Several points- I didn't miss your point about DLSRs and compacts. I was giving a reply to the original post, which partly concurs with your point, but also expands upon it.Sonolta wrote:Wrongo, DSLR sales are booming!You missed the major part of my first reply as well as my CIPA report link.
Now take the time read the short CIPA report I linked above and you will see the growth rates between slr type and fixed lens type digital cameras. With a 47% increase in lens sales last year DSLR sales are doing spectacular. If you take a look at the growth rates you will see the dSLR growth rate is running higher than non-dSLR models.
The DSLR gold rush is officially here...straight from the report:
"2) Interchangeable Lenses for SLR Cameras
The total shipment of interchangeable lenses for SLR cameras in 2007 based on volume
was approximately 12.51 million units, up 43.0% from the previous year, a significant
increase coinciding with the strong growth in SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses.
In 2008, owing to continued vigorous growth in sales of digital SLR cameras with
interchangeable lenses, growth in shipments of interchangeable lenses is expected to
continue and forecast to reach approximately 14.67 million units, representing a
year-on-year increase of 2.15 million units or 17.2%."
http://www.cipa.jp/english/pdf/press080129_e.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
DSLR sales are booming to say the least!
-Sonolta
PS..Many of us here including DK have sold a ton of prints and stock with non-DSLR digital cameras. With many subjects I can make sweet 18 and 24 inch prints and Alamy size files with pNs cameras and that's a far cry from 4x6...Not to mention the fact that I have been doing raw conversions on the $1300 5MP 7HI files for the past 6 years!
For several hours now, I've been unable to reach your link. A traceroute done seems to indicate a routing problem in Japan. I would like to read the article. Until I do, or see something else that states DSLRs are up, I'd like to note that just because lens sales are up, doesn't mean that the camera bodies themselves are selling well.
It's quite possible that we're seeing several factors: One could be that the price/performance plateau has been reached, where people aren't upgrading their DSLRs because they feel the few extra MPs aren't worth the money, and are sinking their economy-limited cash into lenses instead. It could also be that people didn't load up on lenses when they first bought their systems because they weren't sure they would stay with that system. I know several people who have switched form Canon to Nikon, decided to dump Olympus for Canon, etc. How many on this forum had a different system before they came to Sony?
Of course, Canon blames some loss of sales on the economy, and to that my original post is right on. If you want a good camera, and don't have much cash to spend, by a mid range P&S for $200, and be satisfied. It appears from the article quote that the sales they're talking about is 2007, with a prediction for '08.
I know that great quality CAN come out of P&S cameras, just as they could from an old Instamatic. However, I wouldn't buy one for pro work, except as a backup/undercover camera. I remember when I would get stopped w/ my film SLRs at concerts, but could get by with a good rangefinder.
As the economy continues to sink, we'll see sales slow on DSLRs simply because the ability to get into a system with the same apparent capabilities of a P&S is so much more.
Dusty
