its market share; the big question is which one of the big names will lose it. Let’s wait and see in 6 months time.

The specifications can be view here in pdf form.

Although the current focus is on the impending release of the Canon 40D, there is another competitor lurking in the bush. No it’s not Nikon, Olympus or even Fuji film, its Sony.

Remember - Sony makes the sensor for Nikon DSLR and they are about to introduce 3 new models to compete against the likes of Canon, Nikon and every other DSLR manufacturer in the world. With strong competition, Sony have decided to add as many features into their DSLR such as higher mega pixels, image stabilization, faster processor in an attempt to have that competitive edge. So far, the up and coming second generation cameras seem to provide the goods.

According to the French website www.photoim.net, they have posted the following specification on the high end amateur model and this has been translated to English.

There has been suggestions the name of the new model may be called the Sony A300 with the high end model called the A500. Again, speculations are that the Sony A500 could have a sensor with up to 20 mega pixels.

Here is an interesting post from a member (akio mizumi) of the Dyxum forum that supports the above claims . Although it’s only rumors, some of the information does match the above specifications.

“I already told you that my brother-in-law works for Sony on the Alpha project. Here is some more info, some is repeated from my previous posts. The advanced model will be 14.* MP and close to FF. It will have 1.25x factor and a switch for lenses with 1.5 factor. It will be called A300. Because of the pixel pattern similar to Sony ClearVid CMOS sensors, Sony will claim up to 2x effective pixel resolution. The flagship model will be called A500 and will be 100% full frame. Nikon is supplying Sony new steppers to create FF sensors in one shot. Sony first joined forces with Konica Minolta, now with Nikon. This gives to both Sony and Nikon advantage over Canon, which Sony believes will eventually drop to a 3rd place; Sony will move up to 2nd place in overall volume of DSLR’s sales. The least expensive Sony DSLR will not have optical viewfinder and will be called A50. The flagship model will be 20 MP, 40 effective. That is the reason why Sony concentrates on top quality glass. Sony’s advantage will be fact that they are the foremost sensor maker; their output is several times higher than Matsushita, which is second largest CCD maker.”

The 2 DSLR prototypes that were shown at different shows by Sony were no wooden mock ups, but the actual cameras that will be produced. The same goes for the lenses. All these were pretty much final prototypes, but Sony could not disclose this due to its competition. The main thing that is holding these projects up is development of SSS which has to work harder with larger sensors; the insides of the cameras may be a little different than on the prototypes shown, not the outsides. That was finalized before showing them to the public.

“Sony was originally going to buy the Contax brand from Kyocera, but then used this infomation in its negotiations with KM, from whom they managed to get the DSLR division with all its expertise for pennies on the dollar. KM really wanted the DSLR division to be in the best hands; they cared about it more than about anything else; the Minolta portion of the KM team wanted to see the legacy of the system to continue and to improve as much as possible. The decision to sell to Sony was rather emotional.”

As for the release date, sources have indicated they will have the new amateur model to sell by the end of October 2007.

Here is an interesting article from www.asahi.com about Nikon surpassing Canon with a larger market share in Digital SLR cameras within Japan during January to June 2007. This came about by a strong push mainly with the release of the Nikon D40.

It is interesting to see how strong Nikon is these days and it must be concerning to Canon, especially in light of all the issues with the Canon Mark III. This would have to have some professional user worried about the stability of their platform.

The comment about Sony being in third place is a bit misleading though. Sony only have one DSLR model, the A100 and although it is about a year old, it’s an excellent result considering they’re still coming in with similar numbers to Pentax and Olympus I’m sure when the two new Sony models (A100 replacement plus a professional model) comes out sometime this year, Sony market share will rise even further.

Anyhow here’s what they write:

“ Nikon Corp., buoyed by the popularity of its D40 model, sold more digital single-lens reflex cameras than rival Canon Inc. in the first half of 2007.

