Chubberino
Well-known
Oh no!!!!!!!
Collapse of digital camera sales is accelerating
- Thread starter Skiff
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Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Fred,
No lie that I have been worried. LOL. That's why I hedged by buying so many film cameras so I have redundancy (2 F3's, mucho M-body, a few Leica SLR's for insurance, a LTM for good measure, and a brace of medium format). Also know I had all my gear serviced so that everything is fresh.
No doubt that I have enough cameras to last me the rest of my life even if a few die due to becoming worn out or accidents. I kinda built a camera bunker of sorts. Call me a survivalist.
But you know I could always use another camera... LOL.
Seems like I am patiently waiting for Leica to build me another dream camera I will call this camera the SLM (SL Monochrom).
Maybe because the market might be saturated it could be a decade or so of boutique/niche cameras to fill the gaps. Could be good for a company like Leica. Kinda like the present housing market: build a nice expensive camera and someone will somehow buy it.
Cal
KM-25
Well-known
Not entirely, some of us are kicking butt in our careers in photography. A few friends of mine shoot entirely film too and are really nuking it.
miha
Established
I salute you sir!
I'm merely an amateur, who has been shooting mostly film for the last 25 years.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I'm happy for you.
Reports from the National Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that bona fide pro photographers—those making 80% or more of their annual earnings from photographic work—on average are declining in both number and annual earnings. Of course, a good number are doing well but that doesn't mean the industry is particularly strong.
G
icebear
Veteran
The problem for marketing is how to entice the consumer to buy the again latest and greatest generation of gadget when even the old one was good enough. There are only so many new features that can be packed into a new camera that nobody will ever use but once and then forget how to access them in the sub-sub-sub menu of special function part IIIb.🙄
Who needs a camera with a gyroscope that you can throw into the air and that takes a 360 panoramic view when reaching the high point of the flight curve?😉
Today video live stream are possible from a cell phone. How much technology was involved for a live TV report 10 years ago?
There was an unprecedented speed of progress in resolution and ISO capabilities and built in image stabilization in the past 10 years. The technical IQ nowadays is plenty sufficient and no one really needs a new camera unless the old one breaks and it's cheaper to get a new one than to repair the old one. Who will repair anything electronic that is more than 4 years old?
So not really a surprise that sales first take off, then level off and then start to decline until they hit the bottom and stabilize again on a low level...
Who needs a camera with a gyroscope that you can throw into the air and that takes a 360 panoramic view when reaching the high point of the flight curve?😉
Today video live stream are possible from a cell phone. How much technology was involved for a live TV report 10 years ago?
There was an unprecedented speed of progress in resolution and ISO capabilities and built in image stabilization in the past 10 years. The technical IQ nowadays is plenty sufficient and no one really needs a new camera unless the old one breaks and it's cheaper to get a new one than to repair the old one. Who will repair anything electronic that is more than 4 years old?
So not really a surprise that sales first take off, then level off and then start to decline until they hit the bottom and stabilize again on a low level...
mpaniagua
Newby photographer
Well, Apple has been doing that with the iPhone, and quite successful at that 🙂 , so its feasible.
jsrockit
Moderator
The iPhone does add new features for the camera (which truly does get better with each release) as well as new processors, more ram, more storage. It's not the same... the iPhone is infinitely more useful to the average person than a stand alone camera.
mpaniagua
Newby photographer
ummm I wasn't questioning the usefulness of an iPhone (it is pretty useful and IMHO is the most influential single device from the last decade), just saying that Apple had been doing pretty good with the iPhone marketing. You make it sounds like i was attacking the iPhone 🙂
Regards.
Marcelo
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Marcelo,
Apple has been very very good at both innovation and marketing. No doubt that they are the 800 pound gorilla and are the dominant maker of phones to beat, but recently even Iphone sales seemed to have topped.
Not sure if it is like digital camera sales mentioned in this thread or some greater economic issue.
Your points are well taken.
Cal
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Cal,
There's a fairly interesting article on Apple and their marketing/innovation practices, a glimpse into the total business, here: ...fastcompany.com/playing-the-long-game-inside-tim-cooks-apple...
