"The first day of photokina 2010 in Cologne, Germany has wrapped up and here's what we haven't seen so far at the world's largest imaging show: no new Canon 1Ds Mark IV or 5D Mark III; no replacement for the Nikon D700 (D800?); no compact mirrorless camera surprises from either of the big two; no big surprises in the pro photography market in general.
And here's what we have seen: a raft of compact, prosumer digital SLRs and digital SLR wannabes from consumer electronics companies and smaller photography companies. To paraphrase Bob Dylan: 'Something's happening here and we might know what it is.'
Call it the rise of the prosumer, the era of the enthusiast, or the dawn of digital SLR lite; the latest wave of camera releases has a distinctly advanced amateur look and feel to them. In truth this has been happening for some time. Remember PMA 2009 when Panasonic, Sony and Samsung stole the show from their photographic rivals? Remember PMA 2010 where Canon didn't even bother to show up?
Both Canon and Nikon are here at the biennial photokina show but the only 'new' camera products they're showing (so far) are the already-announced enthusiast Canon EOS 60D digital SLR; and the slightly more advanced Nikon D7000, a follow-up up to the distinctly enthusiast Nikon D90 which was the first DSLR to shoot HD video. Notice a pattern here?
Pro cameras have never been much of big money makers for Canon and Nikon thanks to some extremely thin margins. In the past though, they have served as significant 'halo' products for their less expensive consumer models. But that was back when consumers didn't give much of a hoot about what company's name was on their 2MP blister-packed compact point-and-shoot. As long as it 'worked' and was relatively inexpensive, they were happy.
That's changed thanks, in part, to the success of cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D3. Regular folks and aspiring enthusiast/prosumers now know the names Canon and Nikon stand for quality in the digital camera world and they might even be aware of some of the models pros use.
The names they don't know as much, when it comes to serious photography, are Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung. And yes, many consumers might not even know Pentax very well and they certainly have little clue what a Sigma is.
Like it or not professional photographers, those are the companies really trying to assert themselves in the photography space these days and photokina 2010 is more proof of it."
More here on PDN:
Photokina 2010 Day 1: The Incredible Shrinking Pro Camera Market
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