The model, released in April, weighs 375 grams.(IHT/Asahi: July 19,2007) “

It looks like Sony is investing heavily in its sensor production facility in Japan. According to the press release, Sony Corporation announced that it would invest approximately 60 billion JPY in Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation’s Kumamoto Technology Centre (Kumamoto TEC) Fab 2 facility, to extend clean room facilities by 5,000m² and reinforce image sensor fabrication capacity. This investment will take place from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal 2009.

Sony is positioning image sensors as a key focus area of its semiconductor business. Through the reinforcement of this facility, Sony will strengthen supply and provide the platform for further image sensor business growth.

Kumamoto TEC has continued to expand its operations as Sony’s principle facility for the fabrication of imaging devices, such as the CCDs, CMOS sensors and micro-display devices that are Sony’s strengths. In particular, demand for CMOS sensors has demonstrated rapid growth in recent years. In view of this, Sony is enhancing production operations for this market, with mass production having already commenced at Fab 2’s existing 5,000m² production facility in Spring t

Over the next three years, Sony will continue to strengthen its CMOS sensor manufacturing operations to provide growth markets such as mobile phones and digital still cameras with CMOS sensors that combine high image quality with advanced processing speeds.

Source

According to Reuters, the Sony Play Station 3 (PS3) and the recall of laptop batteries has been blamed for Sony not hitting forecast profits; however the company does claim that the future is looking good. Although it may add to the bottom line, the launch of the new Sony DSLR’s may help help push up profits.

Here’s what they say:

Sony has reported a profit downturn due to losses in its game unit, but it has forecast a sharp rise in profits this year as it boosts sales of its PlayStation 3 video game machine and LCD TVs.

“I think investors will be positive about the results. It won’t be a case of the stock taking off, but there should be some gains. It would not be strange to see Sony’s stock go as high as 7,000 yen,” said Shigemi Nonaka, adviser at Polestar Investment Management”.

Source

I’m not sure how long before Sony will announce the release of the next generation Alphas’. That’s right, there seems to be two new upcoming models. Does this mean Double the Trouble for Canon and Nikon?

Anyhow, the two new models will be categorized as follows:

1. A High End Amateur Model - This model is marketed to advanced amateurs seeking higher performance and more specifications than the A100. It has a newly developed image sensor, BIONZ processor and integrated Super SteadyShot.

When you look at the pictures below, this model will not have a spring loaded flash and has to be raised manually like Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D/7D series. As it is based on the Minolta maxxum range, it will be very similar in size to Minolta 7D. It appears to have electronic wireless remote capability, spot/area/center weighted metering selector (focus area selector is not present on the multifunction joystick/pad). As for memory, it takes both CF and memory stick cards. Other buttons present includes DOF, AEL, AF/MF, Super-Steady-Shot, Function, C, 2 multifunction dials, 1 multifunction thumb dial, viewfinder diopter adjustment dial, S/A/C/MF focus selector, IR sensor, Mode dial, ISO button, WB button; LCD buttons - menu, LCD mode, delete, play; and some others.

2. A Flagship Model for Professional Photographer - This professional model is marketed to meet the performance and specification requirements of professional photographer. Again it has a newly developed image sensor, BIONZ processor and integrated Super SteadyShot

It has very similar controls to the high end amateur model except for a couple of extra buttons such as Drive which goes through single, bracket, continuous), no picture modes except for standard M/S/A/P (free space on the dial is likely to be replaced by programmable “memory” modes). Based on the analysis of the pictures, Sony has made only minor changes to the exterior and it looks closer to the Minolta 7000. I’m sure the internals will be awesome. Some say Full frame? We’ll see.

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/parts/image_for_link/86761-5890-7-2.html

Source

A review by CNET in the UK about a camera combat between the Camera phones, a digital compact camera and a digital DSLR has to be the worst review I have ever read. In fact the review is more like a primary school project and I think this is where it is aimed.

In this review they compare the picture quality between the camera phones: the Nokia 6300, Sony Ericsson K810i, Nokia N95 against the digital compact camera; the Canon IXUS 70 against a DSLR camera; the Canon 400D. Both normal and low light were compared for visual appearance only.

