End of the road for the 580?

[bfitzgerald]

Greg I don't see where they could put SLT bar DSLR category on that site. I wondered if it was the flooding problem, but then Nikon suffered hugely too stocks wise.
One very minor point I see the best selling compact is one with an optical finder (Canon A1200) ok a simple camera but I've said for a long time that many users want an OVF even the tiny peep hole is worth it's weight on bright days.

[Heidfirst]

But they have neglected the dedicated still camera area now by not offering the still shooters a camera designed just for stills without any video

they all have. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax & Sony.
I'm pretty sure that most people agree that SLT is an interim step until we get genuinely usable AF on sensor at which point if they haven't already joined in Canon & Nikon will have to join the EVF party due to the lower construction costs possible.

The way I see it is
World 2012 DSLR sales (guesstimate)
Canon = 49%
Nikon = 41%
Pentax & others = 10%
Sony = 0% (Because SLT’s aren’t DSLR’s they should go into the figures for ‘other’ and ‘hybrid’ interchangeable lens cams)
http://www.dslrphoto.com/dslr/space.php ... igital_slr
I couldn’t find a single SLT in the top ranked 'DSLR' sales in the US, I don't know if they actually class DSLT's as DSLR's, they used too at one time.
Greg

It's going to be a hard year to judge due to the effects of Thailand (according to Thom Hogan 3rd quarter DSLR shipments were down 47% due to Nikon & Sony factories being down). Canon ought to do well because they didn't have the same problems.
Pentax & others - what others? Are Oly shipping any DSLRs, only 1 supposedly left is the E-5. m4/3 aren't DSLRs.
You can argue that SLTs still have a mirror so they are still Reflex (certainly more so than m4/3).
I don't think that you can consider sales figures from a single retailer as reflecting the whole market in 1 country let alone the global market. Certainly in the UK Amazon don't seem to have competitive/timely sources for Alpha gear.

[Greg Beetham]

My guesstimate had a little bit of artistic licence.
I was reading something about Nikon somewhere forget where at the moment, apparently they have already replaced the lost capacity with a new facility and it only cost them about 1 month of production, they are now almost back to full speed ahead…if you can believe the article…
I was also reading another claim that Pentax have surged in DSLR sales last year up to nearly 8%, (again could be a little pie in the sky), but I was giving them the benefit of the doubt.
I still think that to be a true DSLR the mirror has to have two attributes, (1) you use it too see and compose with, and (2) it gets the hell out of the way when you take a photo.
Greg

[Heidfirst]

I was reading something about Nikon somewhere forget where at the moment, apparently they have already replaced the lost capacity with a new facility and it only cost them about 1 month of production, they are now almost back to full speed ahead…if you can believe the article…

tried to buy e.g. a D7000 recently? Dashed few to be found (at least here).
I believe that Sony beat Nikon back into production by about a month.

Pentax do relatively well in Japan where they have a share of ~8% but less well elsewhere & again the Ricoh merger is going to cause a hiccup as they evaluate & modify their plans.

[Greg Beetham]

Yes the D7000 is running hot apparently, I also saw a list of the 10 most popular cameras (all types) in Japan and the D7000 was one of the biggies. I saw another article discussing various cameras and they reckon the D7000 is overpriced because of the demand (you can’t easily track down a bargain). Locally one of the online big camera retailers had a special running but ‘out of stock’ also the prices vary wildly here. http://www.myshopping.com.au/PR--370413 ... Find=d7000 but quite a few 'shops' in that list claim to have them in stock.
Greg

[alphaomega]

Yes the D7000 is running hot apparently, I also saw a list of the 10 most popular cameras (all types) in Japan and the D7000 was one of the biggies.

Well Greg Beetham, so Sony can do something right - make good sensors - as long as they allow Nikon to finalize the offering.

[bfitzgerald]

Stocks are poor in Europe across most of the Nikon range. Prices are up as well, and some items simply cannot be bought (some lenses etc)
I would not buy right now, I was lucky to nab a D90 at a good price, even if I wanted a D7000 I would wait a while for prices to fall.

Nikon might have got production back up, but they had trouble keeping the D7000 in stock before the disaster. Situation should improved in a few months or by summer.
Canon must have made a killing during this time. Pentax might have surged the K-5 is selling for quite a cheap price it's more a blip and a long term position. They don't have enough models to cover the range (should have 3-4 really) and with no FF turning up they might lose a few as well.

