Camera Makers Look To CES For New Start

By Greg Tarr On Dec 19 2011 - 6:01am

NEW YORK – Digital camera manufacturers will be looking to International CES as the transition from a year of hell to what they hope will be a new year of prosperity, if Mother Nature will cooperate.

Hit by a double whammy from the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in Japan, followed months later by the flooding in Thailand that took out many camera and components factories, Japanese camera manufacturers will be scrambling to bring supplies back up to normal levels in the early weeks of 2012.

The setbacks had caused sales to slip for periods this year, when supplies ran low, and some manufacturers had to postpone new model introductions in 2011. Some of those cameras are now slated to appear in Las Vegas next month.

This marks the first year of PMA@CES, a collaboration of tradeshows between the respective trade associations. While most of the major camera makers will stay on the floors of the Central and South Halls, a number of new comers to CES will set up shop in the Venetian/Sands Convention Center to showcase accessories, photo printing support systems and services.

As for new cameras, interchangeable-lens models mark the biggest growth opportunities and that brings with it all of the supporting accessories, including: lenses, premium bags and memory cards. Expect to see a lot of emphasis there in the PMA@ CES pavilion.

In the world of point-and-shoots, digital camera makers will come to International CES looking to answer advances in smartphone imaging systems with step-up feature packages in dedicated cameras.

This year wireless connectivity, which has hit virtually every other consumer electronics segment, will be much more prevalent in digital camera models featuring built-in Wi- Fi.

Last year’s big new trend — 3D — will still be part of the feature mix, but is not expected to get quite the same level of buzz as consumers continue to get comfortable with the proposition.

Other hot feature areas for 2012 include super-long-zoom lenses, advances in image stabilization technology, new high-resolution image sensors, more weather-proof models and the inclusion of HD video, including Full HD 1080 in many models.

At the same time, pricing continues to tumble, offering consumers some of the best bargains ever available.

The camera growth story of the past few years has come from advanced cameras, especially d-SLRs and new mirrorless compact system cameras.

Showgoers should expect to see a smattering of new d-SLR products and a few new compact system cameras.

Now getting a strong marketing push from Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and others, the compact system camera business is expected to see significant growth in the U.S. this year.