G
There's a fairly interesting article on Apple and their marketing/innovation practices, a glimpse into the total business, here: ...fastcompany.com/playing-the-long-game-inside-tim-cooks-apple...
G
mpaniagua
Newby photographer
Nice read. Apple's been smart to diversify its market, although its stronger products is still it's iPhone. Been using mac's since the firs iMac and it has a history of being resilient.
Marcelo
jsrockit
Moderator
No, I didn't think you were attacking it. I thought you were saying if Apple can market the iPhone then camera manufacturers can market incremental updates to cameras.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Godfrey,
Thanks for the link.
After reading, my takeaway is I remember when Apple was the true underdog and its stock price was around $15.00. Many-many criticisms, but then a liver punch would come out of nowhere as a grand surprise.
I am no visionary, but I know enough to expect surprises that I can never have imagined. We are kinda blessed. We live in a time that is rapidly changing, and I can not think of a better more important time to be a photographer.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Marcelo,
Most recently I had to buy another external Hard Drive. I priced out a 2T Lacie and was going to buy it at B&H, but I checked and got the same price at the Apple Store that was on my walk home.
These Apple stores were once deemed as a folly, but they really sell the experience. The UES Apple Store is on Madison Avenue and formerly was a bank; the Apple Store in SoHo used to be a U.S. Post Office; there is an iconic glass cube on 5th that leads to a subterranean Apple Store; and in the Meat Packing district is a tree story Apple Store.
Apple really does well with selling the "experience."
In a way Leica to me is also a lifestyle and an identity, even though I shoot other cameras.
Cal
mpaniagua
Newby photographer
Totally agree about the "experience". IMHO, Leica is the Apple of the camera industry.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The Leica Store on West Broadway in Soho has a lot of the Apple Store vibe.
I was lucky to find my black paint 0.85 MP at the Leica Store.
On display are these bags that otherwise I would not know were available. One is a leather bookbag that accommodates a Leica "Q." The bag is so nice it makes one consider buying the camera so you can justify getting the bag, not the other way around. The bookbag held a Leica "Q" in a self contained holster integrated into the bag. Too cool to describe.
The Leica Store is truly a boutique. It became obvious to me there are limited production items available but not advertised.
Cal
Aristophanes
Well-known
Really?
Many of the new pro grade Nikon and Canon bodies and lenses are often back-ordered for months after release.
But the Japanese companies are especially adept at not increasing manufacturing space knowing through their long horizon cultures that booms are just that....
They limit capacity and supply quite conservatively. If there is too much stock it usually comes on the lower end models which have low margins and volume pricing, and are used as feeder supply for more profitable lines. So the delta between inventory volume and inventory cost/margins is what matters, and this industry appears to have pretty good sell-through. Also, lenses have outstanding shelf life.
The non-smartphone side of the market is not about digital vs film, but about convenience versus optics. The film market is so infinitesimally small as a part of the "imaging market" as to be statistically insignificant. I consider the Fuji Instax (and I own one) to be a novelty item and not equivalent or replacement value for, say, a smartphone camera. The marketing effort is more akin to toy product sales in any case.
icebear
Veteran
I have 3 Leicas but not a single Leica bag and I have no intention to ever get a Leica bag or any leather bag for that matter.
My Q sits with my MM and couple of her lenses in a Domke black canvas F6 "little bit smaller". From time to time I attack it with a vacuum cleaner as Bill W. from Leica US told me pointing at my bag " That is the worst dust collector"😀
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Claus,
The leather book bag I'm speaking of is so hip and presents a lot of style. Mighty good looking and rather compact. It is designed around holding a full sized Ipad and kinda riffs off of the Apple branding. A very youthful hipster design. As I remember the pricing was not that outragious. LOL.
Recently a leather Leica bag strap almost failed. Only a few threads prevented crashing my camera. Anyways I have to find another new bag. My Louie Vuttion man bag now is looking a bit ratty, and I even have a hole I wore though it.
My Domke's are of ballistic nylon, and now I wish they were canvas because the ballistic material is hard on my outerwear and clothing. I find that because I walk so much that it wears through my clothing like sandpaper. Leather seems to not wear down my clothing so much.
Cal
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