Although the conclusion was that the Canon 400D came out on top, the Nokia N95 was not that far behind. I hope people do not use this as a true review but as a negative control on what NOT to read.

Have a laugh at these quotes:

“colours came out fairly balanced if not a little yellow, but that’s probably due to the lighting in the room.”

“.. but the shot came out a little blurry, which may have been due to moving our hands slightly when we took the shot.”

Source

Here are some interesting facts for 2006 for digital cameras. According to Reuters, Canon has topped the market share in global digital camera shipments in 2006, however South Korea’s Samsung Electronics jumped up the ranks to 5th place from 9th a year ago. Nikon is ranked 6th in the world.

Tokyo-based Canon shipped 19.7 million digital cameras in 2006 which accounted for 18.7 percent of the overall market. Canon’s shipments jumped 23.3 percent from 2005.

In total, the Industry wide digital camera shipments in 2006 rose 14.5 percent to 106 million units from a year earlier. This was driven by the strong popularity of Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras. DSLR shipments grew 39 percent to 5 million units last year.

Sony Corp was No. 2 in the market with a 15.8 percent share, up from 15.2 percent in 2005. This was helped with the introduction into the DSLR market with the Alpha A100.

Eastman Kodak which is the only U.S. Company among the top five digital camera makers, ranked third with 10 percent, a drop from its 14.2 percent share a year earlier. This could be due to their exit of the DSLR market a few years ago.

Olympus Corporation came in fourth with a market share of 8.6 percent, down 9.8 percent in 2005.

The big winner in 2006 was Samsung, who displaced Nikon and became the fifth-largest seller of digital cameras in the world. Samsung has expanded its market share to 7.8 percent in 2006 which is a huge jump from the 3.8 percent it had a year earlier.

Nikon Corporation, the world’s second-biggest maker of professional cameras (DSLR) after Canon, ranked No. 6 in the overall digital camera market with a 7.6 percent market share in 2006.

Digital SLR Market
Canon also dominated the booming DSLR market, securing a 46.7 percent share in 2006, with its shipments rising 30.7 percent from a year earlier. But its share was trimmed from the 49.5 percent it had in 2006 amid increased competition from rivals.

Nikon cemented the No. 2 position in DSLRs with a 33 percent market share. Its shipments jumped 35.9 percent with the introduction of successful models such as the Nikon D50, D70s, D80 and the D200.

Sony, which purchased the DSLR unit of Konica Minolta Holdings, shipped 326,240 DSLRs in 2006, accounting for 6.2 percent of the market. A great result after being in the market for under a year.

According to the latest report by BCN which is market research firm constantly monitoring POS data from 2,680 stores operated by 23 contracted major retailing companies. Nikon has the number 1 market share in Japan.

Nikon has claimed 47% of the DSLR market in Japan during December 2006. The increased market share was attributed to strong sales of the popular Nikon D80 and the price competitive Nikon D40.

Canon came in with a market share of 35 percent. Pentax and Sony followed with a market share of 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Canon has always been the constant leader in the Japanese DSLR market, for example with a market share of 45 percent in July and 48 percent in September last year, followed by Nikon (37 percent in July and 33 percent in September) and Pentax (10 percent in July and 8 percent in September).

In terms of by-model share, however, Canon’s Digital Kiss X (digital Rebel XTi) kept the top spot for 13 weeks consecutively with a 27.3 percent market share in December, followed by Nikon’s D80 (16.3 percent), D40 (15.5 percent) and D200 (9.1 percent), reports JPEA International PEN News Weekly.

Many industry watchers were skeptical when Nikon announced the D40, saying it would be difficult for Nikon to sell as it hoped in the market where DSLRs featuring 10-megapixel or more pixel counts are the mainstream. Contrary to the popular belief, however, the Nikon D40 apparently made a good start in the Japanese market, reports PEN News Weekly.

In addition, the release of the Canon 30D which in reality was just a facelift by keeping the same 8 mega pixel sensor did not really push Canon higher.

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