[bakubo]

Here in Japan I have seen no shortage of Nikon, Sony, or anything else. The D7000 is in every store I have been in sitting out to be played with. I have seen the NEX 7 also in the stores I have been in. I am in Tokyo now and stopped by a couple of big stores today at Ikebukuro, but stores in Matsuyama also had all the stuff. I guess Japan gets first crack at what is available.

Just a few days ago I started seeing new Canon commercials on TV for the 60D and Kiss (600D). I figure they are probably starting to advertise these older products to get rid of inventory. Probably have new stuff coming.

[bfitzgerald]

I'm sure Japan got serviced before Europe stocks wise. No doubt the USA would be similar.
I can't see a D7000 body only for sale most have it on back order, you can get some with kit lenses (18-105mm)
I've yet to find anywhere that has a 50mm f1.8 G for sale either. You can get the 35mm f1.8 G (and I did) but the 50mm is hard to find because it probably did not have a stockpile as it's a more recent lens to the range. The 35mm has been out a while so it's easy to get hold of

I've not seen stock problems for the coolpix stuff or 1 series cameras maybe they are made somewhere else

I see Canon have some new goodies 5d MkIII as expected, new flash (ouch ouch price though) and GPS, flash transmitter.

[Greg Beetham]

Well Greg Beetham, so Sony can do something right - make good sensors - as long as they allow Nikon to finalize the offering.

Well spotted alphaomega, Sony can indeed fab sensors, and it must be said that Sony does retain the potential to do other things as well, but probably not if one is in a hurry.
When it comes to specialized lenses for the NEX Sony might be hamstrung to a certain extent but others aren’t, so there remains the possibility of someone else doing something because Sony did release all the details necessary out into the market, and that was a brief and unusual moment of cleverness by our ever inscrutable Sony.
Greg

[Greg Beetham]

There are a few Nikon 50 1.8G lenses in stock in this list Barry. http://www.myshopping.com.au/PR--389763 ... _1_8G_Lens if you take the one listed at AUD 207.65 for instance that converts too £140.25 but there would be freight extra I’d say so I’m not sure if that would make it economical or not.
Greg

[bfitzgerald]

I think I can wait Greg with VAT and import charges on top of shipping it's not really worth it. I did get my second 5d from down under, but that was worth only $15 Aus and was just a broken camera for spare parts

[Greg Beetham]

I looked up the import charges you have to pay over there Barry, you guys get reamed worse then we do I think, at least here if the item is under $1000 we don’t get charged import duty, I don’t think I even paid GST on the last shipment I got from B&H but that was a while ago now so my memory might be wrong on that one.
Yes you are allowed to work pay the bills and eke out an existence but don’t you dare spend any money on anything else.
Greg

[bfitzgerald]

Greg the values are very low tiny low as in memory card no import taxes something like £20 odd €25 ish.
Over that VAT at 20% UK (gone up to 23% Ireland) and charges on top

The solution is "gift marked" at a lower value (mostly works). Or a company like One stop digital who will guarantee no VAT or charges and will reimburse you if you get hit. Some folks don't like it but personally this VAT shafting (and I use that word as it's excessive as a tax) adds a significant cost to items esp for expensive stuff like meaty lenses and bodies.

I'm ok about tax but this one started off a "a little bit" on items, ended up a "lot". And worst of all it's a tax that takes no account of income so Richard Branson pays the same as you do for that FF DSLR body. One way around it is to be a VAT registered business (ie no VAT charged from other EU countries) and VAT refunded on purchases in the country you trade in. But for a photography I can't see it being very appealing as you then have to charge VAT to customers.

Folks in the USA don't know how lucky they are
If you shop around there are still some deals to be had in Europe though at times they've obviously had to be more competitive in recent years. I can't see how photo shops stay in business though where I am the price difference v on line retailers is pretty huge. They're not even remotely competitive.

[bakubo]

Folks in the USA don't know how lucky they are

Funny, because I have heard for years how unlucky Americans are because our taxes are too low so we don't get all the government benefits that Europeans get. Mostly it is Europeans who tell me this. Of course, comparing total tax systems and government benefit systems is hopelessly complex in trying to determine which, if any, are actually better, whatever better means.

Anyway, whenever a new tax is added, no matter how small it starts out, it will get bigger over time. Isn't that one of the physical laws of the universe? Here in Japan 20 years ago there was no sales tax. Then they created one that was 3%. A few years later it went to 5%, which is where it still is now, but recently the government has proposed that it go to 8% and then a couple years after that go to 10%. One of the controversies within the political parties though is that some think it should go higher than 10%. Of course, some don't want it to go up at all. Chances are that what will happen is that the increase to 8% followed soon by the increase to 10% will happen though.