Analysts: Tough First-Quarter Camera Sales Should Improve

By Greg Tarr On May 8 2012 - 4:01am

NEW YORK – Like so many other consumer electronics sectors, the digital camera business continued to stride a slippery slope during the first quarter of 2012, according to findings from two leading imaging market analysts.

Continued buffeting by the global economic storm, mass adoption of camera-equipped smartphones/tablets, and limited supply from the hangover of last year’s factory flooding hindered revenue growth for the overall digital camera market in North America over the first three months of the calendar year.

 

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.

Fujfilm Ships Instax Mini Instant Print Camera

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

VALHALLA, N.Y. – Fujifilm North America recently began shipping its Instax Mini 50S instant print camera for photo buffs and party revelers who want a tactile photo instead of an image made of electronic digital bits.

The compact instant camera, which carries a $130 suggested retail, is available in a piano black finish and spits out a 2.4-inch by 1.8-inch color print to show friends, making it a potential hit at parties and gatherings. Photographers can even write a personal message directly below the image.

Snapily Offers 3D iPhone App

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

NEW YORK – It didn’t take long, but 3D photo taking has already made its way into smartphones thanks to a new iPhone app from online photo printing service Snapily.

The company’s 3D iPhone app software runs on both iPhone and iPad iOS devices, and yields “true stereoscopic 3D pictures,” the company said.

The 3D image can also be viewed on the phone’s LCD using a gyroscope mode that requires rocking the phone back and forth to see the different left and right eye angles.

Tamron Adds 18-200mm NEX Camera Lens

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

COMMACK, N.Y. – Tamron introduced this month the 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III VC (model B011) highpower zoom lens designed for to fit Sony NEX (Emount) compact system cameras.

The new all-in-one zoom lens is lightweight and compact, in keeping with the design of the diminutive interchangeable lens camera format.

The lens began shipping in the U.S. Dec. 15 at a $739 suggested retail.

Changing PMA Show Brings New Challenges

By Greg Tarr On Aug 22 2011 - 4:00am

Part V of TWICE's 2011 Digital Imaging Executives Roundtable focuses on the newly aligned PMA and 2012 International CES:

TWICE:  What do you think about the decision to move the PMA Show under the roof of the 2012 International CES? How do you intend to leverage venue?

How Much Does Size Matter In Image Sensors

By Greg Tarr On Aug 22 2011 - 3:59am

Part VI of TWICE's 2011 Digital Imaging Executives Roundtable focuses on the newly aligned PMA and 2012 International CES:

TWICE:  A lot has transpired in the past year in the area of image sensor technology. But as mirrorless compacts evolve along with advances in image processing technology is large sensor size still important?

David Lee, Nikon:  When you look at the market numbers it seems too.  Sony's got about 50 percent of the [mirrorless compact] marketplace.

Sony Unveils Alpha, NEX-Series Cameras

By Greg Tarr On Sep 8 2011 - 4:01am

SAN DIEGO – Sony unveiled a pair of new NEX-series compact interchangeable-lens cameras and a pair of Alpha series d-SLRs for advanced photo enthusiasts.

The company also announced a second-generation model of its consumer-level interchangeable-lens camcorders – the NEX-VG20 (shipping in November at a $1,599 suggested retail), which takes E-mount lenses designed for the NEX camera family.

Nikon Unveils 6 Coolpix Digicams

By Greg Tarr On Sep 8 2011 - 4:01am

MELVILLE, N.Y. – Nikon introduced six Coolpix point-and-shoot digicams, including one that marks the company’s return to a waterproof camera since the classic Nikonos film camera line, and a model that marks Nikon’s first attempt at offering a 3D still shooting feature.

The new models will all start shipping in September and include the AW100 ($380 suggested retail) weather-proof Coolpix, the P7100 ($500) advanced manual point-and-shoot, and four S-series models including the S100 ($300), S1200pj ($430), S6200 ($230) and S8200 ($330).

Nikon Enters Mirrorless Hybrid Category

By Greg Tarr On Oct 3 2011 - 4:01am

NEW YORK – Nikon recently entered a new phase of its vaunted digital camera business by unveiling the new Nikon 1 System — the company’s first take on the growing mirrorless compact hybrid interchangeable-lens camera category.

Nikon became of first of the industry’s two dominant market share leaders (the other is Canon) to embrace the “mirrorless” hybrid market that started with Panasonic’s and Olympus’s Micro Four Thirds-sensor-based products and quickly ramped up with SXRD-based compacts from Sony and Samsung.